Intercalated PhD option for Medical Students
Build on your study of Medicine with the chance to complete a PhD as part of your course.
Key information
Award
MBBS and PhD
Duration
8/9 years
full-time
Applications : admissions ratio
11 : 1
Based on 2021 entry data
- UCAS course code: n/a*
- ECTS: n/a
- Start date: October 2023
- Department: School of Medicine
- Campus: South Kensington
* Apply initially for MBBS/BSc Medicine (A100) or Graduate Medicine (A109)
Overview
This course offers exceptional students on the standard MBBS/BSc and Graduate Medicine degrees the opportunity to include a PhD as part of their course.
This consists of three years’ research, taken either after completion of the BSc for those following the six-year programme, or after the third year of the Graduate Medicine programme.
Research within the Department covers a very broad range of specialties, and you will benefit from access to world class facilities and the chance to collaborate with researchers from other departments and faculties at the College.
After your three years of research are complete, you will resume the rest of the MBBS programme, graduating with both an MBBS and PhD qualification.
Study programme
Phase one of the course runs over three years. You will undertake an integrated programme covering the scientific basis of medicine and the foundations of clinical practice, with clinical experience from the start.
The third year consists of clinical attachments in hospitals and placements in a primary care setting, supported by structured teaching.
Phase two leads to the award of a BSc degree at the end of year four. We have many specialist pathways available, exposing you to research at the cutting edge of the field. You also undertake a supervised research project.
Phase three covers the final two years of the MBBS qualification. You rotate through a wide range of clinical specialties, such as obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry, general practice and paediatrics.
In the final years, you have the freedom to follow your own interests and undertake an eight-week elective, which you may complete in the UK or overseas.
You will graduate with a primary medical qualification, which entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council and license to practice in approved Foundation Year 1 posts (see Careers below).
Application process
You will initially apply initially for MBBS/BSc Medicine (A100) or Graduate Medicine (A109) and then during your fourth or third year of study, you will contact the BSc Programme Officer to apply to undertake an intercalated PhD.
You must meet certain academic requirements in the early years of your degree to be eligible for the PhD programme, and places are competitive so cannot be guaranteed (see Entry requirements below).
While undertaking a PhD, you will be placed on an interruption of studies from your medical course.
If you are an international student, transferring to a different course could have an impact on your student visa. Please visit our International Student Support webpage for further information.
Professional accreditation
This degree is professionally accredited by the General Medical Council.
Associateship
As well as your main Imperial degree, you will also receive the award of the Associateship of the Imperial College School of Medicine (AICSM).
Find out more about Associateships.
Teaching and assessment
The spiral curriculum provides integrated teaching across the scientific basis of health and disease and clinical practice.
Your timetable and learning
To support your learning we are using a repeating schedule. This allows you to focus on Professional Knowledge, Clinical Skills, Professional Values and Behaviours at specific times.
You will find a shift towards deep and active learning methods e.g: flipped classrooms and Team-Based Learning. We aim to allow you the opportunity to practise the application of knowledge and critical thinking.
Assessment strategy
All your assessments are directly mapped to programme-level and module-level intended learning outcomes as part of a centrally coordinated programme of assessment for learning. Applied knowledge and clinical and professional skills are being assessed in a series of in-module and end-of-module assessments that include appropriate approaches to assessment depending on whether knowledge, skills or attitudes are being assessed. You will receive regular feedback on your performance.
Assessment
Your performance will be assessed in all years. This is done through a combination of written and clinical examinations and continuous assessment.
Assessments for the MBBS programme are pass/fail. In-course assessments and examinations relating to the science modules in Phase 2 contribute to the final classification for honours for the BSc element of the MBBS/BSc degree and are graded.
Medical Licensing Assessment
The General Medical Council (GMC) is introducing a Medical Licensing Assessment – the MLA - from 2022 to demonstrate that those who obtain registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice.
Applicants should be aware that to obtain registration with a licence to practise, medical students will need to pass both parts of the MLA, pass university finals and demonstrate their fitness to practise.
The MLA will be in two parts: there will be a knowledge test, which will be set and run by the GMC, and an assessment, delivered by medical schools, that will evaluate students’ clinical and professional skills.
Student agreement
Due to the unique nature of Medicine courses, which emphasise clinical placements, all students will be asked to sign an agreement upon entry which sets out the responsibilities of both the College and the student.
