Medicine and Surgery MB BS Honours
UCAS Code: A100 (5 Years)

The course is divided into two phases:

  • Phase I extends over two academic years (Stages 1 and 2) and emphasises the integrated nature of medical training
  • Phase II covers three academic years (Stages 3, 4 and 5) and places further emphasis on personal and professional development, student choice and community-based medicine

Phase I (Stages 1 and 2)

You can choose to spend Phase I either at Newcastle University or Durham University, Queen’s Campus, Stockton. See the UCAS Admissions Procedure within the Course Overview for details.

Whilst there are certain differences of emphasis between the course at Newcastle and Durham, the two separate Phase I pathways share common outcomes. The quality of teaching is also excellent at both institutions.

There are ten Units of Study in Phase I:

  • Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Renal Medicine
  • Clinical Sciences and Investigative Medicine
  • Clinical Skills and Communication
  • Induction and Student Support
  • Life Cycle
  • Molecules to Disease
  • Nutrition, Metabolism and Endocrinology
  • Patients, Doctors and Society
  • Student Selected Component
  • Thought, Senses and Movement 

People as ‘patients’ play an active role in Phase I, and you come into contact with them from the very beginning through a link with a GP:

  • In Stage 1 you are attached to a family for the Family Study project
  • In Stage 2 you undertake an in-depth study of a patient with a chronic illness

During Phase I students can take up the opportunity to gain additional early clinical experience by selecting from our bank of clinical experiences.

In Phase I your timetable is planned in such a way as to ensure that you spend no more than 50 per cent of your time in scheduled teaching sessions, including the acquisition of early clinical skills.

The remainder of your time will be focused on self-directed learning and in gaining early clinical experience.

Watch a video about the first two years of study on the Medicine at Newcastle website.

Phase II (Stages 3, 4 and 5)

Regardless of whether you spent Phase I in Newcastle or at Durham University's Queen's Campus in Stockton, all students are integrated into a single common pathway for the three years of Phase II training, delivered in partnership with the NHS.

During Stages 3 and 5 you are allocated to, and based in, one of four regional Clinical Base Units, which may entail you living away from Newcastle. See the Course Overview for details.

During Stage 3 you undertake an initial introduction to clinical practice and a series of essential junior rotations, which provide you with clinical experience in a range of specialities. The essential junior rotations in Stage 3 are:

  • Child Health
  • Chronic Illness, Disability and Rehabilitation
  • Infection and Clinical Practice
  • Mental Health
  • Women's Health

During this time you will also spend a half day each week in general practice.

In Stage 4 you undertake Units of Study that focus on investigation, therapeutics and public health within the following Units of Study:

  • Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
  • Clinical Sciences and Investigative Medicine
  • Patients, Doctors and Society

You follow this with an 18-week period of Student Selected Components and an 8 week Elective. See the Course Overview for details.

In the final year (Stage 5) you are based in a different Base Unit from that you were in during Stage 3. In Stage 5 you undertake a series of senior clinical rotations as below:

  • Child Health
  • Patients, Doctors and Society: Preparing for Practice
  • Primary Care
  • Mental Health
  • Women’s Health

This is followed by a 16 week block called Hospital Based Practice.

Following the final-year examination, you undertake a short preparatory ‘shadowing’ course to ease your transition from student to your Foundation Programme.

In accordance with ‘Tomorrow’s Doctors’ you undertake a study assistantship prior to the Foundation Year examinations.

On completion of your degree

You will be eligible for provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC). Currently, all UK medical graduates are required to complete a two-year Foundation Programme of general clinical training. Once you have successfully completed the first year you are eligible for full registration with the GMC.

The majority of our students decide to apply to Foundation posts within the region. There are sufficient Foundation Programme places in the Northern Region for the majority of medical graduates.

International students

You are currently permitted to undertake the full Foundation Programme, ie the first two years following graduation, but you are normally required to return to your home country to complete further speciality training.