Studying at Imperial College Medical School

Overview

Imperial College London has a world class reputation for the teaching of science and medicine. The medical curriculum was completely redesigned in 2019, with the course now taking an integrated, spiral-based approach in which students cover the same topic multiple times throughout the course building on prior knowledge. There is also an increased level of patient contact, with students now meeting their very first patients within the first weeks.

Imperial place heavy emphasis on BMAT score so is a great strategic option for candidates with good BMAT scores and who perhaps performed less well in UCAT. There is very few GCSE requirements so is also a great option for candidates with good A-Level predictions but few A*/A grades at GCSE.

Key Points

• BMAT
• London
• Compulsory Intercalation
• Blended Teaching Style

Insider’s Guide to Imperial Medical School from Kader Torbator, Imperial Medical Student

What makes ICL unique to other medical schools?

I believe Imperial college London is unique in that it is very student centered with many great responsibilities and extracurricular activities which students can get involved in from year 1. This ranges from representative roles, to teaching opportunities and a variety of sports. This gives students with different interests and hobbies the chance to acquire good skills and make lasting friendships as well as getting to do something that they enjoy. It is also important to mention that ICL is very diverse with international students from different cultural backgrounds, creating an inclusive, friendly, and dynamic environment. Lastly, ICL teaching hospitals are some of the best hospitals in London. They are student friendly and offer extensive and productive teaching as well as giving their students the opportunity to be supervised and interact with many amazing doctors specialising in various interesting fields of medicine that you may be inspired to specialise in yourself.

Course Structure at Imperial Medical School

Year 1 at Imperial Medical School

This year is mainly campus based at South Kensington. Lectures are given every day and you also get tutorials after some lectures to go over topics and consolidate. The modules are

• Principles of Medicine
• Bioregulatory Systems 1
• Clinical Science Integrative Cases 1
• Patients, Communities and Healthcare 1
• Lifestyle Medicine and Prevention 1

You also get clinical exposure, PBL sessions, Lab’s experience and report writing, and cadaver dissection around January to learn chest, abdominal and pelvic anatomy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Medic Mind (@medicmind)

Year 2 at Imperial Medical School

This year is also mostly campus based, this time at Charing Cross (home campus for medics). The modules are 

• Bioregulatory Systems 2 
• Clinical Science Integrative Cases 2 
• Patients, Communities and Healthcare 2 
• Lifestyle Medicine and Prevention 2 
• Clinical Research and Innovation

Clinical research and innovation is a 3 week group research project you get to do after year 2 exams around June-July on any medical top of interest to you. You also get some clinical exposure this year, mainly in the community (GP) to learn how to communicate to patients with various presentations.

Year 3 at Imperial Medical School

This is a clinical year, where you will have 3 placements in medicine, surgery, and GP. You will learn more about conditions that come under various systems such are cardiovascular, respiratory, neurology and others, covering the etiology, management, and investigations, with a lot of case-based learning. You will be able to practice physical examination and history taking on patients in all your placements and get taught how best to do these by teaching fellows at each hospital. At the end of the year there will be a clinical exam assessing your ability to make accurate physical examinations and history taking as well as some clinical skills like cannulation and venipuncture. You will also have a clinical written exam called OSCE.

Year 4 at Imperial Medical School

This is the intercalated BSc year. You will have the choice to do an internal or external BSc degree on a topic you’re interest in. There are a few medical science degrees and a degree in business management, bioengineering and humanities and physiology. The BSc involves a series of modules and a supervised research project in an area of scientific/medical interest. You are assessed by writing up few assignments, doing an oral presentation, and a final project on again a research title you are keen on reading more and collecting data on at the end of the year.

Year 5 at Imperial Medical School

This is a clinical year where you will build on the knowledge and skills you developed in the first 4 years of the MBBS. In hospital and community settings, you will experience how clinical teams work together to deliver patient care. The 3 big modules this year are women’s health, paediatrics and psychiatry, which you will be examined on in summertime. You will learn all the different presentations coming under each presentation and how to assess patients to make diagnoses and determine the treatment plan. 

There is also the opportunity for you to focus on your own interests in a specialty choice placement SCP, I did my SCP in ophthalmology at Moorfields eye hospital . Throughout this year significant emphasis is placed on preparing you for clinical practice.

Teaching Style at Imperial Medical School

What is the general teaching style at ICL? E.g. is it PBL/Traditional? etc.

First 2 years are traditional mixed with small group teachings, such as tutorials and PBL (in year 1 mostly). In clinical years you get organized teaching by doctors in your placements. In year 3 you get 3 weeks of lecture-based teaching on the examined topics which are very useful. In year 5 you get organized teaching from each placement and specialty you are on; these are also traditional and mostly case-based and problem-solving. Clinical skills teaching is offered in the clinical years by the hospital you are placed at or at campus. Various student lead societies offer teaching as well which are always very appreciated by students.  Clinical years involved learning various diseases and how they present with various symptoms to be able make differential diagnoses, suggest investigations and know the management plan.

Does ICL offer dissection?

Imperial college London does cadaver dissection in year 1 and 2 on a weekly basis. You get to learn chest, abdomen and pelvis anatomy teaching and do group cadaver dissection in year 1, head and neck and limbs in year 2.  This helps to visualise the human anatomy and go over what you have been taught in the lectures to aid understanding and recall of information.

Does ICL offer a BSc? If so, how is the BSc year?

ICL offers BSc in year 4.  You can do your degree internally at imperial or if you are interested in a degree offered elsewhere you could apply to that and do an external BSc degree. Imperial offers a variety of options you can choose from whilst in year 3, such as gastroenterology and hepatology, haematology, remote medicine, global health and non-medical degree in business management or bioengineering. You are assessed by formative and summative exams (these count toward your final mark). There is a total of 5 summative assignments, one being oral presentation and the rest are write-ups.

It’s a great year to learn and build your research skills and figure out whether you’re interested in research. It’s a nice break from medicine even if you are doing a science degree and a great year to socialise, make friends and get involved in extracurriculars.

What is the pre-clinical / clinical split like? Do you get early clinical exposure?

You get early clinical exposure at imperial in years 1 and 2 , despite the fact that these are the non-clinical lecture based years. This helps to gain more experience in terms of what to expect, how to apply knowledge and practice patient communication and examination. Year 3 is clinical with assigned placements in medicine, surgery, and GP, which also allows you to find where your interest lies in the medical field. During this year you get ethics teaching as well (specifically before Christmas) in preparation for the ethics exam in January. Year 5 and 6 are the final phase of medical school and both entirely clinical, preparing you for clinical practice.

Social Life at Imperial Medical School

What are the clubs and societies like?

One thing that’s well organised and quite amazing about imperial is that there is a variety of societies and extracurricular activities including social, spiritual, academic and sports.

What is social life like?

There is something for everyone to get involved in and make lasting friendships and take a break from medicine. The student union is the building block of student life at imperial. Events are organised throughout the year and they are there to support you with your education and wellbeing.

FAQs