About Medicine, MBChB - at Keele University

Medicine at Keele delivers an innovative curriculum underpinned by the three core themes identified by the General Medical Council: Professional Values and Behaviours, Professional Skills, and Professional Knowledge (GMC, 2018). Ranked 5th in England (Guardian University League Table, 2025). Studying Medicine MBChB at Keele you will develop the necessary knowledge and clinical skills to become a doctor who practises with competence and compassion. Course overview Medicine at Keele adopts a modern, spiral, highly integrated curriculum that combines a range of learning strategies, including early clinical experience, integrated curriculum and clinical skills teaching, practical activities (including dissection), small-group self-directed learning, lectures and seminars.

Additionally, inter-professional learning with other health students, including nursing, midwifery, paramedic science, physiotherapy and radiography, is fostered throughout the programme. We are committed to listening to, responding to and supporting our students to become well-rounded, competent clinicians. Through forums such as our Medical Student Council, we recognise the value of our students' contribution to development and progression of our curriculum and the student experience. Key course content To ensure you graduate as a confident and competent clinician, you will study a range of topics including: Professional and ethical responsibilities Patient safety and quality improvement Diagnosis and medical management Prescribing medication safely The health service and healthcare systems Health promotion and illness prevention Course structure Our spiral curriculum means you will re-visit core topics, building on your knowledge as you progress through the medicine degree.

In Year 1, you will cover a range of units including: health and disease, the body's defence systems, emergencies, life-course, brain and mind, pregnancy, and lifestyle. Year 2 sees you re-visit many aspects of biomedical, behavioural and social science, with an increasing emphasis on complexity and pathology. You will learn through integrated units such as: mechanisms of disease, inputs and outputs, movement and trauma, circulation, breath of life and integrated systems. Years 3 and 4 enable you to build on the foundations of clinical knowledge and skills through immersion in clinical placements, while continuing to develop and apply biomedical, behavioural and social science knowledge.

Within year 3 you will cover topics such as: medicine, surgery, elderly care, mental health and paediatrics, and complete a general practice clinical placement. You will revisit many of these topics in Year 4 but will also cover women's health, neurology and musculoskeletal systems. The final year of the MBChB prepares you for professional practice as a foundation year 1 doctor. You will undertake extensive student assistantships including: out of hours evening and weekend working, general practice, acute and critical care (including emergency medicine, intensive care and anaesthesia), medicine and surgery.

Scholarship and student-selected components Scholarship activities and student selected components (SSCs) complement our MBChB course. These offer you opportunities to learn about how medical knowledge develops through research, and to focus on particular areas of interest in medical science, clinical medicine or public health in greater depth. You will select a component in several years of study which has clear objectives and will be assessed accordingly. For example in Year 1, you will produce a library-based mini-review of an academic topic under the supervision of a member of the teaching and/or research staff.

Clinical placements You will have extensive experience of clinical placements in both primary and secondary care settings and in the non-NHS community sector ("third sector"). Clinical placements will take place across Staffordshire, Shropshire and other adjoining counties. We are committed to providing you with opportunities to build your awareness of the health and wellbeing of a variety of demographics to strengthen your appreciation of the wider determinants of health, such as socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. Beginning in Year 1, you will be encouraged to think of community and social dimensions of illness and health throughout your academic studies and placements.

You will have placements with community services and general practices in Years 1 and 2, and over 20% of teaching in Years 3, 4 and 5 takes place in general practice. Examples of other community services we use are schools, workplaces, residential homes and drop-in centres, to name but a few: all places that contribute to the health and care of people. Hospital placements will take place in multiple centres, providing opportunities to engage with major medical and surgical specialities that are delivered in different locations. Intercalation Further opportunities for exploration of special interests are available through intercalation.

Options for intercalation to pursue an additional qualification include studying at bachelor's level after the second year or master's level after the fourth year. Intercalation is a year out of your undergraduate medical studies to study a subject area in greater depth before returning to complete the medical course. An intercalated degree provides you with an opportunity to gain an additional qualification in a medicine-related subject that interests you, acquire a better understanding of basic biomedical sciences, medical humanities or research methodologies, publish scientific papers and present at conferences. Students who are given permission to intercalate may do so either at Keele or at other universities. *We have compared the positivity ratings of all participating UK institutions using the NSS 2025 sector data to determine Keele's position relative to other broad-based universities (i.e. excluding specialist institutions and further education colleges).

5th in England for Medicine (Guardian University Guide, 2025) Medicine ranked Top 5 in England (NSS 2025, broad-based universities)* Over 100 weeks spent on clinical placement in primary care and hospital settings across Staffordshire, Shropshire and other adjoining counties 1st in UK for overall F1 preparedness (GMC National Training Surveys, 2023) Benefit from diverse teaching methods including small-group self-directed learning, other small- and large-group knowledge and skills learning activities, and dissection For more details, please see the course page on the Keele website.

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Entry requirements for this course

Contact Keele University to find course entry requirements.

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