Plymouth University Peninsula Medical School adopts a spiral curriculum and uses clinical cases and patient narratives to initiate all teaching. Within the early phases of the course, the following teaching methods are used to support your learning:
The programme includes early clinical contact, within the first two weeks, and the following clinical experience throughout the course:
You can find out more information about the programme structure and the core modules here.
Plymouth University Peninsula Medical School’s principal NHS partners “have helped develop the course and provide wide-ranging placement opportunities”. The medical school works in partnership with the following:
Gain access to a recording of our free webinar and find out what a day in the life of medical student Helen looks like. There's also videos covering all aspects of medical school applications and the UCAT.
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There is a student selected component within each year of the programme, providing the opportunity to explore an area of interest within an overall focus.
Within your final year, you’ll undertake an elective placement, to explore “a different social or cultural context”, within the UK or abroad.
In addition to this, Peninsula Medical School also offers the option of an intercalated degree, which allows you to take one year out of your medical course to study for an additional qualification. Plymouth offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to choose from. You can find out more about the intercalated programme here.
Peninsula Medical School also offers a BMBS with Foundation, which is aimed at “able students whose education has been impacted by adversity”, as an alternative route into medicine. You can find out more about the course here.
For 2024 entry, Peninsula Medical School conducted their interviews online using the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format.
The interview includes four 'single assessor stations' and will last approximately fifty minutes. The MMI will not assess your medical or scientific knowledge; its focus will be on assessing your skills and qualities that make you suitable for medicine.
You can find a list of the qualities that interviewers will be looking for, as well as more information and updates on Peninsula’s MMI, on their website here.
Most medical schools require you to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.
Admissions exam for Plymouth: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT assesses your characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours against those required for medical school. The exam is divided into 5 sections: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.
Peninsula Medical School select candidates for interview based on their UCAT score, and their GCSE and A-Level results.
To help you to successfully prepare for all sections, the free Medibuddy AI-powered, adaptive question bank carefully selects questions based on your strengths and weaknesses within the syllabus, to ensure that you’re focusing on areas which will have the biggest impact on your UCAT score.
You can also clearly see in the question bank dashboard the areas you have “mastered” and those which you need to focus more time on.
It’s crucial that you prepare well for all areas to ensure that you get the best UCAT score possible and secure your interview place!
For more information and guidance, see our complete guide to the UCAT and our UCAT preparation tips.
