Undergraduate

In Years 1 and 2, the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (MVST), you study the medically-relevant core scientific knowledge and skills that you will need as a medical professional.

Taught by some of the world's top academic scientists, we provide you with the scientific basis that will allow you to develop your medical career to its full, whether your aim is to deliver outstanding patient care or whether you wish to contribute to clinical academic medicine, combining research and teaching with clinical duties to push forward the boundaries of healthcare.

The main areas of learning in the MVST are covered by courses in:

• Functional Architecture of the Body - involving examining and dissecting the human body, and includes living anatomy, and the use of modern imaging techniques
• Homeostasis - covering the physiological systems which underpin the body's regulation of its internal environment and its responses to external threats. You also have related practical classes in experimental physiology and histology
• Molecules in Medical Science - looking at the chemical and molecular basis of how cells and organisms work
• Biology of Disease - dealing with the nature and mechanisms of disease processes
• Mechanisms of Drug Action - providing an understanding of the basic mechanisms of drug action at the levels of both drug-receptor interactions and the effects on body systems
• Neurobiology and Human Behaviour - covering the structure and function of the sense organs and central nervous system, the effects of drugs on brain function, and various psychological aspects
• Human Reproduction - looking at the biology of the human reproductiive system, its social context, and its influence on demographic trends

The clinical strand of the MVST involves:

• Introduction to the Scientific Basis of Medicine - covering epidemiology and how it is applied in medicine
• Social Context of Health and Illness - an introduction to the broader cultural aspects of healthcare and the medical profession in Britain, working with patients and colleagues, both in hospital and in the community
• Preparing for Patients - which involves meeting patients in general practice (Year 1), in a hospital setting (Year 2), and through visiting community-based health-related agencies (Years 2 and 3)

You can find more details about the MVST online at: www.cam.ac.uk/mvst/.

Specialise in one of a wide range of other subjects offered by the University (sometimes referred to as intercalation at other universities) to qualify for the BA degree. Options include:

• Part II Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Natural Sciences, which offers a large range of subjects, including:
• Pathology
• Physiology
• Zoology
• History and Ethics of Medicine
• a single Part II Natural Sciences subject
• a subject less obviously related to medicine, such as Anthropology, Management Studies or Philosophy

Preparing for Patients continues in your third year, regardless of which subject you choose to study. During this year you follow a woman and her family through her pregnancy.

The majority of Cambridge medical students then continue their Clinical Studies at the Cambridge Clinical School, based at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The remainder go to other clinical schools, usually in London or at Oxford. The University coordinates the admission of students to the various clinical schools and the majority progress to their first choice.

 

The Clinical Studies for students who stay in Cambridge are based at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. As well as being a tertiary hospital with an international reputation for medical excellence, Addenbrooke's is the site of several major biomedical research institutions. You also spend time in other regional NHS hospitals throughout East Anglia, and in general practices in Cambridge and the surrounding region.

Throughout the Clinical Studies, you build on your biomedical science education, developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to practise clinical medicine. Following an introductory course, the curriculum consists of three stages, each with its own focus and built around several major themes, including:

• communication skills, patient investigation and practical procedures
• therapeutics and patient management
• core science, pathology and clinical problems
• evaluation and research
• personal and professional development
• the multi-professional workplace

During your Clinical Studies, you have weekly small-group 'clinical supervisions' from junior doctors to develop and monitor your clinical skills.

Stage 1: Clinical Method

During Stage 1 you become proficient in basic clinical methods such as:

• history-taking
• physical examination
• differential diagnosis
• ordering and interpretation of basic investigations

Clinical attachments are linked to teaching in primary care to allow you a breadth of clinical experience.

Stage 2: The Life Course

You study the major causes of ill health, disease and its prevention throughout the human lifespan.

• Periods spent in paediatrics, women's health, cardio-thoracic medicine, oncology, ageing and degenerative diseases, and psychiatry are linked by a record of longitudinal patient attachments collected in a portfolio.
• Experience in primary and community care related to each part of the course enhances understanding of the range of disease presentation and management, and the patient perspective of healthcare delivery.

