School of Clinical Medicine

Most of the clinical course is based in Cambridge although at least one third is delivered in regional hospitals to take advantage of the different educational opportunities which they are able to offer.

At the beginning of each Stage of the course, each student receives a detailed personal schedule which shows the length and locations of their placements.

Students attend Stage 1 of the Standard Clinical Course for six months; followed by a six week Academic Medicine Module before taking up their research studentships.

The research component is based in Cambridge; students retain their medical student status and remain on the Medical Student Register throughout the research period. Students are required to continue to devote time to their clinical work while undertaking research including:

• weekly clinical supervisions;
• monthly clinical-topic seminars.

After three years of research, students resume full-time clinical studies for a final two years.

Themes: as Standard Course
Transferable Skills: as Standard Course

Download the MB/PhD Curriculum Map as a PDF.

Academic Module
The objectives of this six-week programme are to:

• show students how modern science has had an impact on the treatment of disease;
• introduce students to research methodology and identify the areas of expertise they will require for their research project;
• introduce students to their research field to ensure a smooth transition from clinical study to research.

Each day, students spend half their time (normally mornings) on the medicine wards at Addenbrooke’s taking the history of a patient and preparing a detailed case-history with a focus on pathogenesis, their clinical skills are assessed and they have the opportunity to present a case at the weekly Medicine departmental meetings.

For the rest of the day, students spend time in their research departments and the library under the direction of their research supervisors. They identify and begin to acquire the scientific expertise they will require for their research, attend departmental meetings, undertake literature searches and background reading.

Transferable Skills
Students are required to complete ten days of transferable skills training a year, accumulating 60 credits over a period of three years. Some courses are compulsory, others are determined by the students in consultation with their supervisors. Optional courses include:

• Bioinformatics Introductory Practical Course;
• Communicating with the Public
• Ethical Conduct
• How to make a Poster;
• How to Write Your Dissertation;
• Identifying and Commercialising Intellectual Properties;
• Interview Techniques for PhD Life Scientists;
• Keeping a Lab Notebook;
• Project Management;
• Teaching Undergraduates;
• The First Postdoc;
• The Skilled Graduate;
• What is expected of a PhD Student;
• Writing a Research Grant Application;
• Writing a Scientific Paper