Medical School in The United Kingdom - Intercalated Degrees

Intercalated Degrees

Some medical students spend one or two additional years at medical school (lengthening a five year course to six or seven years) studying for an intercalated degree. This is an extra degree awarded in addition to their medical degrees, giving the student the opportunity to gain an extra qualification, and aids students' research and individual study skills. At the end of this intercalated year or two students are awarded a degree, which is variously styled as BSc, BA, MSc, BMSc (Hons), BMedSci(Hons), MA, MPH, MClinEd depending on the university, level of award, and subject studied. Usually students complete an intercalated bachelors degree the year after completing the second or third year of their medical course. Masters degrees are offered at some schools for students who have completed the fourth year of their medical course.

The way the programme is implemented varies across the country: sometimes the intercalated degree will be specifically for medical students (e.g. a supervisor-led research project culminating in a dissertation), whilst sometimes the intercalated student will complete taught courses offered to final year BSc or masters students, or a combination of these. At some medical schools the intercalated degree may be undertaken in a specific subjects (e.g. Immunology, Pathology, Cardiovascular Science, Respiratory Science, Social Medicine, Management, History Of Medicine, Humanities etc.), whilst at other medical schools there is a common curriculum for all intercalated students (often with some choice within it).

At many medical schools, the year is optional, and a relatively small percentage of students elect to study for it. In contrast to this, all students at University College London, Imperial College London, Bute Medical School (St Andrews), University of Oxford and University of Cambridge study for a BSc/BA in addition to their medical degrees. These five medical schools have a six-year curriculum, in which students complete a three-year pre-clinical course, which leads to a BSc or BA, followed by a three year clinical course, which in combination with the BSc or BA leads to a full medical degree. The degree awarded is BA at Oxford and Cambridge (which later becomes an MA), and BSc at the others. At these five medical schools, it is sometimes also possible to spend extra optional year(s) where one can study for an intercalated masters or doctoral degree in addition to the BSc/BA which all students receive, for example, the University of Cambridge offers an MB PhD programme of nine years total duration comprising preclinical training, the intercalated BA (see above), clinical training and within the clinical training period a PhD. University College London offers an MB PhD programme which can be completed in just eight years of study.

Degrees are classified according the British undergraduate degree classification system. This is taken into account in the Foundation Schools Application Form, in which applicants are awarded extra points for a higher class degree. As of 2012, intercalated degrees are able to contribute the maximum of 4 points to the foundation year 1 posts application. The number of points awarded is as following: 4 for a first class, 3 points for a 2.1 class, 2 points for 2.2 class and 1 point for a third class.

In contrast to the intercalated degrees mentioned above, there also exists a Bachelor of Medical Science degree (BMedSci). This degree is usually awarded to students who have successfully completed the first three years of pre-clinical medical education. At most universities, students who go on to complete the full clinical course (and are awarded MB ChB or equivalent) do not get the BMedSci, however, at Nottingham, a BMedSci(Hons) is awarded to all students after the first three years of their course whether they continue with clinical studies or not. The grade for this degree is based on their marks in their project options and special study modules. This differs from the intercalated degree mentioned above in that no extra study is involved. However, some other medical schools do style their intercalated degrees BMedSci(Hons), causing some confusion.