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The University of Southampton
Medicine

First students to graduate from unique European medical degree programme

Published: 17 July 2018
BM(EU) programme
First students to graduate from unique European medical degree programme

The first cohort of students to undertake a medical undergraduate degree delivered jointly in the UK and Germany will graduate this summer.

Fourteen students who have successfully completed the BM(EU) programme will graduate at the University of Southampton ceremony on Friday 20 July, in front of their family, friends, classmates and lecturers.

The programme is a joint degree between the Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton and the Kassel School of Medicine at Gesundheit Nordhessen Holdings, a German healthcare provider.

It is a GMC regulated course offering a European clinical experience within a UK curriculum and modelled closely on the University's long-established five-year programme, BM5. Students on the BM(EU) study alongside BM5 students in Southampton for the first two years before returning to Kassel in Germany for the majority of their final three years. Clinical examinations take place in Southampton.

The course is a year shorter than the traditional German medical programmes and is taught in both English and German. On graduation, students receive provisional registration from the GMC which entitles them to apply for a licence to work in Germany. They then complete a Foundation Year (FY1) in Kassel which is quality assured by the Wessex deanery. Successful completion of this FY1 year leads to full registration with the GMC which allows them to work anywhere in Europe.

Munkhtsetseg Altankhuyag from Germany is among the first BM(EU) students to graduate and said she enrolled in the programme because she knew it would open doors for her in the UK as well as internationally.

“The course has offered me so many opportunities to meet new people and learn from inspirational academics,” she said. “I have been able to learn about a totally different health care system, which has helped me to appreciate and understand the good aspects as well as the bad aspects of healthcare. Now I have completed the programme I feel educated, free and independent.”

Dr Clare Polack, BM(EU) Programme Leader said: “Congratulations to all of our BM(EU) students who are graduating this year. Everyone has put a lot of hard work and dedication into making this programme work so this is a time for celebration.

“We are very proud to provide this unique experience that includes clinical experience in both the UK and Germany. The agreement between the University of Southampton GNH was signed in October 2011, so to finally see the first students graduating is very special.”

Photo of Munkhtsetseg Altankhuyag
Now I have completed the programme I feel educated, free and independent.
Munkhtsetseg AltankhuyagBM(EU)

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