Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - History and Nature

History and Nature

The degree is currently awarded in various forms in institutions in Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, China, Egypt, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Historically, Bachelor of Medicine was also the primary medical degree conferred by institutions in the United States and Canada, such as University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, University of Toronto, University of Maryland, and Columbia. Several early North American medical schools were (for the most part) founded by physicians and surgeons who had trained in England and Scotland. University medical education in England culminated with the Bachelor of Medicine qualification, and in Scotland the Doctor of Medicine, until the mid-19th century when the public bodies that regulated medical practice at the time required practitioners in Scotland as well as England to hold the dual Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. Throughout the 19th century, North American medical schools switched to the tradition of the Ancient universities of Scotland and began conferring Doctor of Medicine rather than Bachelor of Medicine, the first institution to make such a switch being King's College (now Columbia University) in New York.

In the countries that award bachelors' degrees in medicine, however, Doctor of Medicine denotes a holder of a higher doctorate and is reserved for medical practitioners who undertake research and submit a thesis in the field of medicine. Nevertheless, those holding Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery are usually referred to by the courtesy title of "Doctor" and use the prefix "Dr", whether or not they also hold a Ph.D. or DSc. The reason is found in a parallel tradition for those who are post-graduate specialists in Surgery; on acceptance into a College of Surgeons, they stop styling themselves "Doctor" and revert to "Mister" (Mr). This curious situation, where an elevation in professional rank is signified by dropping the title of Doctor, came about because historically a "surgeon" was an ordinary workman, usually a Barber, not trained in medicine but performing dissections and surgery under the direction of a gowned academic who was the actual "Doctor".

Despite their styling as two degrees, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery are usually conferred together. At some institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge, it was possible in the past to be awarded the two degrees in different years.

In many countries, the degrees are awarded after an undergraduate course lasting five or six years. In some cases, a graduate in another discipline may subsequently enter a special graduate-entry medical course, reduced in duration to account for relevant material covered or learning skills acquired during the first degree. In some cases the old first year courses (for six year degrees) in the basic sciences of physics, chemistry and biology have been abolished, and that standard has to be reached by means of school examinations before entry. However, in most countries a newly graduated Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery must spend a specified period in internship before they can obtain full qualification as a medical practitioner.