School of Medicine

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Undergraduate Medical Course

Keele School of Medicine has developed the new 'distinctive Keele curriculum' for medicine. The first students undertaking this curriculum started in 2007 and will graduate in 2012.

The MBChB Honours Degree at Keele University is designed to ensure graduates meet the necessary standards in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes that new doctors should have.

The Keele curriculum is an innovative highly-integrated modern medical curriculum, which includes problem-based learning.

The distinctiveness of the course is that it has been designed to allow diversity and integration. It allows students with different personalities, aspirations, preferences, learning styles and strengths and weaknesses to be successful, to enjoy their undergraduate time, and to be able to build on these experiences during postgraduate training.

Career options for doctors have never been greater, and although our primary aim is to deliver competent Foundation Year trainees, the course helps students to experience more specialised activity by recognising and developing natural aptitudes. This is achieved through flexibility in the student-selected components, consolidation periods, and final year electives. Although these have well-defined intended learning outcomes, they allow for maximum variety of choice in terms of activity and learning environment. Students can start to devise a ‘pathway' that concentrates on research, community practice, a particular speciality, or on breadth and general experience. The opportunity also exists for students to take an intercalated Bachelors degree after year 2 or year 4, or study for an intercalated Masters degree after year 4.

The delivery of the course is managed by the Director of Undergraduate Programmes, assisted by the Director of Academic Undergraduate Studies, Director of Assessment, Director of Anatomy, module leaders and other faculty members. Pastoral care for the students is managed by the Director of Student Support assisted by a student support team.

A GMC Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education (QABME) team makes regular visits to Keele as part of the quality assurance process for the Keele curriculum. The QABME team has been very positive about the curriculum.