outline
BSMS has created a curriculum which reflects the radical changes of the last few years in the way in which medicine is now taught.
For example, students at BSMS are introduced to patients as early as their first year of training.
Additionally, as part of their family studies, first-year students are assigned to a family with a new-born baby, and are able to monitor the early phases of its development.
In their second year, students become closely involved with a family which includes a dependent who requires continuing care.
Years 1 and 2
In the first two years, your academic and clinical studies will be based on campus at Falmer. The degree is organised into three 10-week terms each year. 25% of your learning at this stage will be clinically based and will include gaining experience in primary care and community medicine and in different out-patient settings in the school’s partner Trust hospitals.
You will carry out two individual family studies – in year 1 with a family looking after a new baby and, in year 2, with a family including a dependant requiring continuing care. You will start to develop clinical skills in history-taking, physical examination, diagnosis and effective communication with patients.
At the same time, you will study the normal and abnormal functioning of the human body using a system-based approach. You will complete a series of integrated ‘Systems’ modules, which cover the core biomedical and psycho-social sciences that every doctor must know, together with student-selected components (SSCs) that allow you to undertake individual studies and explore selected topics in depth, informed by the latest research. Weekly clinical symposia, focusing on specific medical problems or diseases, emphasise the importance of problem-solving and the integration of clinical and scientific information from different disciplines. There is an emphasis throughout on small group teaching, with most year 1 and 2 classes, other than core lectures and symposia, in groups of 8 or 16 students.
Year 1:
- Foundation of health and disease
- Heart, lungs and blood
- Nutrition, metabolism and excretion
- Clinical practice one – placements in hospital setting, primary care setting and with a family with a new baby.
Year 2:
- Neuroscience and behaviour
- Reproduction and locomotion
- Endocrine and immune systems
- Clinical practice two: placements in hospital setting, primary care setting and with a family with a dependant requiring continued care.
Your studies for years 3 and 4 will be based at the Audrey Emerton Building, the new Education Centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. The teaching year is now extended to about 45 weeks, with short breaks at Christmas and Easter and a longer break in the summer.
Year 3 starts with a six-week course introducing you to clinical medicine as it is practised in secondary care. Then at the heart of year 3 are four eight-week ward-based attachments in the teaching hospitals of the University Hospitals NHS Trust. These are in:
- medicine
- surgery
- reproductive and child health
- mental health and elderly care.
During these years, a balance between clinical and academic studies is maintained. While you gain progressively more experience in clinical contexts, you will consolidate your clinical experience with your understanding of the underlying clinical and social sciences and public health issues. This process will be facilitated through weekly teaching sessions on the scientific basis of medicine throughout year 3. This provides an opportunity for you to build on the core knowledge gained in years 1 and 2 and to learn about cutting-edge developments in areas such as genetics, immunology, infectious diseases and therapeutics.
You will also extend your experience through several short attachments in specialist areas selected from a range of options. You can choose to deepen your understanding in specific areas already covered in your main attachments, or to broaden it to include topics such as complementary medicine. Your selections may also include research internships or other subject options, including humanities. You will maintain an individual portfolio that will become an important element in the assessment of your progress and help you reflect on how your personal strengths are developing along with your clinical skills and experience.
Year 4 starts with an eight-week clinical elective, offering you the opportunity to experience medical practice in a cultural and clinical setting completely different from your training hospitals. Many students undertake this overseas, often in a developing country.
During this year you will also undertake a rotation of clinical placements in the specialist subjects of dermatology, genito-urinary medicine, infectious diseases (including HIV), musculo-skeletal medicine, neurology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology and oncology/haematology. This work will be integrated with the further development of your experience of primary care and community medicine.
A major component of year 4 is an individual in-depth research study. You will choose a BSMS, Brighton or Sussex research team with whom you will undertake a personal research project on a medically relevant topic of your choice.
Year 3:
- Clinical foundation
- Medicine
- Surgery
- Reproductive and child health
- Elderly care and mental health
- Scientific basis of medicine
- Student-selected components
Year 4:
- Clinical elective
- Specialist rotations
- Individual research projects
- Community care and general practice
Year 5 provides clinical and professional preparation for your first postgraduate year as a pre-registration house officer (PRHO). You will undertake attachments in which you will experience a rotation of clinical placements in district general hospital and community settings in Sussex and its adjoining counties as well as in our University Hospitals Trust teaching hospitals. You will have an element of choice within these attachments, and you will also spend periods shadowing PRHOs in preparation for the post you will be taking up after graduation.
Between the attachments you will attend a block of instruction in practical emergency medicine based in the School’s clinical skills facilities and, throughout the year, an online programme of study will be available to enhance your knowledge and your clinical and professional skills.
Year 5 – themes:
- Regional attachments
- Professional studies programme
- Emergency medicine