At the University of Bristol Medical School, the curriculum is taught through a mixture of lectures, case-based learning and practical work, integrating basic science and clinical work throughout. The course also includes inter-professional working with students from other healthcare degrees, including nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy.
The curriculum at Bristol Medical School offers early clinical experience within hospital, primary care and community settings. By Year 3, over 50% of your learning will take place through your clinical attachments, with a focus in Year 5 on preparing you for your future role as a foundation doctor through ‘student assistantships’.
The curriculum at Bristol Medical School also offers cadaveric prosections within its “state-of-the-art anatomy facilities”.
You can find a breakdown of Bristol Medical School’s course structure here.
After your first two years, you’ll undertake placements at ‘Clinical Academics’ across the South West, including:
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Bristol Medical School offers “a substantial student choice programme” providing opportunities to explore and gain experience in areas of interest.
Within the programme, you’ll also complete a research project of your choice and undertake an elective in your final year, with the opportunity to carry this out abroad.
Bristol also offers students the opportunity to complete an intercalated degree, which allows you one year to complete an additional undergraduate (BSc or BA) or master’s level degree away from your medical study. More information about this can be found here.
Away from the curriculum, Bristol Medical Students’ Society (Galenicals) offers a wide variety of extracurricular opportunities, including a range of sub-societies covering sports teams, academic specialities and charities.
Bristol Medical School provides the opportunity to gain experience across different NHS trusts, within a variety of healthcare settings, ranging from smaller rural hospitals to large city ones, giving a diverse experience.
The University of Bristol offers a Gateway to Medicine course, which allows you to automatically progress onto the five-year MB ChB Medicine course after successful completion of your first year of study. This may be a suitable entry route if you meet the widening participation criteria; for more information about this option see our ‘Medicine Entry Requirements’ blog.
Usually, Bristol Medical School uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interviews. These MMIs generally last approximately one hour.
However, for 2024 entry, Bristol Medical School continued to conduct their interviews online using Zoom. The interviews lasted 30 minutes and were conducted with four assessors from December 2023 to February 2024. More information can be found in their website here.
Most medical schools require you to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.
Admissions exam for Bristol: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT is used to assess your characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours against those required for medical school. The exam is made up of 5 subtests: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.
Bristol Medical School uses the combined score from all subtests, with the exception of SJT, to determine if you’ll be selected for interview.
To help you prepare effectively for all subtests of the UCAT, we’ve developed the free Medibuddy UCAT question bank, which uses artificial intelligence to identify your strengths and weaknesses within the syllabus, and carefully selects questions to meet your individual learning needs.
You can also use the question bank dashboard (below) to see how you’re performing in each of the subtests, with your calculated skill level, response time, total number of questions answered and the number of questions answered correctly, for each section of the UCAT. So you can quickly and easily identify which areas you’ve “mastered” and which you need to dedicate more time to.
To achieve the best possible UCAT score and secure an interview at Bristol Medical School, it’s vital that you prepare well for all areas!
Check out our complete guide to the UCAT and our preparation advice for further help and support.
