Medicine and Surgery MBChB

Key information

Medicine and Surgery MBCHB banner

Due to the impact of COVID-19 we're changing how the course is delivered.

Overview of the MBChB

The Liverpool MBChB programme is committed to producing superb doctors. Our graduates will be ready to deliver outstanding patient care, in both current and future healthcare systems, and be able to apply a compassionate, evidence-based and patient-centred approach to their clinical practice.

The Liverpool MBChB programme aims to actively develop our students’ interest and skill in medical scholarship, underpinned by a vision to harness expertise, from across the University and further afield, to enable them to shape 21st century medical practice.

NSS 2020

Satisfied with teaching on my course : 91%Overall satisfaction: 91.6%

The MBChB Programme is underpinned by three educational aims:

1. To ensure graduates are able to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills and professional behaviours to safely and ethically practice medicine

2. To ensure graduates are able to meet the core requirements set out by the General Medical Council in “Outcomes for Graduates

3. To enable graduates to become lifelong learners committed to their own professional development.

To appreciate all that Liverpool has to offer, please also see our School website.

The MBChB Programme

The curriculum is delivered under a spiral model, under which concepts are introduced at an appropriate level, and revisited with increasing levels of complexity as the course progresses.

MBChB Programme Structure

YearCourse focus
1 Core clinical science: the structure and function of the human body under ‘normal’ conditions
2 Pathology and disease: ‘abnormality and illness’ and the interaction with the environment
3 Becoming a Practitioner: Core clinical practice
4 Broadening expertise: Specialist and challenging clinical practice
5 Preparing for Practice: Emergency and acute clinical medicine

The curriculum is organised and delivered through a number of supra-themes, which fall into specifically defined themes.

MBChB Curriculum Supra-Themes and Themes

Supra-ThemeThemes
Science and Scholarship 
  • Science of Medicine
  • Research and Scholarship
  • Design and Technology
  • Personalised Medicine and Genetics
The Good Doctor 
  • Psychology and Sociology as Applied to Medicine (PSM)
  • The Clinical Team
  • Professionalism, ethics and legal context
  • Public, Preventative and Global Health
 
Core Skills 
  • Clinical Examination and Procedural Skills
  • Communication for Clinical Practice (CCP)
  • Therapeutics and Prescribing
 
Patient in Secondary Care 
  • Acutely Ill Patient
  • Preparation for Practice
 
Patient in the Community Setting 
  • Patient Care Pathways
  • Disability and Community Care
  • General Practice
 

In Years one and two, all students follow the same lecture timetable, and are allocated to smaller groups for workshops, seminars and practical skills (e.g. clinical skills and anatomy) sessions. All teaching in Year 1 takes place on the University of Liverpool campus.

Throughout Years 2-5 students undertake clinical placements. Local NHS Trusts, GP practices, hospices, specialist services and community services deliver the placement components of the programme. Each hospital placement takes place at one, or more, of the North West hospital sites. During the course of their studies, students will be expected to rotate through the different clinical providers for variable lengths of time, dependent upon placement block requirements and length. This block rotational model has been designed to allow improved student ability in managing transitions and working across different clinical environments to help prepare them for junior medical postgraduate training. Secondary care providers are as follows:

  • Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
  • Aintree Hospital
  • Arrowe Park Hospital
  • Blackpool Hospital
  • Countess of Chester Hospital
  • Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
  • Liverpool Women’s Hospital
  • Royal Liverpool Hospital
  • Southport & Ormskirk Hospital
  • Warrington Hospital
  • Whiston Hospital
  • The Walton Centre

Liverpool MBChB Pathways

There are two pathways through the MBChB programme: a 5 year, full-time undergraduate entry (A100) and a 4 year, full-time graduate entry (A101).

Students joining the A101 programme enter directly into the second year of the 5-year A100 programme, after a 4-week summer school introduction to the MBChB. Students registered on the A101 programme study alongside those registered on the A100 programme, with the same timetable and schedule of teaching and assessments. A carefully designed 'transition' programme ensures students on A101 programme includes weekly teaching sessions that focus on helping students to understand the key components of the system block teaching from year 1 of the A100 course, and integrate this into Year 2.

Department Key Facts

Number of first year students

324 Year One undergraduates in 2018

Graduate prospects

99% are employed or in further study within six months of graduating (Destination of Leavers from Higher Education 2016/17)

Department resources

Excellent facilities both on campus, and with our many local partners, including internationally recognised institutes such as Alder Hey Chlidren's Hospital, the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals and the Walton Centre.

Why this subject?

Prepare for your future medical career with a core foundation in basic and clinical science

With an emphasis on early clinical contact combined with applied science, you will experience expert teaching, equipping you with the building blocks of clinical
practice.

Learn through innovative use of technology

Our Virtual Learning Environment provides access to all course learning materials and e-learning packages, offering lecture capture, interactive feedback and electronic clinical portfolios. Our use of virtual reality offers a truly immersive learning experience, enabling you to visualise a range of different clinical situations in real time.

Experience enhanced learning opportunities

Our unrivalled Human Anatomy Resource Centre allows you to develop an understanding of the human body that will underpin your future skills, while our Clinical Skills Resource Centre will help you practise in a safe environment using manikins, augmented reality, videos and podcasts.

Access some of the best specialist clinical units in the UK

We offer a comprehensive placement network with nationally recognised centres of excellence including Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and the Walton Centre – the UK’s only specialist hospital trust dedicated to neurological services.

Benefit from GP-led small group teaching sessions

Regular sessions throughout Year Three and Four provide a link between primary and secondary care, helping you to gain an understanding of how illness and disease presents in different settings and how chronic disease is managed within the community using a team approach.

Join a supportive community and build lifelong relationships

Join an active and holistic learning community consisting of academic advisers, a peer mentoring scheme and dedicated careers advisers.

Our Wellbeing and Student Support team also provides pastoral care to students experiencing personal and/or academic-related difficulties, as well as offering advice for maintaining good mental and physical health.