- UCAS course code
- A101
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course description
Our Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) course educates, trains and prepares students for practice in the healthcare systems of today and the future. We are the largest medical school in the UK, with over 2,500 undergraduate medical students.
This course is aimed at students who have completed or are due to graduate from a life science or allied-health professional degree and want to pursue a career in medicine. This accelerated programme will allow you to complete a medicine degree in 4 years, instead of the full 5-6 years it usually takes.
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods to ensure you benefit from the best attributes of traditional and novel teaching methods.
The key Manchester approach is active learning through the study of themed case discussions combined with learning in clinical placements. This is supported throughout the course by lectures and practical classes (including anatomy).
Our course integrates science and clinical learning so you are able to apply scientific knowledge, decision-making and critical thinking concepts to your clinical practice.
Upon graduation, you will be able to apply knowledge, intellectual and practical skills to understand and manage the complex healthcare needs of individuals and society. You will also develop the to meet the demands of changing healthcare environments.
Successful completion of the course will enable you to meet the core General Medical Council requirements to apply for Foundation Year 1 posts. See the Careers tab for more details.
Possible changes to course content
Although the information on this course page is currently correct, the MBChB is under review. This means that there may be changes to the structure of the course across any or all years, and/or to the relevant assessments and regulations.
Offer holders will be notified of any changes before the course begins, but as medicine is an evolving subject area, the course may also change after you begin your studies. Because of this, we update the programme handbooks for each year of study annually, and we notify students of the following year's content in advance.
Special features
Extensive clinical experience
You will gain clinical experience in both hospital and community settings throughout the four years of the course. These unique opportunities will expose you to the breadth of healthcare settings from patients at home, in general practices, community services to acute hospitals and leading specialist centres of care. Your learning in these environments is underpinned by cutting edge education in clinical decision-making to help you navigate the NHS and prepare you for practice.
Excellent reputation
We have an international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, including close links with the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre - the only academic health science centre in the north-west of England.
Anatomy
You will learn about the intricacies of the human body through activities in our anatomy facilities.
Personalised learning
Our course offers the opportunity to explore personal interests through Student Selected Clinical Placements in Years 2 and 4 and a clinical elective in Year 3. The aim of these placements is to allow you to fully immerse yourself in the speciality and to help you consider your potential future career path.
The SSCPs will be undertaken within the usual regional footprint of Manchester placements, but the elective can be organised anywhere in the world.
Intercalated degrees
Intercalate to complete a master's or PhD degree in a subject of interest.
Teaching and learning
The course uses mixed learning methods, but the key Manchester approach is the study of themed case discussions through facilitated group activities to emphasise enquiry, collaboration and application to clinical practice.
Find out more on our teaching and learning page.
Coursework and assessment
Methods of assessment include both summative exams (which demonstrate you have reached the required standards to progress to the next phase of the course) and formative tests (which tell you how you are performing on the course and how you can improve).
Your assessments will include:
- written examinations;
- Clinical Competency Assessments (CCAs), formerly known as OSCEs;
- workplace-based assessments;
- reflective portfolio work;
- written reports to assess personalised modules;
- assessment of professional behaviour.
Summative assessment will normally happen at the end of each year, with formative assessments occurring at regular intervals throughout the course.
Assessments closely reflect the course content, with assessment of knowledge and skills in the initial phase, moving on to clinical assessments and application of knowledge including in complex situations by the end of the final phase.
You will receive feedback on your performance in assessments from your academic and clinical advisors in addition to generalised feedback about your cohort's performance. Feedback on performance is integral to all learning activities.
Course content for year 1
Your curriculum comprises different elements carefully integrated to promote your ability to learn effectively and succeed in your medical degree.
During Year 1, you will be mostly based on The University of Manchester's Oxford Road campus, with visits to centres of excellence for clinical medicine, community settings and teaching hospitals across the north-west.
At the start of the course, you are introduced to the learning processes necessary for successful study, and you will learn the consultation skills needed to equip you for your early clinical experiences.
Year 1 addresses the foundations of medicine through your study of a series of topics that can take the form of one or more themed cases. The cases contextualise learning to prepare you for the way in which doctors approach clinical problems. The approach to learning around the themed case discussions will develop your skills in collaborative group working and independent learning.
There is an emphasis on practical work, including anatomy and clinical experience. Personal development activities are designed to introduce you to the skills and attitudes necessary to become a successful junior doctor.
You will learn about the body, and the basis for disease, through detailed studies of molecules, cells, tissues and organs and the systems that control their activities. You will also learn about the behaviour of patients and of populations, about epidemiology and about the ethical and legal basis of medical practice.
Course content for year 2
Years 2 and 3 are underpinned by blended learning. This means your clinical practice will be supported by online cases and face-to-face themed cased discussions to develop your clinical knowledge, communication and decision-making skills. You will spend the majority of your week learning from real patients, applying the basic scientific knowledge and clinical skills you acquired in the earlier parts of the course.
In Year 2, you will rotate through five clinical placements, starting with a four-week Introduction to Clinical Learning followed by experience in medical and surgical settings. Your clinical placements will allow you to not only learn to assess patients, but also understand how a health service work and practice clinical procedures necessary as a junior doctor.
Towards the end of the year, you will undertake a dedicated block of teaching for GEM students that will build on the foundations of your learning in Year 1 to prepare you for the specialty-based teaching in Year 3. This teaching will be predominantly based on the University campus and will use the learning approaches you established in Year 1.
The final activity of the year will enable you to select a four-week Student-Selected Clinical Placement in an area of your clinical interest from within our Clinical Education Campuses. The placement will give you the time and opportunity to reflect on your future career choices within medicine.
Course content for year 3
Year 3 is structured to broaden your clinical learning and practice across 14 specialities, offering immersion in new clinical placements with supervision and teaching by expert clinicians.
There will be clinical placements in:
- general practice and clinical public health;
- mental health, neurology and special senses;
- musculoskeletal health;
- ageing and complex health;
- women's health;
- child health;
- oncology and breast health;
- dermatology and infectious diseases.
Elective
The year will end with a student elective placement, commonly an overseas experience of medical practice in an unfamiliar healthcare environment.
Course content for year 4
The final year of the course is focused on preparing you for your final university exams, national assessments such as the Prescribing Safety Assessment, Medical Licencing Assessment, and for your role as a foundation year doctor in the NHS. This year is your preparation for practice.
Clinical placements will include further general medical and surgical placements, general practice and acute medicine. As a final-year medical student, you will be appropriately supervised and integrated into a clinical department while you undertake most of the duties of a newly qualified doctor, including shift-working and being on-call.
You will also undertake a Quality and Evidence activity to understand clinical audit and governance in healthcare. You will have another opportunity to explore career choices through a second Student-Selected Clinical Placement.
Additional fee information
What our students say
Facilities
"Consultation skills was the favourite part of my week.
"Over the course of the semester, in small groups, we learnt how best to conduct a patient consultation to gather a good history whilst being an empathetic doctor."
Arabhi Krishnan / Medicine student
During Years 1 and 2, you will be based mostly in the Stopford Building on The University of Manchester's Oxford Road campus. The Stopford Building contains facilities such as the anatomy dissection room, the Consultation Skills Learning Centre, IT clusters and a dedicated library for Year 1 and 2 medical students.
Clinical Education Campuses
During Years 2 to 4, you will spend your time learning in clinical placements in these Health Education Zones:
- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (Oxford Road Campus)
- The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (formerly known as Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust)
- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (Wythenshawe)