The agreement complements the College’s current policies and procedures, promoting a coherent understanding between students and the Faculty as to what is expected from each and improving the student’s learning experience.
Placements and location of study
You will complete a number of placements and clinical attachments throughout your degree.
During phase one, students will undertake community-based experiences at General Practices across London. These will typically be within London Boroughs that require no more than one hour’s travel time from the College. Practices will be accessible by either bus or train.
The location of study will be at our South Kensington and Charing Cross campuses, however, your studies will also take you off-campus at various points in each academic year.
The Phase 3 clinical specialities, as well as other opportunities to specialise, may be located at other Imperial campuses. Please note, this information is subject to change.
You can expect to complete attachments at the below list of teaching hospitals, provided as a guide:
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
- London North West Healthcare NHS Trust – Ealing Hospital
- Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust – Charing Cross, Hammersmith, St Mary's and Western Eye Hospitals
- London North West Healthcare NHS Trust – Northwick Park
- Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
- West Middlesex University Hospital
Imperial has partnership agreements with a number of healthcare providers inside and outside of London, and the list above is given as a guide and is not intended to be exhaustive.
The main clinical attachments or training away from South Kensington and Charing Cross are in the Phase 1c, Phase 3a and Phase 3b:
- Phase 1c: three 8-weeks clinical placements (including one in General Practice)
- Phase 3a: dedicated pathology course and a range of clinical specialities
- Phase 3b: range of clinical attachments and elective period
Staff expertise
At Imperial, you will be taught by a range of teachers of all levels from Professors to PhD students, including some who undertake groundbreaking research and are regarded as experts in their field.
You may also experience peer teaching and be taught by specialists external to the College.
Entry requirements
We welcome students from all over the world and consider all applicants on an individual basis – see selection process below.
For advice on the requirements for the qualifications listed here please contact the Department (see Contact us).
We also accept a wide range of international qualifications. If the requirements for your qualifications are not listed here, please see our academic requirements by country page for guidance on which qualifications we accept.
Minimum entry
Please see the entry requirements for our 6-year MBBS/BSc course and 5-year Graduate MBBS course.
The eligibility requirements for entry to the PhD programme include:
- Satisfactory performance in the early year(s) of the MBBS course
- Normally no previous examination re-sits
- A BSc classification of at least 2.1
If you meet these requirements and are given permission, you can either apply for one of the advertised MB/PhDs funded by a division in the Faculty or secure the required funding for the three years of the MB/PhD from external sources in collaboration with your proposed supervisor.
Oxbridge students are also eligible once they have completed the first year of their course at Imperial, have had no examination re-sits and a BSc classification of at least 2.1.
Foundation programmes
Currently, Medicine courses do not accept UCL UPCSE or Warwick IFP Science and Engineering applications.
Contextual admissions
We want to make sure that the Imperial learning community is as diverse as the society we serve. So to make our admissions process as fair as possible, we have introduced admissions schemes for Home students that allow us to consider your application in the full context of any additional barriers you may face.
Find out if you meet the eligibility criteria for our contextual admissions schemes.
If your predicted grades meet the minimum College entry standard of AAA (including Chemistry and Biology) at A-level or an equivalent level qualification in the relevant subjects, the School of Medicine will consider you on the basis of an adjusted BMAT threshold score. This takes into consideration how personal and school circumstances may have impacted your achievement.
If you meet the contextual BMAT threshold, you will be invited to interview. If you are successful at interview, you will receive a contextual offer of AAA at A-level or an equivalent level qualification.
Read more about the contextual admissions scheme in this department and others.
Tuition fees and funding
We charge tuition fees for every year that your course lasts. The fee you will be charged is based on your fee status, which is determined by government regulations.
Home rate of tuition
2023 entry
The fee for Home students has not been confirmed for the 2023-24 academic year. The fee is controlled by the UK government and we will update this page when it is announced.
As a guide, the Home fee for 2022-23 was £9,250.
PhD
Dependent on the PhD fee rate for the year in which you start your PhD.
For each subsequent year, you should expect and budget for your tuition fee to increase by an amount in line with inflation. The measure of inflation used will be the Retail Price Index (RPIX) value, taken from April in the calendar year in which the academic session starts. For example, the RPIX value in April 2023 will apply to fees for the academic year 2023–2024.
Whether you pay the Home fee depends on your fee status. Your fee status is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out more about how we assess your fee status.
Government funding
If you're a Home student, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the UK government to cover the entire cost of tuition for every year of your course.
