Medicine (MBBCh)

This MBBCh degree, which we call ‘C21’, will prepare you for a rewarding working life as a foundation doctor in the NHS and career beyond. C21 is structured over five years, to allow you to acquire knowledge, clinical skills and professional attitudes within an integrated spiral curriculum. This means you will continually build on what you learn. Our aim is to produce great clinicians who understand people and the environment in which we live.

The C21 programme initially focuses on preparing you for learning in higher education and building a platform for integrated clinical sciences. This is delivered in the classroom, practical classes, lectures and the virtual learning environment. You learn to apply your knowledge in the clinical environment, both in hospital and community settings.

C21 emphasises the importance of learning science in the clinical context, and the central place of the patient in a doctor’s work. We firmly believe that patients are at the heart of medical education and as such you will be introduced to patients from the first year. You will learn about common medical conditions from real patients, as well as their doctors, in authentic and impressively-equipped facilities.

As you progress through the programme you will find there is increasing emphasis on the acquisition of clinical skills, initially in a simulated environment progressing to extended clinical placements with increasing responsibility in hospital and community settings throughout Wales.

Throughout the course, you are expected to display the professional attributes of a doctor in training. By the time you graduate, you will have demonstrated that care of patients is your first concern. With full engagement in the course, you will be able to apply knowledge and skills in a competent and ethical manner and use your ability to provide leadership and to analyse complex and uncertain situations. You will have achieved all the outcomes and clinical competencies required by the General Medical Council set out in ‘Outcomes for Graduates'.

Accreditations

• General Medical Council (GMC)

International Baccalaureate

36 overall (excluding Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay) including 19 at HL. Must include grade 6 in Biology and Chemistry. Grade 7 in SL Biology or Chemistry can be taken in place of HL Biology or Chemistry if you also have grade 6 in HL Maths, Physics, or Statistics. We do not accept IB repeats.

If you are a graduate applicant, you must have or be working towards a 2:1 (Hons) in your degree and have 32 overall in the IB, including subject requirements at Standard and Higher level.

Careers

Career prospects

The Medicine programme is recognised as a Primary Medical Qualification under the Medical Act, and graduates of the programme may apply for provisional registration with the General Medical Council in order to undertake Foundation training.

This degree programme will prepare you for medical practice, with a choice of over 60 clinical specialties you can train in after Graduation. A medical degree also equips you for a broad range of non-clinical roles, including work in academic research, medical education, biomedical research, the pharmaceutical industry and other healthcare-related fields.

In 2021/22, 100% of the graduates from the MBBCh course had secured employment or engaged in further study within 6 months of graduation*.

*Discover Uni destinations of leavers HE records

Graduate careers

• Acute Care
• Anaesthetics
• Clinical Academia
• Emergency Medicine
• General Practice
• Intensive Care
• Medicine
• Occupational Medicine
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Ophthalmology
• Paediatrics
• Pathology
• Psychiatry
• Public Health
• Radiology
• Surgery

Placements

Throughout the course you spend time with patients in clinical settings to provide context to what you are learning. As you progress, your exposure to patients increases along with the complexity of your clinical cases and your responsibilities for patients' care.

Clinical placement teaching takes place at hospitals, community medical centres and over 200 general practices across Wales. This means we can offer you a uniquely diverse clinical learning experience. Skills and professional behaviours are developed throughout the curriculum, so that you are fully prepared for your Foundation Programme and postgraduate medical training when you graduate.

All clinical placements should give you the opportunity to:

• talk to patients, examine them and record your findings and conclusions
• observe different areas of medical practice and learn about common problems within each
• record what you have seen, look up and ask about things you don’t understand
• practice and refine practical clinical skills already learned in a simulated setting in a real clinical environment
• learn about diagnostic processes in clinical scenarios
• contribute to weekly case-based discussion
• present cases to more senior members of staff.

Clinical placements will be delivered by the Health Boards across Wales.

In Years 1 and 2 you will meet patients with clinical problems you have been learning about. You will learn in hospitals and community settings across south east Wales.

During Years 3 and 4 you will spend time on extended clinical placements, all around Wales. Each Clinical Placement Block is seven or eight weeks, with bookend weeks led by Cardiff University, where teaching will be delivered from either Heath Park Campus (UHW) or University Hospital Llandough (UHL).  

“I am absolutely loving my primary care attachment in rural Wales, especially as it has given me such a different perspective on general practice. Initially I was very nervous, given the rough ride primary care healthcare professionals sometimes get in the media at the moment. However, the medical team and practice staff are all fantastic and I am in complete awe of their resilience throughout it all. I have learnt so much from the entire team including the business side of running a general practice to managing patients. You tend to see a lot more acute presentations in rural practices as ambulances take several hours to reach us and hospitals are not close by. Plus, the surrounding area is beautiful and there is lots of time for exploring Wales!”

Alex Richards, MBBCh student

Year 3 Placement:

1. Oncology and Surgical Practice
2. Hospital Front Door
3. Chronic Disease 1, (includes Primary Care)

During Chronic Disease 1, you will spend dedicated time in a General Practice.

You can also apply to spend Year 3 on a stimulating year-long placement in a GP surgery in rural or semi-rural Wales. As well as learning from your GP practice patients, you will spend time at your local hospital. Learning outcomes for your year are identical to students on the main programme, but you will also have had a year as an important part of a valuable primary care team.

Year 4 Placements: 

1. Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Ophthalmology.
2. Women, Children and Family. Under the European Exchange Scheme, you may have the opportunity to do this placement at a partner university.
3. Chronic Disease 2 (Geriatrics, Musculoskeletal and Dermatology).

C21 culminates in your final year, preparing you for your work in the NHS. Our “Harmonisation” years (final year of C21 and first year of your Foundation Programme) will allow you to take your developed knowledge and skill and apply it in the clinical environment, under close supervision.

Final year placements:

1. Junior Student Assistantship
2. Primary Care Attachment
3. Senior Student Assistantship

There is a team of staff responsible for the quality of placement teaching at each hospital. The Honorary Senior Lecturer (HSL) is a clinician with overall responsibility while the Undergraduate Managers are responsible for the day-to-day organisation and administration. Close liaison with both the clinical placement undergraduate team and the administration team at Cardiff University will ensure that you have the best possible experience.

“Cardiff wants you to pass…it pushes you to be a better student and allows you to work through what you are good at.”

Trevor Pinchemain, MBBCh student