Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) MBChB 2027 entry

Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.

• Year 1

  You will be based at the University of St Andrews and NHS Fife, where your learning will be focused around 30 week-long patient scenarios using an approach known as case-based learning. For example, a case of sore throat might lead into examination of the throat and neck, related anatomy, microbiology, pharmacology, and related public health issues.

  The complexity and challenge of the cases builds as you and your peers become more effective learners. Case-related clinical and communication skills will be introduced alongside topics such as biochemistry, pharmacology and anatomy.

  Semester 1 will use cases that focus on foundational medical sciences; this knowledge will subsequently underpin more challenging scenarios.

  Semester 2 concentrates on the body systems where you will learn examination skills in conjunction with the relevant regional anatomy.

  During this year, for one day a week, you will be engaged in small-group, work-based learning supported by a dedicated team of GP teachers or ‘generalist clinical mentors’ in a local general practice. This will include regular clinical experience and patient contact from the outset.

  Agents of Change projects will include a voluntary sector placement and prescribing improvement project.

• Year 2

  This year introduces a further 19 patient scenarios. Teaching in Year 2 is delivered simultaneously in three regions, enabling placements in Fife, the Scottish Highlands, and Dumfries and Galloway. You must be prepared to live and study away from St Andrews for between 16 and 18 weeks during Year 2. The location of your study will be based on regional quota and student preference, if possible.

  Student accommodation will be provided for placements outside Fife, but it is expected that you will maintain a base around St Andrews for the duration of Year 2.

  You will continue to work for one day each week with a Generalist Clinical Mentor in the community setting and spend an additional half day in a specialist clinical environment. Year 2 closes by providing experience of unscheduled care, such as GP, emergency department, ambulance, and project work related to Agents of Change.

• Year 3

  In Year 3, you will undertake a 'longitudinal integrated clerkship' (LIC) where you will join a general practice over the course of a year rather than taking part in ‘traditional’ clinical rotations. This apprenticeship-style educational model allows you to follow patients through their illness journeys.

  Approximately half of your week will be spent consulting with patients in primary care, the remainder of the week will be spent attending placements in hospital settings, attending weekly small group tutorials, or undertaking project work. This approach works especially well for graduate learners and has been shown to develop more patient-centred doctors with improved decision-making skills.

  Agents of Change activities run in parallel with your clinical learning during this period including community engagement and healthcare improvement projects.

  LIC placements will be available in all four partner health board areas for the entirety of the year and the majority will be in rural areas predominantly in Highland and Dumfries and Galloway. You must be prepared to live and study away from Fife and Tayside.

• Year 4

  As a competent generalist student, you will now be immersed in the hospital environment and prepare yourself for work as a resident doctor. Placements are offered across the four health board areas, and you have the option of being based in a single health board for the entire year.

  You will complete a foundation apprenticeship lasting two months, and other hospital-based clinical attachments in final preparation for practice as a Foundation Year 1 doctor. Additionally, all students undertake an acute care block to equip them to manage the acutely unwell patients they will encounter when they start work as a resident doctor.

  You will also conduct an Agents of Change healthcare improvement project in a hospital setting, consolidating key learning and QI methodologies.

  All students are able to undertake student selected components where you can focus on a particular clinical area of interest in greater depth. You will also undertake an eight-week clinical elective which can, potentially, take place anywhere in the world.

  You will also conduct an Agents of Change healthcare improvement project in a hospital setting, consolidating key learning and QI methodologies.