Course summary

Discover the world of Medicine and Surgery with our newly redesigned course that provides the ultimate preparation for your career as a doctor. Uniquely co-created with input from students, staff and practitioners, our innovative medicine course will help you to make a positive impact in today’s healthcare landscape. Building on Nottingham’s reputation for training outstanding doctors, it offers excellent foundational learning in a supportive environment to refine your skills and build your confidence. Each year of your medicine journey will build on the previous one, following a path from the Art of Medicine through to the Science and finally the Practice. Our spiral curriculum (a model which allows for revisiting of topics throughout the course) is combined with early clinical exposure to help deepen your knowledge, while developing the professional skills you need to succeed. In the first year of the course, you’ll learn key consultation and communication skills alongside introductory clinical knowledge designed to build your ability as an independent learner and provide a solid foundation for the study of medicine.  You will learn the fundamental aspects of patient interaction, physical examination and history-taking, including real-world scenarios to apply your theoretical knowledge early on.  The Art of Medicine focuses on learning the underpinning science to a variety of common symptoms encountered in medical practice, including breathlessness, chest pain and abdominal pain. Your second year will see you diving deeper into the scientific principles underpinning medical practice. Clinical placements will take place in primary care settings one day a week, giving you early exposure to patient care in real-world healthcare environments.  Every week you’ll explore different presenting symptoms, which will increase in complexity to enhance your competence and knowledge. Content will include a thorough study of clinically relevant physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and pharmacology across various body systems, providing a strong foundation for understanding patient care. You’ll also continue to revisit earlier concepts in integrated case-based discussions, so you can feel confident that you’re constantly building your skills. From your third year onwards, the emphasis is on clinical rotations across various medical specialities alongside continued academic learning to further develop your knowledge. Your clinical placements will be both on university campus and in local hospitals and primary care and/or community settings. They will cover the areas of Medicine, Surgery and Integrated Specialities (which may include a range of hospital specialities such as Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Ear Nose and Throat, Mental Health and Sexual Health), Child Health, Women’s Health, Primary Care and Long-Term Conditions. In your final year you may have the opportunity to undertake an elective period of study in the UK or abroad. This flexible placement offers you the chance to gain valuable experience in a different healthcare setting or area of professional development and to broaden understanding of global medical practices or research. Through these placements, you’ll gain hands-on experience, apply knowledge in real clinical settings and start preparing for independent practice. We’ll support you throughout your clinical placements, with regular feedback and supervision to ensure you’re working towards your milestones of the Entrustable Professional Activities and feeling secure, confident and competent. We’ll continue to develop your readiness for practice by enabling you to take more responsibility for setting your own learning goals and self-directed learning as time goes on. Our Nottingham based campuses: University Park Jubilee campus Medical School Building University Hospital sites - including City and QMC