Medicine and Surgery

Medicine is the discipline dedicated to understanding, diagnosing and treating the diseases and conditions that affect human health and wellbeing. It is one of the most demanding and socially consequential courses a student can undertake, requiring the integration of scientific knowledge with clinical skill, ethical judgement and the ability to communicate with patients and families under conditions of stress and uncertainty. A medical degree does not simply teach you facts about the body; it develops a particular way of thinking, combining systematic analysis, probabilistic reasoning and the human understanding of what it means to be ill.

At the University of Newcastle this five-year programme leads to the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), qualifying you to apply for foundation training in the NHS. The programme is clinically oriented from an early stage, with patient contact and clinical placements building progressively across all five years. Newcastle has a long tradition of innovative medical education and strong ties to NHS trusts across the North East, providing a rich and varied clinical environment.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to gain clinical experience or pursue research in a different healthcare system, broadening your medical education and your international perspective. You will develop your clinical reasoning, practical procedural skills, communication abilities and the professional and ethical framework that medicine demands.

All graduates from medical degrees who obtain registration with the General Medical Council go on to foundation training and then specialty training in their chosen area of medicine. Newcastle medical graduates go on to careers across the full breadth of clinical specialties, general practice, academic medicine and medical leadership. A Newcastle MBBS is a rigorous and respected qualification that opens a career of extraordinary variety, responsibility and meaning.