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UK Medicine · Course profile

The Cambridge Medicine courseWhat you actually study, and where you will be

Degree MB BChirLength 6 yearsTeaching Traditional / lecture-ledClinical contact Year 1UCAS code A100

Photo: Dmitry Tonkonog (User:Heuschrecke) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped

Photo: McAnt · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Unknown · Public domain · Photo: Michael Behrend · CC BY-SA 2.0

Overview

The Cambridge medicine course at a glance

The other classically pre-clinical course, and the one that still offers something almost nobody else does: a full-body dissection. Years 1–3 are science and supervisions, year 3 is an intercalated year in a subject of your choice, and years 4–6 are clinical across the East of England.

Teaching

How Cambridge teaches medicine

Lectures, practical classes and small-group supervisions through years 1–3; from year 4 the learning moves to "the patients' bedside, in outpatient clinics and in GP doctor surgeries".

What that means day to day

Traditional / lecture-led
A distinct pre-clinical stage of lectures and lab science first, clinical practice afterwards.

When you first meet patients

Early patient contact comes through the "Preparing for Patients" module; full clinical placements begin in year 4.

Anatomy

Anatomy at Cambridge

Full-body dissection. Cambridge states you will "conduct a full-body dissection, which very few medical schools offer".

Structure

Year by year at Cambridge

Years 1–2
Pre-clinical science with a clinical strand alongside.
Year 3
Intercalated year specialising in one of a wide range of subjects — Natural Sciences, biological and biomedical sciences, or a non-medical subject.
Years 4–6
Year 4 core clinical practice, year 5 specialist clinical practice, year 6 applied clinical practice.
Placements

Where you will actually be at Cambridge

Placement geography is the part of a medicine course that changes your life most and appears in prospectuses least. Here is what Cambridge publishes.

Cambridge and the East of England

Plus regional hospitals and GP practices throughout the East of England.

  • Cambridge Biomedical Campus
  • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Intercalation

Intercalation at Cambridge

Built in — year 3 is an intercalated year for every student.

Worth knowing

Worth knowing about Cambridge

  • An optional seven-week study-abroad placement is available in year 5.
Next steps

Applying to Cambridge?

Sources

Where this Cambridge course profile came from

Every course detail on this page was taken from University of Cambridge's own course page, read on 2026-09-11.

Primary source: University of Cambridge — official course information.

Courses are restructured between cycles. Anything here that decides your application — an anatomy offer, a placement city, a compulsory intercalated year — should be confirmed against the official page for your entry year.

Applying to Cambridge?

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