Medical Sciences and Population Health with a Placement Year

Interested in the “next big thing in healthcare”? The increasingly developing field of Population Health is a great career choice for those who wish to be at the forefront of healthcare advancement. Put simply, Population Health is concerned with the wide range of factors that can determine the health and the health outcomes of individuals, groups and populations.

The growing pressures on healthcare systems globally are well documented, with chronic diseases, ageing populations and increased incidents of mental health. Advancements in medicine are improving health for more and more people, but inequalities in the healthcare received by people based on where they are born, live and work are prevalent. Population health aims to address these inequalities, by working to better understand the healthcare needs of groups of people, improving healthcare models and providing innovative solutions to meet people’s health needs.

Studying Medical Sciences and Population Health will give you a solid grounding in medical and life sciences, social sciences, epidemiology, demography, public health, and health informatics.

This 4-year programme with a Placement year offers an additional placement year between the second and final year, giving you the opportunity to experience work in industry, and allowing you to build confidence and gain real-world experience.

You will also develop the academic and professional knowledge needed to determine systematic variations in the health of individuals and populations, as well as the skills and experience to apply this knowledge to practical solutions to improve health, wellbeing, and the delivery of health services.

Our Medical Sciences and Population Health programmes bring together a diverse range of subjects to provide you with a holistic understanding of the social, economic, medical and demographic factors that shape population health; from prevention and promotion, to health protection, diagnosis, treatment and care.

Medical Sciences and Population Health is part of our ‘Medical Science in Practice’ Pathway to Medicine programme. Provided you meet the minimum entry requirements for Graduate Entry Medicine, and have successfully completed the Pathway, you will be guaranteed an interview for our flagship Medicine (Graduate Entry) MBBCh course.

Course Modules

In your first year of studies, you will be introduced to key issues and concerns of Population Health, including Healthcare systems and organisation, the use of Health Information Technology, and Community Medicine and Medical Psychology. Alongside this, you will also develop an elementary knowledge of genetics, cell biology, human physiology and develop key skills for medical sciences.

In your second year you will explore more specialised topics within Medical Sciences and Population Health. Modules can include Health Service Research, Practical Epidemiology, Human Immunology, Bioethics, Biostatistics, Population Health Management, and many more.

Your third year will be spent on your Year in Industry, gaining invaluable skills and experience while on placement.

During your fourth year, you will study multidisciplinary topic areas, including Mental Health Literacy, Data to Decisions, Global Health, Human Biology and the Environment, and Advanced Epidemiology.

Assessments will include Laboratory practicals, written exams, oral presentations, written assignments, and clinical skills assessments. The range of assessment methods is chosen to develop and demonstrate a range of skills transferable to the modern healthcare environment including reflection, oral and written communication, confidence and competence.