Imperial College London Medical School - Graduate entry

Factfile at a glance

Entry requirements

2.1 Honours degree or PhD. The degree or PhD must be in a biological subject such as Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Physiology, Bioengineering, Biomedical Science or Pharmacology and Translational Medicine Science but this is not exhaustive.

The application process

Applications are screened to ensure they meet the minimum academic requirements and that the first degree is in a suitable subject. The UKCAT score is used along with the academic information on the application, to select candidates for interview. Applicants are required to meet a minimum standard in each of the four sections of UKCAT.

The personal statement is crucial in securing an interview at Imperial and the admissions panel will also require evidence of the following personal qualities before deciding to offer a candidate an interview:

• Motivation for and an understanding and insight into a career in medicine – they want to see applicants demonstrating evidence of reading around medicine, taking first-aid courses and work experience in a relevant caring environment
• Community activities – such as volunteering for charitable organisations or care homes for the elderly
• Leadership skills – DoE, school prefect, MedSoc President
• Teamworking skills – Young Enterprise, part-time work

The interview is 15 minutes in duration and will take place between November and January. The panel consists of a chairperson and two other members of the selection panel and often also include a senior medical student and a lay observer. Before the interview, candidates will have the opportunity to tour the South Kensington Campus accompanied by an existing Imperial medical student and this is a great opportunity to ask them questions on the medical programme and what it’s like to study at Imperial.

In the interview, the panel will evaluate each candidate on particular personal attributes using questions such as:

For motivation and understanding of medicine as a career:

• Why do you want to be a doctor?
• What have you done to find out about medicine as a career?
• Who have you talked to about doing medicine and what did you learn from them?
• What do you think you might like best about medicine as a career?
• What do you think are likely to be the worst things about being a doctor?
• What do you feel makes a good doctor?
• What difference did your work experience make to you?
• Why do you want to come to Imperial?

For capacity to deal with stressful situations:

• How do you deal with stress?
• What do you do to relax?
• How do you cope in situations where there’s not enough time to finish a task?
• How do you manage to deal with stress while taking exams?
• What do you do when you have 3 or 4 things to do that are all urgent?

For evidence of working as a leader and a team member and ability to multitask:

• Give me an example of a time you worked in a team
• Have you dealt with a difficult situation?
• What duties does team captain involve?
• How do you feel about sharing work with others?
• How do you balance work and outside activities?
• Why are your personal interests important to you?

For likely contribution to university life:

• How do you think you will contribute to life at Imperial?
• Which activities do you think you would like to do?
• What would you like people to remember about you from your medical school life?
• The medical course is hard work. How do you propose to manage your work and still play rugby?

Candidates will also be questioned on their communication skills and maturity of character and will be given an ethical situation to comment on. Interviewers will also test graduate applicants on their understanding of mammalian cell biology and their ability to think logically and draw conclusions from data.

The interviewers will have seen a copy of each candidate’s personal statement and will ask questions on this.

Following interview, candidates would normally receive a written response in early February.

No offers are made by Imperial without interview.

Why Imperial?

Imperial has a reputation as being one of the best academic institutions in the world and there is a certain grandeur about the place which is only reinforced by its up-market location in London’s Kensington.

In 1997, the Faculty of Medicine brought together the major west London medical schools to create one world class institution under the name of Imperial medical school. The large population of staff and students affords Imperial medical school a significant research income and it is one of the largest faculties in Europe. Imperial comprises a number of campuses in London and the South East including:

• Charing Cross Hospital
• The Chelsea & Westminster Hospital
• The Hammersmith Hospital
• Northwick Park Hospital
• The Royal Brompton Hospital
• Silwood Park Hospital
• South Kensington Hospital
• St Mary’s Hospital

Course overview

Years 1 (pre-clinical)

Students will spend the first year supplementing the basic knowledge they acquired in their undergraduate science degree to bring them up to the same level as those who have completed the first two years of the 6 year undergraduate MBBS course.  As the type of information required will vary between students, depending on the subject of their first degree, the first year is designed to accommodate students of different scientific backgrounds and is based on four themes:

Students participate in a Patient Contact Course where, working in a pair they will be assigned a patient to visit several times in their home environment and in a clinical setting, throughout the year. They will explore the following themes:

• Symptoms, illness and disease
• The experience of health and social care
• Living with a long-term condition

After Year 1, graduate students will join the third year of the existing 6 year MBBS course.

Year 2 (clinical)

Topics covered in Year 2 include:

The year is broken down into one 6-week and two 10-week clinical attachments at any of the hospitals associated with Imperial medical school. Students will refine their clinical skills by taking a history and performing an examination with at least two patients a week and they will be required to write these up as case histories. Students will also be expected to learn how to present a patient to a consultant and will be assessed on this.

After Year 2, graduate students will join the fifth year of the existing 6 year MBBS and will not take the intercalated BSc.

Year 3 (clinical)

Year 5 starts with a dedicated clinical pathology course followed by rotations on hospital placements in the following clinical specialties:

• O&G
• Paediatrics
• Psychiatry
• Oncology
• General practice
• Neurology
• Infectious diseases
• Dermatology
• Rheumatology
• Orthopaedics

Year 4 (clinical)

The final year consists of seven 3-week clinical attachments in:

• A&E
• General practice
• Cardiology
• Radiology
• ENT
• Ophthalmology
• Renal medicine

Students also get to do an SSC, two professional work experience attachments (in medicine and surgery), a practical medicine course and a revision course.

Anatomy

Anatomy teaching follows more traditional anatomy teaching methods with lectures followed by cadaveric dissection. Lectures provide the background and theory and in the dissection room, students are split into groups of 10 to examine and work on cadavers under the supervision of anatomy demonstrators. Surface anatomy sessions are also available which allow students to look at anatomy and relate it to their clinical examinations.

Examinations & assessments

Performance is assessed through a combination of formal exams and continuous assessments throughout the years.  Written exams consist of EMQs, Single Best Answers & Short Answer Questions. Clinical exams take the form of OSCEs & PACES.  Progress tot he next year of the course is conditional on passing the exams.  Students can use computer-based self-tests for revision throughout the year.

Teaching

Teaching at Imperial comprises of lectures, clinical demonstrations, tutorials, seminars, computer-based learning, lab practicals and clinical skills classes, with some PBL.

Electives

Students take an 8-week elective in Year 4 in any subject of interest which is related to medicine and generally many students take this opportunity to experience a healthcare environment in an overseas setting.

The pros & cons of studying medicine at Imperial

The information on this page is correct as of August 2010