The Structure of the Five Year MBChB Programme
Phase I (First Year, 1M) - Fundamentals of Medical Sciences
This phase forms the foundation for all teaching that follows throughout the MBChB programme. Basic principles from the phase should be revised when appropriate to enhance your understanding of clinical subjects.
Phase II (Second Year, 2M and two thirds of Third Year, 3M) - Principles of Clinical Medicine
This phase is an introduction to disease, both in theory through lectures and self-learning and in practice, through bedside teaching. All your future clinical skills will be based on what you learn in this phase and it is worth your complete dedication.
Phase III (Remaining third of the Third Year, 3M and all of Fourth Year, 4M) - Specialist Clinical Practice
This phase begins with a four-week Special Study Module that centres on ethical issues. The subsequent weeks consist of nine five-week specialist clinical rotations that are partly organised by body systems and partly by multi-disciplines, for example the "cardiovascular block" includes attachments to cardiology, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery. The aim of the Phase III is to allow students to develop the practice of diagnosis and management of both individual patients and patient all populations at all ages with medical conditions affecting any of the body systems in the appropriate environment.
Throughout this phase, students attend various clinical settings including, out patient clinics, general practices and other places of work. Students are given the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of how doctors in all the specialties actually go about their practice.
Phase IV (Fifth Year, 5M) - Professional Practice
This phase comprises of five courses. Three of these are "clinical" and students have some choice in specialty and projects within these blocks. For example, students in the medical course may choose from adult medicine, paediatrics and medicine for the elderly. In the surgical course, the choice is from surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology and anaesthetics/intensive care. In the third clinical course, general practice and mental health are the disciplines available.
Each of these courses covers certain core skills common to all areas of medical training in which students are required to become proficient. At least one of the clinical courses will be undertaken in Inverness or Elgin, however, much of the time it is spent on areas of particular interest to the individual. Phase IV is very much an apprentice year where students become much more actively involved in the tasks they will be expected to undertake as pre-registration house officers.
Of the remaining two courses one is a project based elective on a medical topic. The majority of students decide to undertake this elective abroad. The other course, the paramedical elective course, allows students to study a topic out with a traditional medical curriculum. Students can choose from a selection of medically related and non medical topics, including European languages, computing, sociology, the history of medicine, medicine and literature, management studies and complementary medicine.
