Medicine BM6 Widening Participation (BMBS)

Got a question?

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000

This course lasts for 6 years. Year 0 is designed to build your skills and confidence and give you a grounding in scientific and professional practice. 

After year 0, the course is the same as our main A100 BM5 medical degree. It is split into 4 distinct phases, with clinical practice throughout. 

You will get clinical experience from the first weeks of your course. Clinical experience may involve weekend and evening working. In year 0, most of your teaching sessions will take place over 3 days of the week. From year 1 onwards, your course will be timetabled throughout the week. 

You must pass all the course modules to progress to the next stage and graduate.

Year 0 overview

You'll have interactive sessions studying physiological, anatomical and biochemical concepts and principles and learn how they apply to medicine. You'll also take placements where you can observe how things work in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and GP surgeries. You'll meet patients and healthcare staff.

You'll further develop your professional abilities by learning about ethics, psychology and sociology, including the factors that influence health and illness.  You'll produce a portfolio of your project and placement experience. 

Year 1 overview

Phase 1: The Fundamentals of Medicine

This phase takes place over the first 2 years and is made up of 4 university semesters. During this phase, you will complete a number of systems-based modules integrating anatomy, physiology, pathology and pharmacology with the psychosocial sciences. 

You'll also complete a Medicine into Practice module in years 1 and 2. This will give you the opportunity to learn medical history-taking and examination skills in both primary care and hospital settings. In year 1 you will choose 2 Student Selected Units focusing on public health and medical humanities. 

Phase 1 modules are:

• Foundations of Medicine

• Cardiopulmonary 

• Locomotor 

• Renal 

• Nervous System

• Gastrointestinal System

• Endocrinology and the Life Cycle

• Research into Medicine and Health

• Medicine in Practice 1 and 2

• Student Selected Unit 1 and 2

Year 2 overview

You'll complete phase 1.

Year 3 overview

Phase 2: Progression into Clinical Practice

Year 3 begins with a 16-week module focusing on your research project.

This is followed by 24 weeks of clinical placement focusing on:

• Primary Care and Long-term Conditions

• Medicine and Elderly Care

• Surgery and Orthopaedics

This course also has the option to take a master's of Medical science between year 3 and year 4 (known as intercalation). You can apply for this in year 3. 

Year 4 overview

Phase 3: Developing Clinical Practice

This phase takes place through year 4 over 37 weeks. It continues through the first half of year 5 and ends with the year 5 exams. During this phase your studies and clinical practice will include the following modules:

• Acute Care

• Child Health

• Clinical Ethics and Law

• speciality weeks (neurology, dermatology, head and neck and ophthalmology)

• Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Genitourinary Medicine

• Psychiatry

 In year 5, in the 24-week placement leading up to finals, you will have clinical placements in Medicine, Surgery and Primary Care. You can also choose to complete a fourth student selected unit. 

Year 5 overview

You'll continue with Phase 3: Developing Clinical Practice, and move into Phase 4.

Phase 4: Preparing for Independent Practice

After finals you will undertake an elective: an 8-week placement abroad or in the UK. You will also complete an assistantship module where you will shadow a Foundation doctor for 2 weeks each in Medicine and Surgery. This will prepare you for entering the Foundation programme as a newly qualified doctor in August. 

Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.

The learning activities for this course include the following:

• lectures
• classes and tutorials
• coursework
• independent learning (studying on your own)

Course time

How you'll spend your course time:

Course leader

Sally Curtis is the course leader.

Accreditation

At the end of the undergraduate course you will have the following qualifications: a Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSc Honours) and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS) degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ means you can apply to work in the National Health Service. 

At the end of the course you will be qualified to register with the GMC and apply for a Foundation Year 1 post.

Careers this course can lead to

With a medical degree from Southampton you'll have excellent prospects for medicine career path. 100% of our graduates move on to jobs in the medical field or further study within 6 months of completing their degree.

Most of our graduates go straight into work as a Foundation Year doctor. Learn more about the Foundation scheme and what happens after graduation. 

Our graduates go on to a wide range of careers in medicine:

• accident and emergency

• anaesthetics

• armed forces medicine

• general practitioner (GP)

• gynaecology

• hospital medicine specialties

• medical research

• obstetrics

• orthopaedics

• paediatrics

• pathology

• primary care

• psychiatry

• public health

• radiology

• surgery

You'll be supported by your personal academic tutor who can advise you on your career path throughout your course.

Careers services at Southampton

We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:

• work experience schemes

• CV and interview skills and workshops

• networking events

• careers fairs attended by top employers

• a wealth of volunteering opportunities

• study abroad and summer school opportunities

We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.

Tuition fees

Fees for a year's study:

• UK students pay £9,250.
• This course is not available to EU and international students.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.

Find out how to: 

• pay your tuition fees

• calculate your student finances

You will be responsible for paying certain costs not covered by the tuition fee. These include:

• vaccinations and immunisation

• £100 per year towards travel costs associated with clinical placement.

• medical insurance if you choose to do an elective in another country

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:

• accommodation costs

• living costs

• budgeting advice

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.

If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

Get in touch for advice about student money matters.

Scholarships and grants

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Support during your course

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.

When you apply use:

• UCAS course code: A102
• UCAS institution code: S27

Apply for 2021 entry now

What happens after you apply?

We’ll assess your application on the strength of your:

• predicted or actual grades
• eligibility criteria: you must meet 3 out of 6 criteria. See Section 3.14 of the selection policy below and the entry requirements section of this page
• selection day performance (which we use for offer making)

You’ll receive an eligibility form in November. You must provide evidence showing how you meet our criteria and return the form to us. This form includes answering 3 questions. Your answers help us assess your suitability for the course:

• why is the BM6 programme at Southampton right for you?
• what motivates you to study medicine?
• reflect on a challenging situation you’ve experienced: how will this help you as a medical student?

A panel of BM6 staff will review your answers against our criteria and decide who is invited to a selection day.

Selection days

Personal statements are used at the Selection day. During a selection day you must show how you meet our non-academic criteria by demonstrating that you:

• are self-motivated and resilient
• have reflected on relevant life experiences
• can communicate effectively
• can interact successfully with others
• understand the values of the NHS constitution

The selection process includes an interview and group task. If you’re invited to attend we’ll email you full event details 2 weeks beforehand. For 2021 entry, the selection day will be held online. Visit our selection day page for more details.

We aim to respond to you by the end of March with a decision about your application. Download our full selection policy for 2021 entry (PDF, 190KB).

Please note:

• your reference is not used as part of the selection process but you must provide it as part of your application
• University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) scores are only used to give final offers where selection day scores are tied

Equality and diversity

We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.

Got a question?

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000