Medicine MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery)

Overview

Our 5-year MBBS in Medicine is designed to equip you with the academic knowledge, clinical skills and personal attributes needed to become a competent doctor. We’ll give you the experience needed to confidently make evidence-based clinical decisions that will make a difference in people’s lives. You'll be awarded a Primary Medical Qualification called Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and are then eligible to undertake your Foundation/Residency training.

The MBBS is open to students from outside the UK and EU. At the earliest opportunity, we will be discussing with Health Education England and the Office for Students, to enable us to offer our medicine degree to students from the UK and EU.

Scholarships

Brunel Medical School will award 10 scholarships specifically for MBBS Medicine for 2021/22 entry. For information please visit the scholarships web page.

Value

Each scholarship has a total value of £30,000 across the duration of the course by offering successful students £6,000 per year contribution towards the tuition fee payment.

Awarding process

All non-EU/UK MBBS applicants can apply for a Brunel Medical School International Scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded on merit and will be assessed and scored on:

1. School/college leavers’ grades
2. MBBS interview performance
3. A short medicine themed paper.

How to apply

Candidates can apply for a Brunel Medical School International Scholarship from 5th September 2020.

The full terms and conditions of the scholarships will be published on the website later in 2020. For general enquiries please contact our Enquiries team.

Clinical placements

You'll undertake a wide range of clinical placements spanning across London and the South East of England. Here you'll not just be observing - you'll have the opportunity to apply your clinical knowledge to real-life clinical situations.

Learning and teaching

You will learn how to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team through communication skills, simulation and ethical decision-making, which are all emphasised throughout the course. We are among the few medical schools in the world to use Team-Based Learning as our main method of classroom instruction. You will learn in state-of-the-art facilities and be taught by highly experienced clinicians and world-class academics in small groups for anatomy and developing clinical skills.

Cutting-edge clinical skills training

You’ll be taught clinical skills and diagnosis from the first term of the MBBS. This will enable you to gradually build and develop your clinical knowledge base throughout your time at Brunel to an advanced level, ready for clinical practice.

Initially, your clinical skills training will take place at our brand new, state-of-the-art learning and teaching centre, supported by clinical skills laboratories and advanced digital technology. Then in the clinical settings, you'll progress from observation to performing these skills under supervision. You will also be working with patients on campus as well as in clinical settings.

Early patient contact

You’ll have valuable patient contact in your first year and over the duration of the MBBS course. This will strengthen your learning and skills-acquisition to help make your studies relevant for your future role as a doctor.

Enhanced learning

We're a small medical school, which means our student-staff ratio is ideal so you should not feel lost in a large class. There are one-to-one tutorials and group study in the classroom, excellent pastoral care, and opportunities to build life-long friendships with students from around the world.

Interactive learning

We have an interactive approach to studying medicine to give you a deep learning experience for understanding the science and art of clinical practice and how health systems operate. You’ll be able to learn from each other, from clinicians and the patients themselves.

Inter-professional and multi-professional learning is an important aspect of our course. You'll be interacting with your fellow students of the other health professional courses at Brunel - nurses, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physician associates, learning with and from one another.

Primary care teaching

You’ll have practical clinical teaching in primary care with the opportunity of working alongside local community healthcare teams. You'll discover many different medical themes: disease prevention, health promotion, counselling, patient education, diagnosis and management of acute and chronic illnesses.

Focussed on patient behaviour

Our MBBS course is emphasising the ‘person-centred’ approach. This means you will first learn why people suffer from their condition and the various physical and sociological factors behind it, then how to treat the condition. You will discover a holistic approach to medicine, the importance of patient behaviours and values, and how the whole family can be affected.

Entry requirements

Academic qualifications:

• A-levels: Applicants normally should have, or be expected to achieve, a minimum of grades AAB at A-level, to include either Chemistry or Biology, a second science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Mathematics) and a third subject (except General Studies).
• International Secondary School Qualifications: Applicants should have or be expected to achieve, a pattern of grades equivalent to AAB at ‘A’ level, to include either Chemistry or Biology and a second science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Mathematics) at the most senior level studied. Please refer to the pdf document for all accepted qualifications.
• International Baccalaureate: Applicants should have, or be expected to achieve, a total score of at least 33 points with Higher Level 6 and Higher Level 5 in either Chemistry or Biology and a second science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Mathematics).
• Mathematics proficiency: The required mathematics competence of at least Grade C in Maths GCSE (or equivalent).
• Graduates: An upper second class (2.1) degree in a subject cognate to medicine will be considered on a case-by-case basis

Applicants who have had to retake the matriculation qualifications required for entry into the MBBS programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis where there have been serious extenuating circumstances.

English Language Proficiency:

• A native English speaker: attainment of at least grade C in an English subject such as GCSE (or equivalent),
• A non-native English speaker: attainment of IELTS 7 with no less than 7 in each subsection.

Medical School aptitude test e.g. BMAT and UCAT:

These tests are not a requirement; however, applicants who have taken such tests may wish to submit their tests as evidence.

Tuition fees

• £40,000 (2021/22 entry)

NB. The tuition fee will increase annually, by no more than 5% or RPI (Retail Price Index), whichever is the greater.

Student electives

You’ll have the opportunity to choose and experience medical practice within a completely different environment.

In year 5 of your MBBS course (and after your final examinations), you’ll have the opportunity to complete an 8-week elective (6-weeks placement and 2-weeks on vacation) either in the UK or overseas. This is an incredibly exciting part of the course where you’ll have the opportunity to choose and experience the medical practice within a completely different environment.

Many students may go to another country (often with their friends) for their elective. But it is not mandatory to go overseas, for you can experience different social backgrounds, cultures and medical conditions in the UK. Indeed, the many regions of the UK are diverse so can offer new clinical areas to explore.

The aim of Brunel’s clinical elective is to broaden the cultural experience of clinical practice and to engage actively in patient care in advance of your first post as a Foundation Year 1 Doctor. It is possible that you’ll feel this placement is outside your comfort zone, nonetheless, it is valuable preparation for the challenges ahead.

The elective placement is self-funded; travel and accommodation are not funded by the university. Costs are variable and will depend on the location. Students looking for less expensive electives generally consider the UK options.

Overseas electives are permitted on condition that students have passed the final year examinations at the first sit (prior to the elective). Students who are unsuccessful in passing the final assessments of the MBBS course will need to retake them in time to graduate and start their first job. Hence the elective periods for those having to retake assessments are generally shorter and limited to a UK based placement.

Curriculum (subject to approval)