Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Medicine at Cambridge: MB/PhD Programme

Janusz Kowalcyzk

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

Helenia

Original post by nerd434

Hi all

!

I was considering posting this in the "University Courses" forum but I thought I'd be more likely to get some insight in the "Cambridge" forum considering there is most likely a few of you who have gone through the programme itself.

To begin with, am I correct in thinking that, by completing the MB/PhD programme at Cambridge, I would be leaving with a PhD after just six years? When I first heard of this I was sure there had to be more to it but after looking into it online, it seems that this is in fact the case :curious:

...

Is it common for Medical students to go through this programme? Even if they have no intentions of pursuing a careers in academic medicine, or perhaps have only a small interest? I, myself, am partially inclined to pursue a PhD but I'd ultimately like to go into a surgical speciality. Being that most of these specialities are incredibly competitive, do you think having a PhD in a relevant area of medicine would increase my chances of being selected to undertake the training?

I have several other enquiries I'd like to make but for now, I'm just looking for someone to actually confirm whether what I've been looking into is correct. Will medical students undergoing the MB/PhD programme at Cambridge leave with a MB, BChir and PhD? Does it require a lot more work? And finally, is it possible for those who undergo this programme to still go into clinical medicine? That is, could I simply do my "Foundation" years as a Junior Doctor after receiving my PhD?

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input!

The full MB/PhD programme takes ~9 years from starting as an undergraduate - the 6 years it quotes on its little website is the time from starting clinical school. At the end of that you would have your BA (which would have converted to an MA by then), MB BChir and a PhD. Only about 7-10 students do it each year, and you apply when you apply for clinical school, rather than at the start of the course. You can work in normal clinical medicine afterwards if you want to, though most seem to use it as a stepping stone onto a joint clinical/research career.

Reply 2

Helenia

Original post by nerd434

According to the website and the prospectus I received the research is intercalated with your final three clinical years... Would you be working on it while your doing your clinical training, then?

Sort of. What usually happens is you do the first year of clinical, then do the PhD with little bits of the 2nd year of clinical somehow slotted in throughout, then rejoin the normal clinical students for the final year. That bit takes 6 years in all, but you've already done 3 years of pre-clinical before getting to that point.

Reply 3

Helenia

Original post by nerd434

So you're absolutely certain it's nine years and not six? I'm not doubting you, just confirming!

Yes. It used to be ~8.5 when the clinical course was shorter but now it has extended to match them. See here http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/education/courses/mbphd/content.html - 3 years clinical, 3 years research (looks like they may have changed the point at which they reintegrate into the clinical years, but apart from that what I said before was correct). If you then go to the Admissions section, you'll get directed to the clinical course page which tells you that you have to have completed a pre-clinical course beforehand.