Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year

Join an established and growing medical school in a high-ranking university and gain the skills, knowledge and support you need to graduate as a skilled, empathetic and patient-centred doctor, whatever your background.

Supporting you to become an exceptional doctor
At Lancaster Medical School, we know that outstanding doctors can come from any background and we are committed to developing skilled doctors that are as diverse as the communities they serve.

Our Medicine and Surgery MBChB with a Gateway Year is designed for talented UK students from backgrounds under-represented in medicine and who may be disadvantaged in applying to our five-year MBChB Medicine and Surgery programme. Find out more about our eligibility criteria.

It will provide you with a grounding in the medical sciences, building your academic skills, knowledge and confidence.

After successfully completing the gateway year you will progress to the five-year MBChB programme and continue your training to become a skilled, empathetic and patient-centred doctor.

What you will learn
Your gateway year is designed to prepare you for successful progression onto Year 1 of the MBChB programme by developing your knowledge, academic writing and independent study skills.

You will attend weekly support tutorials with the rest of your year group, which will build your academic skills and introduce you to broader topics in medicine such as the sociology and psychology of health and medical ethics.

We are passionate about our research which focuses on understanding the health needs of local, national and global populations and we use this to inspire the doctors we train to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

As such, our integrated curriculum will give you an understanding of the socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors that affect health and medicine, as well as population health and professional practice.

Our curriculum is built around core themes that will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills required for modern clinical practice including:

• medical sciences

• the psychology and sociology of health and medical illness

• population health

• professional practice and values

• medical ethics and law

Medicine is constantly advancing and we regularly review our curriculum to ensure that your education at Lancaster reflects that. For example, we integrate teaching on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine to prepare students for the changing technological landscape of the profession.

Lancaster Medical School’s unique location is ideal for getting an insight into the practice of medicine across a hugely diverse population and geography. Your clinical and community placements will offer you a breadth of experience in locations ranging from small, rural GP practices to urban hospitals and deprived coastal communities, helping you to become a resilient, work-ready medical practitioner.

How you will learn
At Lancaster Medical School, we combine lectures and clinical anatomy with small-group learning, complemented by clinical training and hospital and community placements.

Early clinical placements will allow you to apply your learning through contact with patients. You will begin to hone your skills in history-taking, examinations and patient communication.

In later years, you will be embedded in teams delivering clinical care to patients with complex needs, supporting you to become a caring, community-focussed clinician who works collaboratively.

You will also learn via:

• Lectures

• Small group learning

• Case-based discussions

• Clinical skills and simulation

• Written examinations and coursework

• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE)

• Workplace-based assessments

Important Information
For the most up-to-date course information and more details, we recommend that you revisit our website before submitting your application.