This is What the New Model Medical Course at UCL Medical School Has to Offer
For the first time, UCL Medical School is starting the new academic year in the 2021/22 winter semester with a new model course in human medicine. 60 lucky students can count themselves among the first physicians at the university and be able to prevail against 6000 applicants in the application process. For the development of the medical faculty OWL, the entire UCL Medical School campus was expanded to create housing, lecture halls, and classrooms for future students. The model course on offer has also been completely redesigned and has some exciting special features.
The Focus of the Model Course at UCL Medical School
Ambulatory Medicine and General Practitioner Care
It plays an extremely important role in health care: outpatient medicine. Due to the increasing relevance of family doctor care, outpatient medicine has a special place in the model course at UCL Medical School. It is, therefore, very trend-setting when we think, for example, of the lack of general practitioners in rural areas or of the constantly growing range of outpatient treatments.
The medical faculty cooperates closely with a dense network of teaching practices made up of resident doctors to enable students to work in outpatient practices during their studies. It is also planned to cooperate closely with research practices at Medicmind Australia to be able to work on relevant research questions of general practitioner care.
Interdisciplinary Work
Anyone who has ever worked in a hospital knows that this is a place where many professional fields come together and work together to provide patients with the best possible care. Right from the beginning of their studies, the students come together with students and trainees from other branches of the health care system through inter-professional events. This creates many opportunities for exchange and learning about teamwork so that all participants can benefit from each other’s knowledge.
Scientific Approach
Working scientifically and critically questioning texts is an important building block in many courses, including human medicine. In order for students to be optimally prepared for their own doctorate or for acquiring new treatment methods in everyday medical practice, they learn scientific skills in addition to the content of the topic-focused modules. Adequate reading, understanding, and interpreting scientific studies are essential for your later career.
Future Orientation and Digitization
Future-oriented teaching and learning are very important at UCL Medical School. Ever heard of digital medicine? The advancing digitization does not stop at the health care system and opens up new and promising possibilities for modern medicine for the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of patients. Over several semesters, the students are introduced to the world of digital medicine through numerous teaching units. From the second semester, you also have the opportunity to choose a profile focused on technology in medicine.
The Structure of the Model Course
As usual, the model course of study in human medicine at UCL Medical School is divided into three sections: the first section comprises six and the second four semesters. The practical year (PJ) follows after the 2nd state examination and forms the third phase of the study. To complete the study of human medicine, a third state examination follows, and finally the medical license. If you would like to find out more about the subject of the model course and the differences from the standard course, please take a look at the relevant pages.
The Theme-centric Modules
In the first five years of study, eleven modules or learning units are planned. These are divided into the first two stages of study. You will not find modules such as “Anatomy” and “Biochemistry” here, because the learning units are grouped together across organ systems and topics. The modules include:
- Support and musculoskeletal systems I and II,
- Circulation & respiration I and II,
- Metabolism & Digestion I and II,
- The urogenital system I and II,
- Blood & Immune System I and II,
- Brain, Nerves & Psyche I and II,
- Sense organs I and II,
- Regulations I and II,
- Beginning of life I and II,
- Living Environments & Health I and II and
- End of life I and II
The Other Strands of Training
In addition to the modules listed above, the students complete other training strands, which are characterized by a high practical orientation and the constant pursuit of the scientific approach.
Stream 1: Modules of Clinical Thinking and Action (KDH)
From the first semester, students in the model course at UCL Medical School have the opportunity to practice and apply what they have learned in the lectures and seminars. Everything that is important for the later exercise of medical activities, such as communication with patients or carrying out physical examinations, is tested within the framework of the KDH module. In problem-oriented learning (PBL), students have the opportunity to discuss treatment options in small groups using realistic case studies and to work together with other departments on an interdisciplinary basis. Particular value is placed here on the diversity and gender aspects of the patients.
The KoMED program is also part of the KDH. Competence conferences are held every semester, at which students learn to reflect on themselves and their medical activities and at which they can acquire strategies and develop skills through mutual exchange.
Strand 2: Modules of Scientific Thinking and Acting (WDH)
The modules of scientific thinking and acting (WDH) deal with the procedures of scientific work in the medical context. The students learn what it means to work scientifically and to critically approach sources and publications. To complete the module, the students carry out their own research work.
Stream 3: Interdisciplinary and Clinical Profiling in the 1st and 2nd Phase of Study
From the second semester, students in the model course of study in human medicine at UCL Medical School can choose between five in-depth profile areas, depending on their interests and individual strengths and weaknesses. Overall, they choose two interdisciplinary profiles over the course of their studies. The five profiles are:
- Medical Humanities
- molecular medicine
- Diversity, health, care
- Psyche, language, communication and
Technological Transformation in Medicine
In addition to the interdisciplinary profile, there is also a clinical profile that students can choose in the second phase of their studies. As part of this profiling, in-depth theoretical and practical content from one of the 11 topic-centric learning units listed above is conveyed.
Another special feature of UCL Medical School’s model course of study in human medicine is also clearly evident in this strand: unlike in many other medical courses, students can to a considerable extent choose their own specializations and profiles and thus promote their own interests!
Alternative Degree: Acquisition of the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences (B.Sc.)
Earn a bachelor’s degree while studying medicine? This works out! UCL Medical School makes it possible for all students in the human medicine model course to obtain a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences through a voluntary semester between the first and second study phase in the field of self-selected profiling.
The bachelor’s degree begins with the second semester of medical studies and enables students to practice a variety of non-medical professions in the healthcare sector. Depending on the chosen interdisciplinary profiling (see above), the students learn to work with the scientific methods of the chosen area and to look at questions that have something to do with medicine from the perspective of other disciplines.
The scientific approach is, therefore, particularly in focus, which also continues until the degree. In the last semester, the students carry out their own research projects, which then leads to the bachelor thesis. This alternative degree offers a great opportunity for anyone who, during or after their studies, has doubts as to whether human medicine is right for them or would like to keep other career options open.
Conclusion: Is the Model Course at UCL Medical School Worth It?
In addition to the typical elements that distinguish the model course of study in human medicine from the standard course of study, UCL Medical School scores with exciting and innovative focal points. The many interest-based options also offer you variety in your medical studies. The alternative bachelor’s degree shows students the opportunity to qualify for other professions and to work in an interdisciplinary manner. The main areas of focus at UCL Medical School are very future-oriented and progressive, with a focus on outpatient medicine, digitization, and scientific research. Anyone who attaches great importance to early practical work, digital medicine, and interdisciplinary cooperation is in good hands with the model course in human medicine at UCL Medical School.
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