Doctor of Medicine (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The Doctor of Medicine is a flexible, variable intensity, clinical research-based doctorate. It will provide you with research skills, in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in your chosen field of research.

To apply to this course you must be medically-qualified (registered with the UK General Medical Council) and employed at the time of application at ST1 grade or above (including those who have completed their training) within the University of Oxford, in Primary Care within Oxfordshire or in an approved NHS Trust.

The Doctor of Medicine is a highly distinctive degree. It is flexible enough to allow you to study part-time for some parts of your degree and full-time for others, to balance time for Doctor of Medicine degree work with your professional duties (milestones will be set accordingly).

Your Doctor of Medicine project will be in synergy with your clinical work, but may be undertaken across the whole spectrum of medical science from basic biology to clinical therapies.

At the start of the course, you will be placed in a host department within the University's Medical Sciences Division depending on the match between your research and the departmental expertise. This course is offered by the following departments:

• Department of Biochemistry

• Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine

• Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

• Department of Experimental Psychology

• Radcliffe Department of Medicine

• Department of Oncology

• Department of Paediatrics

• Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

• Department of Pharmacology

• Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics

• Nuffield Department of Population Health

• Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences

• Department of Psychiatry

• Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences

• Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health

All of the Medical Science Division’s departments are in receipt of Athena SWAN awards that recognise advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.

Your admission to the Doctor of Medicine degree will be overseen by the Doctor of Medicine committee. At the commencement of the degree you will be expected to establish a clear work plan and timeline for your research.

You will be encouraged to attend lectures and seminars related to your programme of research and make the most of the doctoral training and research methods provision available across the Medical Sciences Division. The aim is to tailor this training to individual needs and bring all students up to a satisfactory level in background knowledge. Your later training is focused on the skills required for a successful career in independent clinical research.

As an alternative route to undertaking research work, the Doctor of Medicine committee may, exceptionally, permit applicants to present an integrated thesis with an introduction and conclusion, drawing together a series of publications that represent a substantial body of original research, and submit this to be considered for the award of the degree.