Stage 3: Preparation for Practice

Stage 3 focuses on equipping you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes you need to practise independently, and consists of attachments in:

• general practice
• medicine
• surgery
• emergency medicine
• acute care

There are also opportunities to undertake Student-Selected Components and an elective period of study.

 

In Level One you follow the same core medical science teaching as those on the standard Pre-Clinical Studies course for four and a half terms.

In addition, there are five clinical placements in West Suffolk (during the University vacations) through which you learn clinical method. One and a half days a week are spent in a local General Practice and the other days in a hospital environment. This intercalation of clinical experience and the study of core science helps to demonstrate the relevance of the core science and its integration into clinical medicine.

At the end of this period you complete your Second MB exams and have a level of clinical competence comparable to the standard Clinical Studies students at the end of their first clinical stage.

Level Two consists of placements in the medical specialties. These may be at Addenbrooke's Hospital or other hospitals in the region, learning alongside the standard Clinical Studies students.

Level Three (the final year) is spent in clinical placements in West Suffolk, when Level One and Two skills and knowledge are reinforced and developed in preparation for practice. The emphasis is on integration of primary care, secondary care and the specialties, and following the 'patient journey'.

Throughout the course, learning is supported by small-group sessions with a Graduate Course Tutor (a senior clinician in West Suffolk); groups in General Practice and the Colleges; and hospital groups led by a Clinical Supervisor (a doctor in training).

Please be aware that the CGCM is intensely programmed and does not have the flexibility to allow additional degrees, optional study or exchange programmes.

Medicine (A100) and Graduate Medicine (A101) course requirements and selection

Please note that in the following 'science/mathematics subjects' refers to Biology/Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. It does not include Psychology.

GCSEs

Students wishing to study Medicine must obtain:

• grade C or above in GCSE (or equivalent) Double Award Science and Mathematics
• two single awards in GCSE Biology and Physics may be substituted for Double Award Science

AS/A Levels

• Applicants must have AS or A Level passes in Chemistry and two of Biology/Human Biology, Physics, Mathematics.
• At least one pass must be at A Level, although most applicants for Medicine at Cambridge have at least three science/mathematics A Levels and some Colleges require this or ask for particular A Level subject(s). See individual College websites for details.

Although many Colleges consider applicants offering only two science/mathematics subjects at A Level, please note that the success rate of such applicants is much lower. In the past three admissions rounds, 97 per cent of applicants for Medicine (A100) offered three or more science/mathematics A Levels and, of these, 21 per cent were successful in obtaining a place. Of the three per cent of applicants who offered only two science/mathematics A Levels, just three per cent were successful in gaining a place.

International Baccalaureate

The GCSE and AS/A Level subject requirements also apply to the IB:

• Individual Middle Years Programme subject results validated by the IB at grade 4 or above will satisfy the GCSE requirements
• Standard Level subjects are broadly comparable to AS Levels, and Higher Level subjects are broadly comparable to A Levels

Other examination systems

We expect applicants taking other recognised examinations to demonstrate a level of understanding in science and mathematics roughly equivalent to those applying with A Levels. Refer to the Entrance Requirements for details of other qualifications and please consult any College Admissions Tutor for further advice.

Please note that only 22 places are available each year for overseas fee-status students.

Graduate entry

Graduates may apply for the standard Medicine (A100) course as an affiliated student to Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund's or Wolfson Colleges with:

• a good honours degree in a science subject
• passes at GCSE and AS/A Levels (or equivalent) as above

UK and EU graduates from any discipline (who also satisfy the above, including A Level Chemistry, normally passed within seven years of entry) may apply to the accelerated Graduate Course in Medicine (A101).

The Bio-Medical Admissions Test (BMAT)

All applicants for Medicine (A100) are required to sit the BMAT and must enter for the test by 1 October 2012.

Applicants are responsible for ensuring they enter for the BMAT by 1 October. This means you must enter for the BMAT test before submitting your UCAS application by 15 October. Information about how to register for BMAT is available from the BMAT website.

