Medicine (Fast-track, Graduate Entry only) BMBCh

University of Oxford

This course is an intensive four year medical course and has been designed for graduates who are trained in applied or experimental sciences. To find out about our standard-entry medical degree please visit the A100 page.

The practice of Medicine offers a breadth of experiences impossible to find in any other subject. Every day brings different patients with different needs. It’s a great choice for scientists who strive to understand and apply research findings to improve the lives of the patients in their care. It offers a meaningful career that is prestigious, secure and relatively well paid.

However, practising Medicine can be arduous, stressful, frustrating and bureaucratic and it’s not suited to everyone. You need to be sure that Medicine is the right choice for you. These pages will help you work that out, but there’s no better way to find out for sure than by gaining insight of medical practice by seeing it in action and talking to those who provide healthcare. Studying Medicine because that is what is expected of you is never a good idea: make sure that your motives for choosing to do so are well reasoned.

The four-year graduate-entry/ accelerated course (UCAS code A101 BMBCh4) is open to graduates who already have a degree in an experimental science subject.

After a two-year transition phase covering basic science and clinical skills, the accelerated programme leads into the final two years of the standard course and to the same Oxford medical qualification as the standard (six-year) course. The four-year course is designed specifically for science graduates, and places a strong emphasis on the scientific basis of medical practice.

Careers

A vast array of speciality training pathways is available after obtaining a medical qualification, ranging from General Practice or emergency medicine through obstetrics or ophthalmology to paediatrics or psychiatry.

Of course, you need not remain confined to the clinic, ward or the operating theatre: the lecture theatre or the laboratory could also beckon. Some of our graduates end up leading the education of the next generation of doctors or directing biomedical research. You don’t need to know right now what you want to do when you qualify: the Medical School organises careers sessions for final-year clinical students and helps students learn about and apply for foundation house officer posts.