Study Medicine in the UK

All about UCAT and BMAT

The BMAT and UCAT are two distinct medical entrance exams that determine whether or not you have the potential to succeed in the medical industry. The UCAT test is used by universities in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. UCAT comprises 5 sections - Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Situational Judgement. First 4 sections are scored out of 900 and Situational Judgement score is between 1 to 4 where 1 being the best score. A good score is approx 2800 and band 1 or 2 in SJ. More than 30 medical colleges in the UK use UCAT score as one of the admission requirements. 8 Medical colleges require students to appear for BMAT.

What is the cost of studying medicine in the UK?

MBBS is typically a 5 year bachelor's degree program for someone who wants to study medicine in the UK. There are around 40 medical schools who offer MBBS programs to international students. MBBS fees in the UK range from 23k to 52k GBP. However the average Tuition fee per year will range between 34k to 48k. There are some colleges where the fee for the first few years is as low as 23k but then for clinical years the fee increases above 50k.

The Admission Process for Medical Studies in the UK

Deadline for the application for any fall intake is October 15 of the previous year. UCAT has to be completed in that year between July and September. Application can be done through the UCAS portal. Requirements will be predicted grade for final years of schooling, previous years grades, UCAT score, Personal statement and Recommendation Letter(s).

What is the process of getting a license to practice as a doctor post-MBBS in the UK?

After the completion of undergraduate medical degree, students are required to complete 2 years of training as a Doctor. This is a paid job. Final year UK medical students or medical graduates can apply to GMC for the provisional licence. Provision licence to practice is must before a student starts the Foundation Year 1 (F1). UK medical schools will provide students all the information and are responsible to nominate students for the foundation program. Students will have to take the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) to be eligible for the foundation program. After completion of F1, students will get full medical licence. 2 years of foundation program involve 6 different rotations or placement in medical or surgical speciality.

What is the process of getting into a specialty?

After successful completion of foundation training, Doctors can either go for training jobs or non training jobs. Training jobs are specialization training in government funded NHS hospitals and training programs administered by the NHS. These are limited seats allocated by each hospital. Non training jobs could be in trust hospitals, or private hospitals or even NHS hospitals. There are three types of training, GP, Coupled and Run Through. GP is a 3 years of training program. Coupled Training where doctors complete core training (CT1,2,3) and then Speciality training (ST 4-9). Run Through training where doctors join the training program and its known as Speciality training (ST1-8). Some branches of medicine like Neurosurgery are included in Run Through training. Multiple exams (like MRCP, MRCS, FRCP, FRCS) have to be passed to successfully complete the training.To get into training jobs, Doctors may be required to complete exams like MSRA (Multi Speciality Recruitment Assessment). Many specialties use this exam as an entrance requirement. CCT (Certification of Completion of Training) is awarded after the completion of training by GMC and then the Doctor is titled Consultant in that specific field. Also note there that there is no fees for specialty training as this is done while working.

Conclusion

Studying medicine requires students to give commitment for a very long period of time but then it's the most respected and rewarding profession. Studying medicine in the UK will give you a very structured progression to complete your undergraduate degree and then progress for foundation training and specialisation training. GoToUniversity Medical Education Consultants have decades of in depth experience to help students to get into top medical colleges in the UK, Europe, Australia and US. We guide students based on their long term career and help them achieve it.