Medicine (A100) and Graduate Medicine (A101) selection requirements

Selection

You need to be a keen scientist, with a sound scientific understanding. As selection for medical school implies selection for the medical profession, admissions decisions are informed by national guidance on what makes a good doctor, for example, the Medical Schools Council's Consensus Statement on the Role of the Doctor and Guiding Principles for the Admission of Medical Students.

Professional expectations

The GMC has certain expectations regarding the attitudes, behaviour and performance of medical students. Trainee doctors at Cambridge must satisfy the GMC's fitness to practise requirements, both during the application process and throughout the course. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of patients.

Your age

Students under the age of 18 cannot undertake any clinical elements of the Medicine course, which start in the second term of first year at the latest. Therefore, applicants must have reached the age of 18 by the start of the second term of their first year.

Criminal record check

All offers of a place on these courses for UK students will be subject to Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) registration and a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Minor misdemeanours will not necessarily prevent you from entering the medical profession but you should declare these in your UCAS application and you will be sent the relevant forms to complete if you are offered a place.

Where courses may involve regular access to children and/or vulnerable adults, students are legally required to register with the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), which is administered by the ISA. The University will send further instructions on registering with the VBS as part of the admissions process.

Overseas students will be asked to provide similar evidence.

More details can be found on the University's Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosures webpage at: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/students/crb/ and on the Faculty of Biology's website.

Your health

Doctors, even as students and trainees, have a responsibility to be honest and open about their own health and all successful applicants are required to complete a confidential occupational health assessment. A questionnaire will be included with your offer letter and, once completed, should be returned to the University's Occupational Health Service.

Your answers to the health questionnaire will help to ensure that your medical training will not place your own or others' health at risk and determine, in terms of fitness to fulfil the requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC), your suitability to work as a doctor. The requirements can be found in their booklet Tomorrow's Doctors. The assessment is also to inform the University of any health conditions or disabilities that you have which require specific support, so that this can be in place before you start the course.

Vaccinations for medical school

The University requires all prospective medical students be immunised against certain infections to meet health and safety standards required to work with patients. You will be sent details of the vaccination programme with your offer.

Blood-borne infections

In accordance with Department of Health guidelines and NHS requirements, you will be offered blood tests to check that you are not infected with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV before you can be cleared to participate in certain surgical procedures. If you are infected, you will be allowed to continue with the course but will not be allowed to partake in surgical practices on patients known as 'exposure prone' procedures. It will not prevent you from qualifying or practising as a doctor, except for a restriction on exposure-prone procedures.

Disabilities, Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) and health conditions

A disability, SpLD or health condition needn't prevent you from becoming a doctor if you can satisfy the professional fitness for practice requirements. However, in these circumstances you should contact a College Admissions Tutor as early as possible to discuss your needs and the course requirements. Such disclosures will be considered independently of your academic qualifications and the interview process.

The University's Disability Resource Centre may also be able to provide additional advice and guidance.

The table below sets out the ways in which each College assesses applicants for this subject. For more information about these methods of assessment and why we use them, see the main Admissions tests and written work page.

College	Assessment of applicant for this subject
Christ's	BMAT
Churchill	BMAT
Clare	BMAT
Corpus Christi	BMAT
Downing	BMAT
Emmanuel	BMAT
Fitzwilliam	BMAT
Girton	BMAT
Gonville & Caius	BMAT
Homerton	Not available at this College
Hughes Hall	Not available at this College
Jesus	BMAT
King's	BMAT; Set essay
Lucy Cavendish	BMAT
Magdalene	BMAT
Murray Edwards	BMAT
Newnham	BMAT
Pembroke	BMAT
Peterhouse	BMAT
Queens'	BMAT
Robinson	BMAT
St Catharine's	BMAT
St Edmund's	BMAT
St John's	BMAT
Selwyn	BMAT
Sidney Sussex	BMAT
Trinity	BMAT
Trinity Hall	BMAT
Wolfson	BMAT

If you are interested in applying for this course, please see our Applying section for more details.