You can also apply for a means-tested Maintenance Loan to help towards your living costs.
Home fee eligibility
You can find the conditions you need to meet to pay the Home rate of tuition fees from the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). These apply to higher education courses in England and reflect the regulations as they currently stand, noting that these are subject to amendment.
Because of the UK’s exit from the European Union, some frameworks of eligibility have been amended. Individuals affected by the amended frameworks should refer to the UKCISA publication, Who pays ‘home’ fees for higher education in England [PDF].
Overseas rate of tuition
2023 entry (MBBS)
The fee for Overseas students has not been confirmed for the 2023-24 academic year. The fee is controlled by the College and we will update this page when it is announced.
As a guide, the Overseas fee for 2022-23 was £46,650.
PhD
Dependent on the PhD fee rate for the year in which you start your PhD.
For each subsequent year, you should expect and budget for your tuition fee to increase by an amount in line with inflation. The measure of inflation used will be the Retail Price Index (RPIX) value, taken from April in the calendar year in which the academic session starts. For example, the RPIX value in April 2023 will apply to fees for the academic year 2023–2024.
Fee status
Whether you pay the Overseas fee or not depends on your fee status.
Your fee status is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status.
Find out more about how we assess your fee status.
Home fee eligibility
You can find the conditions you need to meet to pay the Home rate of tuition fees from the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). These apply to higher education courses in England and reflect the regulations as they currently stand, noting that these are subject to amendment.
Because of the UK’s exit from the European Union, some frameworks of eligibility have been amended. Individuals affected by the amended frameworks should refer to the UKCISA publication, Who pays ‘home’ fees for higher education in England [PDF].
Accommodation and living costs
Living costs, including accommodation, are not included in your tuition fees.
Most Imperial undergraduates choose to live in our halls of residence in their first year. You can compare costs across different accommodation options.
Bursaries and scholarships
Careers
Our dual MBBS/BSc graduates have the skills and knowledge to enter into a diverse range of careers including clinical medical practice, biomedical research, the pharmaceutical industry, scientific journalism and healthcare management.
Find out more about where our graduates go by visiting What do Imperial graduates do?
Careers support at Imperial
While you are studying at Imperial you will be able to access the specialist careers support offered by the medical school careers team alongside the support offered through your personal tutor and other medical school staff. You’ll meet the careers team at certain points during your teaching and you’ll also be able to access the following offerings from day one of your MBBS:
- One to one careers appointments to discuss your future
- A bespoke range of annual events including chances to hear from doctors in different specialities at our Question time sessions, skill sessions especially for medic such as networking and CV building and careers fairs to explore all your career options
- A medical careers website as a starting point for information that is regularly updated and includes recording of past events
- A regular email highlighting relevant careers news, ideas and events
All Imperial students also have access to the Careers Service which offers you opportunities to meet employers from all industries, general careers skills building sessions and a range of careers fairs annually.
Becoming a doctor
Achieving an MBBS degree from Imperial provides you with a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) and license to practise in approved Foundation Year 1 posts, subject only to acceptance by the GMC that there are no fitness to practise concerns.
In your final year, Imperial will support you to apply for a Foundation Year 1 post through the UK Foundation Programme selection scheme, which allocates these posts on a competitive basis. So far, all suitably qualified UK graduates have found a place on the Foundation Year 1 programme, but this cannot be guaranteed.
On successful completion of the Foundation Year 1 programme you will be eligible to apply for full registration with the GMC before entering Foundation Year 2. As a doctor you’ll need full registration with a license to practise for unsupervised medical practise in the NHS or UK private practice*.
After completion of Foundation Year 2, you can go on to train as a specialist through an NHS training scheme. There are around seventy different specialities and you can explore these through the doctors section of the NHS Healthcareers website.
* Please be aware that regulations in this area are subject to change.
How to apply
UCAS key information
- UCAS course code: n/a*
- UCAS institution code: I50
Apply on UCAS
You can start and track your application on UCAS Hub. There you can add this course as one of your choices.
* Apply initially for MBBS/BSc Medicine (A100) or Graduate Medicine (A109)
Application deadlines
15 October 2022 at 18.00 (UK time), if your application includes a medicine course.
The deadline for other courses is 25 January 2023 at 18.00 (UK time).
Any questions?
Explore our step by step guide on how to apply. You can also find answers to your questions about admissions.
Related departments
You may also be interested in the following related departments and the courses they offer:
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