Medicine and Dentistry
School of Medicine and Dentistry FAQs - Medicine What is medicine? Studying medicine is about much more than just getting your MB BS degree and becoming a doctor. Medicine is a vocation and a way of life. It’s about thinking of others and putting your patients first. It’s a challenging and demanding course – you’ll have lots of work to do and plenty to learn, but you’ll find it highly rewarding. There’s great variety in terms of your workplaces, the patients and illnesses you’ll encounter and the people you’ll work alongside. One of the most important skills you’ll need to develop is teamwork and the ability to communicate well with colleagues, patients and relatives. Medicine is a tough profession: people who are unwell are not always easy to handle – they may, understandably, be scared or irritable; you’ll also have to do medical admin work and to constantly update your knowledge. But you won’t find many doctors who regret their choice of career. With all its challenges, the thrill of being a doctor never leaves you: medicine is exciting and stimulating, and diagnosing and recommending treatments and helping others is intrinsically rewarding.
Why study medicine? What can I do afterwards? • It’s intellectually challenging: the nature of the career is such that you always need to be up-todate with the latest developments. • You will meet an interesting variety of people – both colleagues and patients. • Compared with many other professions, medicine offers good job security, a good salary and scope for career progression. • Once you’re qualified, if you’re interested in travel, you could work in a wide variety of roles in many different countries. • It’s not all hard work: medical students know how to have a good time and the nature of the course means you’ll make some great, lifelong friendships.
Why study medicine at Barts and The London, Queen Mary, University of London? Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry brings together two venerable teaching institutions: St Bartholomew’s Hospital, which dates back to 1123, and The London Hospital Medical College, founded in 1785, the oldest medical school in England and Wales. The hospitals lie in two very different parts of London, the City and the East End, exposing you to a greater diversity of people and their health problems than at almost any other medical and dental school in the UK. You will be taught by experts in their field who are passionately engaged with their subject. This is reflected in the high satisfaction rates among our medical students: in the National Student Survey (NSS 2011), 94 per cent were satisfied overall with the quality of the course and 95 per cent agreed that the course was intellectually stimulating. The programme places considerable emphasis on developing your expertise in a whole range of practical areas, including clinical, communication, observation, teamwork and management skills. We have also completely eliminated the traditional divide between pre-clinical studies and clinical years, which means that you will start seeing patients from the very first term. If you have not already achieved a degree prior to entry, you will have the opportunity (subject to your academic performance) to take an extra year of studies leading to a Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSci) or Bachelor of Science (BSc). Known as an intercalated degree, this may give you a greater choice of career opportunities. We have modern state-of-the-art buildings alongside more traditional facilities, such as our fantastic library. A major part of the new Royal London Hospital will be completed by 2016 and will include London’s leading trauma and emergency care centre, one of Europe’s largest renal services and one of the UK’s biggest paediatric services. Finally, we pride ourselves on being a friendly School, with excellent staff-student relationships. Our students are very sociable and committed to the local community through voluntary work and Rag Week – renowned for astounding fundraising feats! There are lots of clubs and societies, and a student association just for medical and dental students.
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