Clinical School MB/PhD course information

The MB/PhD Programme leads to the MB, BChir and PhD degrees. It gives you the opportunity to combine research with your clinical education.  

You will learn about medical practice in a changing world and gain clinical skills by direct patient contact.   

During your research component, you can choose to research in: 

  • a laboratory or department on the Cambridge Biomedical campus
  • one of the University sites in central Cambridge
  • a University-affiliated research institute 

Through inspirational teaching and training, you can: 

  • become an exceptional doctor or biomedical scientist
  • combine a depth of scientific understanding with outstanding clinical and communication skills
  • demonstrate a caring, compassionate and professional approach to patients and the public
  • understand fundamental biology and thereby the mechanisms underlying disease
  • integrate basic and clinical research
  • apply a rigorous mechanism-based approach to clinical problems

How to apply 

Current students 

To apply, you must be enrolled on the Medicine, MB and BChir course.

If you have any questions, email year4admin@medschl.cam.ac.uk 

External students 

Only students who take their clinical course at Cambridge can apply to the MB/PhD course.   

We have a scheme where we usually accept 1 or 2 students for transfer between years 3 and 4 from other medical schools with a similar pre-clinical/clinical split. Students accepted to Cambridge for clinical can then apply to the MB PhD scheme. 

If you're interested in applying, contact clinical.dean@cam.ac.uk  

Application process 

To apply you need to be in third year of year of your Medicine degree. 

  1. Download the MB/PhD application form
  2. Complete the application form along with a cover letter from your referees (type or write in black ink).
  3. Sign it with a hand signature or electronic signature. Typed signatures will not be accepted.
  4. Submit your application by emailing it to clinical.dean@cam.ac.uk by 11:59pm on 17 March 2025.
  5. If you're shortlisted, we will contact you by 4 April 2025.
  6. We'll invite you to an interview in May.
  7. If you're successful, we will contact you within two weeks of your interview date. 

The Clinical School Transfer of Information (ToI) form must be completed by you and the Director of Studies (DoS) by 4 April 2025. You should contact your DoS in advance 

Course structure 

In the first 4 years of the course, you will follow the MB/BChir course curriculum up to and including the Year 4 Student Selected Component (SSC) and the Final MB Part 1 examinations. 

You then complete the research component for 3 years and then resume the Medicine course for the final 2 years.  

Picking a project 

You will have nearly free rein to identify the best and most exciting project opportunity. 

This can be in: 

  • any departments in the Clinical School
  • one of the university departments in biological sciences
  • an affiliated institute (Gurdon Institute, CRUK Cambridge Research Institute, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Sanger Institute. Cambridge Institute for Medical Research) 

You will choose over the first term of Year 4 of the MB/BChir course. You will need to investigate the opportunities on offer with mentorship from the Programme Director. 

Research component 

You will be based in Cambridge and keep your medical student status. You will also stay on the Medical Student Register. You will continue your clinical work whilst doing research. 

You will have: 

  • weekly 1-hour undergraduate clinical supervisions (including bedside clinical teaching) which you will be expected to attend regularly.
  • a monthly clinical topic that delivers core clinical educational content (like. basic life support), and gives you insight into some of the common clinical problems, reviewing material covered in Year 4 and introducing some material you will go on to cover again in Year 5 (after your PhD). Attendance at these seminars in an expectation of the programme. 

You will also have a yearly review of:  

  • several clinical problem areas encountered Year 4
  • practical procedures learning from Year 4
  • Year 4 Clinical Communication Skills
  • Year 4 patient investigations
  • Year 4 radiology
  • basic life support review course
  • a clinical problem area you will encounter in Year 5 

Throughout the whole course you will: 

  • develop clinical skills through attending weekly undergraduate clinical supervisions and monthly seminars
  • attend the mandatory annual MB/PhD Symposium
  • maintain a Personal Progress Log
  • attend Graduate School Researcher Development courses as directed by the Director of Graduate Education 

In Year 1, you will: 

  • complete Year 4 of the Medicine, MB and BChir course
  • sit the Final MB Part 1 examination. You’ll need to be in the upper 50% of your cohort to progress to the research component
  • investigate research project options
  • apply to a department and Research Supervisor
  • complete University and funding body research application forms 

After your Final MB Part I examinations, you’ll begin your 3 year full-time research. 

This is combined with your clinical education, including: 

  • weekly clinical supervisions
  • monthly clinical seminars 

In Year 2, you will: 

  • complete the Graduate School Induction Programme covering safety, library resources, ethics, literature searches, IP, data management, presentation skills
  • complete a year’s research and submit a satisfactory Year One report to the Degree Committee 

In Year 3, you will: 

  • present a poster at the annual MB’PhD symposium
  • complete two years’ ‘bench’, information gathering research according to plan
  • prepare a thesis plan 

In Year 4, you will: 

  • present a talk at the MB/PhD Symposium
  • complete the information gathering research phase and written and submitted the thesis 

In Year 5, you will: 

  • complete Year 5 of the clinical course and Final MB Part II. 

In Year 6, you will: 

  • complete the final year of the clinical course and Final MB Part III. 

Transferable skills 

You will complete 10 days of transferable skills training every year and you’ll gain 60 credits over 3 years.  

Some of the training is compulsory, but you will be able to choose some optional training. These 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 

Assessment methods 

The assessment methods for this course are the same as the Medicine, MB and BChir course. 

Your Undergraduate Clinical Supervisor will write a termly report on your clinical progress. It will assess your; 

  • background knowledge
  • communication with patients
  • history taking and presentation
  • examination technique
  • problem solving 

Throughout the course you will need to complete a Personal Progress log. This: 

  • is reviewed at the end of each year
  • can be requested by Degree Committee when considering the first year report or the final dissertation 

At the end of year 1, a report on progress is submitted for examination by two assessors and a viva is held.   

Your supervisor will also write a report on your progress.  

These two reports are submitted to the Degree Committee for approval. If the assessors and supervisor agree, you will continue with your research.  

If not, you might be given a second attempt or be advised to register for a master’s degree instead. 

PhD thesis 

Your PhD thesis must be submitted before you go back to clinical studies. 

Attendance 

We expect you to meet attendance standards of 80% in clinical supervisions in each term and 80% of the seminar programme in each year. 

Funding 

Home/EU students 

If you get a place on the course, you will pay Home/EU rates. You will also get a generous maintenance payment for each year of the three-year PhD.  

Funding can vary between research institutes, but the MB/PhD programme provides a minimum stipend per year of £21,122 rising to £21,737 from 1st October 2024  

Overseas students 

You would be responsible for meeting the funding shortfall between Home/EU and Overseas student fee rates.  

You can apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.