Cambridge MB/PhD External Applicant

however, it only says external applicants can be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

quoted from the website:
'MB/PhD applicants must already be enrolled on the standard six-year Medicine MB/BChir degree course at Cambridge University. Only in exceptional circumstances will applications from external medical students be considered. Enquiries should be made to the Programme Director.'

Thanks for the quick reply by the way!

Hmm, I'm not a medic and you medics are a special bunch So this is a PhD as part of the medicine degree, rather than after it?

In which case, contact the department as they suggest

I don't think there's such a thing as a PhD after a medical degree, or it's really uncommon.

Almost certainly correct. As I said, I know very little about it. There is a PhD in Medical Science, but re-reading the description it's for applicants with a typical undergrad degree (e.g. BioMed / NatSci) not medics.

My bad...

https://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/cvimpdmsc/requirements

There’s a reason why they’re called ‘doctor’

I don't think there's such a thing as a PhD after a medical degree, or it's really uncommon. From what I read on the NHS website, most medics who do a PhD will do it as part of their initial degree.

And looking at the degrees offered by medical schools, they only go up to the masters level.

Most medics I know come out of clinical training (ST onwards) to do their PhDs. In fact I've never heard of someone doing a PhD during their initial degree. How can you take 4 years out of your initial medical training to do a PhD and who funds it?

This is a quote from the NHS website about clinical academic medicine:

'If you want to be a clinical academic you’re going to need a higher degree at some point. This means achieving a minimum of a master’s degree and almost always a PhD before you reach consultant level. These higher qualifications can sometimes be obtained during your first degree in medicine, or completed later in your training.'

However, it does also say that most medics will get their PhD after their initial degree. So I admit what I said originally was wrong.