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MBBS Graduate Stream (MBBS4)

MBBS4

For 2009 entry you must apply through UCAS by the 15 October 2008 deadline.

You will need to register and sit the GAMSAT entrance test before you apply.

The next GAMSAT UK will be held on Friday 19 September 2008.

Registration opens on 9 June and closes on 17 August 2008.

Online registration and test payment of £166 (plus VAT) for the September 2008 sitting must be completed by 5pm (BST) on 17 August 2008.

Late registrations for this sitting will be accepted until 5pm (BST) on 31 August on payment of a late fee of £50 in addition to the registration fee. Under no circumstances will registration be accepted after this time.

Please go to the GAMSATUK website for more information www.gamsatuk.org

Open Days

We are holding Open days for MBBS4 on:

Wednesday 10 September 2008

To reserve a place, please got to /opendays/

The MBBS Graduate Entry Stream (MBBS4) — formerly known as the Graduate Entry Programme (GEP) — is a four-year medical degree open to graduates from any discipline. St George's, University of London has introduced this course in response to the need to train more doctors in the UK by widening access to people other than traditional A level school-leavers with science qualifications.

As a mature applicant we feel that you will have gained a wider experience, and that you will have had more time to give serious consideration to your career choice.

In addition, the English educational system imposes an early choice between arts and sciences and many students opt for arts subjects where they can take an active, critical part at an early stage. In contrast it is very difficult to be creative in science until much later, when a solid body of knowledge has been absorbed. We feel that many students who would be highly suited to the 'Tomorrow's Doctors' vision of medicine, with its mix of people skills and science, are unable to apply for medicine because of this rigid selection criteria.

Accordingly we have developed the MBBS Graduate Entry Stream, in order to widen access and to meet the needs of mature applicants, who will have already undertaken a first degree in another subject.

Profile
Emma Humphreys
MBBS Graduate Entry Stream

Like many of St George's students, medicine wasn't even on the radar for Emma Humphreys when she was at school.

Now, 36 year old mother of four, Emma goes to “doctor school on choo-choo” as her two year old son Ben, describes it.

Or to put it more conventionally, she is on St George's MBBS4 (formally the Graduate Entry Programme), which allows people other than traditional A Level school leavers with science qualifications to qualify in medicine. Read about her fascinating story.

Course Details

Institution Code name: SGEO

Institution Code: S49

UCAS Course Code: A101

Entry requirements

Entry to the MBBS4 Graduate Stream requires knowledge and understanding of the sciences underpinning the study of medicine, as well as more general skills of problem-solving, critical thinking and writing.

Applicants must:

Have or be predicted to gain at least a lower second class honours degree in any discipline or a higher degree such as MSc, MA, MPhil or PhD.
Be classed as a home student (which includes nationals of EU countries). At present international students (i.e. those from outside the EU) are not accepted. A Government quota sets numbers of such students admitted to Medical Schools in the UK.
Demonstrate relevant hands-on work experience
Have a satisfactory health check
Have a satisfactory police check
Sign and agree to the MBBS Student Entry Information document

There is no upper age limit on this course nor are there any GCSE or A level subject or grade requirements

You may apply if you are in the final year of a degree course, but will be offered a place only on condition of obtaining a good degree classification.

Admission to the MBBS4 Graduate Stream will be in three stages:

Application through UCAS (before 15 October)
Application for GAMSAT between 9 June and 17 August (NB this is a separate application form available from UCAS). A professionally designed and marked written entrance test based upon that developed for Australian graduate-entry medical schools (GAMSAT) will be used to select candidates for interview. This tests knowledge, reasoning skills and communication across a range of disciplines.
Those performing well in GAMSAT will be invited for interview. We will interview approximately 2.5 candidates for each place.

Number of places available:

2008 entry: 98 places
(The deadline has passed for 2008 entry and no further applications are being accepted for 2008).

2009 entry: 112 places

If you are applying for 2009 entry GAMSAT will take place on Friday 19 September 2008. Registration for the test opens on 9 June and closes on 17 August 2008. Please note if you do not sit the test on 19 September 2008 you will not be considered for 2009 entry.

Results will be available in December.

MBBS Student Entry Information

All students offered a place are asked to agree to a set of principals which enable us to deliver the teaching required for you to pass your course. You can view a copy of this agreement here. If you would like to discuss any of the issues contained in this document please contact the MBBS Admissions Officer in advance of making an application.

Student Entry Information

More Information

MBBS4 Information booklet 2009_150408

Methods of teaching

As graduate students you will have the same amount of practical clinical teaching and experience as your colleagues on the five year programme, but your course will be structured around Problem Based Learning (PBL).

As in the five year course the four main curricular themes are Basic and Clinical Sciences, Patient and Doctor; Community and Public Health, and Professional Development, which are studied throughout the course. In PBL you will be presented weekly with scenarios (case histories) which you will explore with a tutor.

By covering the knowledge base needed to understand different aspects of the problem, you will gradually cover all the required knowledge for the practice of medicine. Small groups of students learn together in their own 'home room' with a designated tutor who is available to meet regularly with the group and guide their studies.

We feel that St George's is an ideal setting for this type of programme, with adjacent bioscience and clinical departments with an extensive patient base, excellent IT and library facilities and an integrated undergraduate MBBS curriculum which already uses Problem Based Learning.

Course Structure

Six main themes underpin the course and feature throughout the four years:

Life Control
Life Cycle
Life Maintenance
Life Protection
Life Structure
Life Support

Alongside PBL, you will also be required to take four Special Study Modules (one each year) in which you will study a subject of your own choice. You will also have clinical experience from the outset, spending time in a range of hospitals, general practices and community services to ensure that you receive a broadly based education.

The University intranet will provide access to resource materials needed for PBL, regardless of where you are studying. The intranet will allow you to study at a time appropriate for your programme, and to gain access to all the materials available.

The University has a strong network system, and a new student computer suite containing 200 open access PCs. The 'home rooms' of each PBL group will also be connected to the network.

Method of Assessment

The emphasis will be on regular assessments designed solely for student guidance (formative) and annual progress assessments. Satisfactory completion of Special Study Modules is required for entry to the final examinations. The final examinations are taken in Year Four and are the same as the finals for students on the five year MBBS course.

Further information

Mrs Michilla Regan
MBBS Admissions Officer
St George's, University of London
Cranmer Terrace
Tooting
London
SW17 ORE
Tel: 020 8725 5201
Fax: 020 8725 0841
Email: gep@sgul.ac.uk