The 6 year course includes a pre-medical year which is designed to widen access for local applicants (Tayside and Fife) who are unable to gain direct entry to the 5 year MBChB programme due to adverse personal or educational circumstances, such as limited family income, family or home circumstances not conducive to student, non-Science background or first in the family to progress to higher education.
A levels AAA including not more than one Science. Re-sit candidates will not be considered.
Scottish Highers AAAAB including not more than one Science at Higher or Advanced Higher.
International Baccalaureate 37 points including 6, 6, 6 at Higher Level.
All applications are screened to ensure they meet the required academic grades and predictions and scored accordingly. The reference will also receive a professional assessment score. The personal statement is the reviewed for evidence of medical experience and non-academic achievements and this is also scored. The UKCAT score is then added to the others to produce a final composite score. The final score is then used to decide who is invited for interview with the top 500 candidates’ scores being selected.
Dundee operates a Multi Mini Interview (MMI) format consisting of ten 7-minute stations. Interviewers at these stations will be looking for evidence of the following personal qualities:
They will also delve further into the personal statement, checking for integrity and evidence of community involvement.
Each station is scored based on 3 ratings:
Interviews take place during January and February. Successful applicants can expect to receive an offer in March. No offers are made without interview.
Save 24% of Recommended Retail Price by purchasing our Complete Pack for Medical School Entry Preparation. This comprehensive package will help you with your UCAS personal statement, your UKCAT exam and your medical school interview practice. Buy now. Only £41.99 (Full RRP is £55.00).
The city of Dundee is small and friendly with a very relaxed atmosphere in a beautiful setting on the River Tay. A sense of ‘community’ prevails and students at Dundee soon get to know other students there. The main university campus has undergone recent development and many of the halls of residence are new and located on campus.
Dundee medical school is consistently highly rated for the quality of teaching and the facilities available. Teaching is problem-orientated, student centred and community-based with placements at Ninewells Hospital which is at the centre of many areas of pioneering research in cancer, keyhole surgery, heart disease, drug development and medical education.
A new education facility is being build on the Ninewells Hopsital site which is due to significantly enhance the quality of teaching facilities at Dundee.
The one year pre-medical year provides students with experience of a laboratory environment studying the basic sciences required to prepare them for studying the MBChB course. This covers a combination of Biology, Chemistry and Biophysics in 6 separate modules through the year and students will join the Life Sciences Foundation level 1 course, which is similar to A Levels or Advanced Highers in each subject, taking lectures and practicals with other first year life scientists.
Upon successful completion of the Pre-Medical year, students progress to the 5 year MBChB programme.
Dundee medical school undergraduate course is 5 years duration and consists of the following:
Topics covered in Year 1: In the first semester, students are introduced to the basic principles required in the study of body systems including:
There is also teaching on doctors, patients and communities (DPaC) and basic emergency care. DPaC is where students are assigned a real patient to follow over a three year period to talk to and learn about the sociological side of medicine, international health, disease prevention and so on, under the tutorage of a practising GP and other healthcare professionals.
A start is also made on the practical acquisition of clinical skills with one session a week learning and practising clinical history taking, examination of patients and simple investigations. In Year 1, one afternoon a week is allocated to SSCs which focus on basic sciences and culminate in a essay at the start of May.
Exams at the end of semester 1 comprise an anatomy spot test of 50 stations and an online EMQ and multiple choice exam.
Topics covered in Year 1 (semester 2) to Year 3:
In phase 2, a body systems approach covering both normal and abnormal function, is used to integrate students’ learning around patient problems in a PBL approach, together with lectures, and tutorials. Students will also spend time in the clinical skills unit to further their training in clinical skills, on hospital wards, clinics and in general practice continuing their DPaC teaching.
The SSC in phase 2 is divided equally between Years 2 and 3 with 2 x 4 week blocks in each year. This can be carried out in Dundee or in another hospital and topics can be chosen from a list of topics or self-proposed. In phase 2, there are over 70 modules covering topics such as:
There are end of year exams in the form of an online multiple choice and EMQ and/or constructed response written questions. There is also an end of year OSCE
Topics covered in Year 4 & 5: Students build on the skills and knowledge acquired in phase 1 & 2 in various clinical settings in hospital including:
As well as placements in Ninewells, students may also be allocated to smaller district general hospitals such as Perth Royal Infirmary, Stirling Royal Infirmary, Roxburghe House, Victoria Hospital and Queen Margaret Hospital.
Students take their electives at the beginning of Year 5 and there is also an extended 4 month placement in Malawi available which replaces some of the other blocks and helps students learn about medicine in a different environment.
There is an online and a written exam as well as an OSCE at the end of Year 4. There are also case discussions for each block, end of block examinations, case presentations and a project. At the end of Year 4 students will also sit their first MBChB exams with the second set being at the end of Year 5.
Dundee is one of the few medical schools in the UK where anatomy is still taught by cadaveric dissection. Each year students attend a thanksgiving service in the University chapel, which the families of those who donated their bodies for medical teaching, in appreciation. Students receive 2 hours of lectures and are split into groups of 4 for a further 4 hours of dissection, with an anatomy demonstrator to direct and supervise them.
An extensive anatomy library is also available with a wide range of prosections and xrays available and this is visited at the beginning of each new teaching block to refresh anatomy relevant to that body system.
In the first year, all areas except the limbs are covered. In Year 2, students move on to the limbs and spine which mirrors the musculoskeletal clinical information which they are being taught at the same time.
Most of the course at Dundee is delivered using structured teaching but there is also an element of PBL in the Integrated Teaching Session and also in small group work. The Integrated Teaching Session consists of a two hour session where students review posters pinned to the walls and answer questions on them, followed by a feedback session with a tutor. The questions are usually made up of a scenario about a patient with a problem and students must use the information on the posters to answer the questions. These are usually highly interactive sessions. Each week there is usually a ‘problem of the week’ which students discuss in their groups with no tutor.
Students take a 6 week elective at the beginning of Year 5. Students may choose where they want to take their elective and there is no restriction on location. They will be required to produce an elective report which comprises of case students and a demonstration of an appreciation of the country visited and its culture, together with an overview of their healthcare systems and reflection on what they have gained and learned from the experience.
Upon successful completion of Phase 2, students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated BMSc degree which allows students to study one of the basic medical sciences in more depth. Courses are available in:
The information on this page is correct as of August 2010
