BSMS > Undergraduate > Our course

Our course

Our five-year medical degree, awarded jointly by the Universities of Brighton and Sussex, leads to the qualification of Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (BM BS).

The BSMS course has been designed to help you become a highly competent; strongly motivated doctor, committed to the highest standards of clinical practice, professionalism and patient care. By the time you graduate, you will have developed the knowledge and key personal skills and attitudes necessary to pursue a successful medical career.

Both universities are part of the UK Medical Act and our course has been approved by the GMC under its Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education (QABME) processes.

Download the course specification >

Innovative teaching and learning

We are a dynamic and vibrant school committed to new and innovative approaches to medical education.

Our purpose-built, modern facilities include anatomy and clinical science laboratories, simulated consultation rooms, multiple libraries, computer suites and state-of-the-art lecture theatres. Our enthusiastic and dedicated teachers will provide you with on-going feedback, continuously supporting you and ensuring that you develop to the very best of your abilities. A range of IT and mobile learning resources will support you on the go, from e-portfolios to smartphone apps.

students work in a group in a lab

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Course structure

Our course is structured into three phases:

students practise listening for breathing on dummy

Phase 1: Years 1 - 2

Phase 1 is based across both the Brighton and Sussex university campuses at Falmer, one of the benefits of being members of two universities in the same city.

The purpose-built teaching facilities at Falmer provide a modern anatomy laboratory, tutorial and seminar rooms, lecture theatres, clinical science laboratories and IT resource suites. Fully equipped consultation rooms, identical to those used in GP surgeries and hospital out-patients departments, provide a setting in which to learn history taking and examination. These are sited close to a clinical skills training area which also houses an advanced patient simulator, computer-controlled to represent normal and abnormal physiology and a realistic response to drugs.

Phase 2: Years 3 - 4

Phase 2 is based at the Audrey Emerton Building, the Education Centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. During these years, a balance between clinical and academic studies is maintained. You will consolidate your increasing clinical experience with your understanding of the underlying clinical, social science and public health issues.

Phase 3: Year 5

Phase 3 covers year 5 and provides intense clinical and professional preparation for your first year in practice after qualification. Attachments will involve joining small clinical teams in medicine, elderly care, surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics, general practice and mental health, where your learning will be based on close involvement with routine clinical cases. Central to your study will be the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients presenting to these different areas of practice, acting as a member of the clinical team with the foundation doctors.

Intercalated degrees

The intercalated degree is an optional addition to a medical degree. Choosing to take an intercalated degree allows you to expand your horizons, study a new topic in depth, and work or study for a year at an institution such as BSMS.

Assessments

BSMS has an integrated curriculum designed to develop your knowledge, academic and clinical skills, and instil a professional approach throughout the degree; the variety of assessment methods used reflects this.

Term dates

Find out the different term dates for each year group.