A levels 3 A Levels grade AAA or A*AB or A*A*C to include Chemistry and Biology at grade A. General Studies and Critical Thinking are excluded. Candidates who achieve the required grades following re-sits may be considered.
Scottish Highers 3 Advanced Highers or 2 Advanced Highers plus 2 Highers with Biology and Chemistry to Advanced Higher at grade A.
International Baccalaureate 38 points overall including 18 points in 3 Higher Level subjects including 6 in Biology and Chemistry at Higher Level.
Applicants to BSMS are required to sit the UKCAT exam, but the score will be used selectively, so an above average score is likely to be an advantage but a lower score is not necessarily a disadvantage if outweighed by other factors in the application. Applications are assessed and evidence sought of:
The interview day consists of a short presentation about BSMS, its curriculum and the admissions process. This is followed by a 20 minute semi-structured interview and then a guided tour of the campus. The interview panel will normally be made up of 3 people who include a member of academic staff, a clinician and a medical student.
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Brighton is a very popular place in which to live and study, being a cosmopolitan, vibrant and cultural city with lots to do and a thriving social scene. The University of Sussex is the only university in the UK to be situated in an official area of outstanding natural beauty and is close to the sea
Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) offers an innovative and modern course in one of the UK’s newer medical schools, established in 2003 as part of the government’s drive to train more people to become doctors, so perhaps feels less stuffy and traditional than many other medical schools in the UK. It is a joint venture between the Universities of Brighton and Sussex, meaning students are full members of both universities, and therefore can benefit from the facilities and advantages of each.
The course is fully integrated and systems based, taught via a combination of lectures and small group tutorials, seminars and classes. It is not PBL. As year groups are small, students are able to interact with teachers and other students on a personal level.
BSMS undergraduate course is 5 years duration and consists of the following:
In the first two years, students are based on campus at Falmer and the year is divided into three 10-week semesters. Students have patient experience very early on with 25% of their time spent on clinical attachments in primary care, community medicine and Trust hospitals in the area, developing clinical skills in history-taking, physical examination, diagnosis and effective communication with patients.
Students will study the normal and abnormal functioning of the human body using a system-based approach.
Topics covered in Year 1:
Topics covered in Year 2:
Students will also carry out two family studies:
Students take 3 SSCs a year which relate to subjects being studied at the time.
Student will be in the new Education Centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton undertaking a mix of clinical and academic studies. Year 3 begins with a 6 week course introducing students to clinical medicine as practised in secondary care. They will also undertake four 8-week ward-based attachments in the area’s teaching hospitals in the following specialities:
SSCs during Year 3 involve students having the opportunity for short attachments in specialist areas to deepen their understanding in specific areas. They have a choice of about 60 options available on a range of topics from medicine to the humanities.
Year 4 starts with an 8-week elective following by a rotation of clinical placements in:
The SSC in Year 4 is an individual research project which students will develop for 1 day a week throughout the year. Students can choose a research project on a medically relevant topic of their choice.
In their final year, students will undertake further clinical rotations in DGHs and community setting in Sussex and neighbouring counties as well as University Hospital Trust teaching hospitals. Students will also spend time shadowing FY1s on the wards. Students will attend a course on practical emergency medicine which is based at BSMS’s clinical skills facility.
In the first 2 years, students will sit exams at the end of each Semester in the form of MCQs, EMQs, SAQs and anatomy vivas. The clinical aspects of the course are assessed with a clinical OSCE and an in-depth patient report.
In Year 3 students will sit exams after each rotation which will consist of MCQs, EMQs, SAQs. Clinical aspects are assessed with a 10 minute case-based discussion with 2 consultants.
Year 4 involves two end of year exams on general practice medicine and population medicine & palliative care in the form of SAQs.
Year 5 exams includes written assessments in January on surgery, obstetrics and paediatrics and an OSCE. And a further written assessment in April on medicine, psychiatry and everything else, and another OSCE. All questions are MCQs.
BSMS can boast state of the art anatomy teaching facilities which students will experience from very early in the course with about 3 hours of dissection a week. The dissection laboratory has 19 cadavers, 1 for the demonstrator to dissect and 18 for the students. Students work in groups of 8 and will use the same cadaver throughout the year, receiving a different cadaver for Year 2. As the course at BSMS is integrated, anatomy and dissection is relevant to the current topic being taught during lectures and tutorials. In addition to dissection, students will also examine live specimens during their ‘living anatomy’ sessions. During these, students are given a worksheet and must palpate for certain body structures, drawing them on fellow students. Students must take an anatomy viva each term, during which they must answer a series of questions on their cadaver.
In the first 2 years at BSMS, students attend lectures, tutorials and weekly symposia which focus on specific medical conditions and diseases and the emphasis is on small-group teaching. About 25% of teaching is clinical based in the early years, in the hospital and GP settings. In Year 3 there is a mix of clinical and academic studies and this is facilitated through weekly teaching sessions. In Years 4 & 5 students will be largely on clinical attachment.
Students have an 8 week elective period at the beginning of Year 4. There is no limitation on location and students may take the opportunity to go abroad if they wish. When they return, students must prepare a poster presentation of their choice on their experiences which is marked and will account for up to 25% of their grade in Year 4.
About 40% of students intercalate to study for a BSc (Hons) or MSc at the end of Year 3. BSMS offers the following intercalated degrees: BSc in -
MSc in –
The information on this page is correct as of August 2010
