MBBCh Medicine: Graduate Entry

This degree accepts high performing students from recognised feeder streams aiming to offer comprehensive preparation for a rewarding working life as a foundation doctor in the NHS and your career beyond. Our course is structured over four years to allow you to acquire knowledge, clinical skills and professional attitudes within an integrated spiral curriculum. Our aim is to produce great clinicians who understand people and the environment in which we live.

This degree is only for those on our recognised feeder streams graduating with one of the following degrees:

All applicants to the A101 course need to sit the UCAT admissions exam prior to applying via UCAS.

This course has been developed as part of Cardiff University’s commitment to widen access to Medicine. Small numbers of selected students from the feeder streams take additional modules during their first degree which make them eligible to apply to be accepted onto the 4 year course. You must graduate with a first or upper second class degree.

Having demonstrated appropriate knowledge and skills to enter the healthcare profession, you will pursue a course identical to Years 2 to 5 of the five year MBBCh course.

The programme initially focuses on building a platform for integrated clinical sciences. This is delivered in the classroom, practical classes, lectures and the virtual learning environment. You learn to apply your knowledge in the clinical environment, both in hospital and community settings.

The programme emphasises the importance of learning science in the clinical context, and the central place of the patient in a doctor’s work. We firmly believe that patients are at the heart of medical education and as such you will be introduced to patients from the first year. You will learn about common medical conditions from real patients, as well as their doctors, in authentic and impressively equipped facilities.

Patient safety, science knowledge, scholarship, and the service role of doctors are unifying themes throughout.

As you progress through the programme you will find there is increasing emphasis on your acquisition of clinical skills, initially in a simulated environment progressing to extended clinical placements with increasing responsibility in hospital and community settings throughout Wales. Throughout the course, you are expected to display the professional attributes of a doctor in training.

By the time you graduate, you will have demonstrated that care of patients is your first concern. With full engagement in the course, you will be able to apply knowledge and skills in a competent and ethical manner, and use your ability to provide leadership and to analyse complex and uncertain situations. You will have achieved all the outcomes and clinical competencies required by the General Medical Council set out in ‘Outcomes for graduates'.

The Medicine programme is recognised as a Primary Medical Qualification under the Medical Act, and graduates of the programme may apply for provisional registration with the General Medical Council.

Whilst an undergraduate at Cardiff University you will benefit from:

‘Wales is a great place to study Medicine, for so many reasons. The course combines early, hands-on clinical learning, with innovative teaching from leaders in their field. These are renowned academics and talented clinicians who are passionate about medical education and, in my experience, always happy to help. We get to see patients early on and experiencing medicine in different communities across Wales helps a lot when it’s time to choose our future specialties.’

Amy Butlin, Medical Student