University of East Anglia

Overview

The University of East Anglia is home to Norwich Medical School. The course focuses on relating learning to real life, using scenarios and clinical problems from patients, with an emphasis on developing practical experience and clinical skills as well as your theoretical knowledge from the very start. Students at UEA start clinical placements early in their first year, ensuring they get a solid grounding in practice before entering full-time clinical attachments.

Unlike many medical schools, UEA consider UCAT score post-interview to decide which interviewed candidates to give offers to. This means that candidates with a very strong UCAT score can compensate for a weaker interview performance and vice versa. Norwich is an ideal choice for applicants who meet the minimum entrance requirements and have a strong UCAT score.

Key Points

• UCAT
• Integrated Teaching Style
• Early Patient Contact
• Optional Intercalation

Insider’s Guide to East Anglia Medical School from Salmaan, East Anglia Medical Student

What makes UEA/Norwich unique to other medical schools?

Finding a medical school that gives you such early and regular clinical contact is rare. As a result, UEA ranks highly on GMC surveys studying preparedness of F1’s, as the constant exposure from such an early part of your training truly hones your skills by your senior years of studies.

As UEA is a campus-based university, everything you need including accommodation, entertainment, food + drink, shops, libraries, and lecture theatres are all enclosed on campus. Medical students are sometimes based at the state-of-the-art Bob Champion Research Building training facility which is a short 15-minute walk away, but generally everything you need is in one space and makes socialising and networking with people from other courses so much easier too.

Also, after third or fourth year of the MBBS, there is the opportunity to intercalate onto some of UEA’s highly regarded Masters’ courses, including Masters’ in Clinical Education (MClinEd), Masters’ in Research (MRes) and Masters’ in Health Economics, to name a few. This provides an opportunity to delve deeper into a particular strand of Medicine before finals, gain an extra degree and work with some of Norwich Medical School’s internationally renowned faculty.

Course Structure at East Anglia Medical School

Year 1 at East Anglia Medical School

Foundations of Medicine and the Musculoskeletal System (Rheumatology and Orthopaedics)

Here you will cover the principles of musculoskeletal examinations for your OSCEs, learn to interpret the basics of radiological imaging with regards to fractures, perform intramuscular and subcutaneous injections, and also possibly get some theatre time in secondary care.

Year 2 at East Anglia Medical School

Modules include: Haematology, dermatology, cardiology, respiratory, vascular + stroke. The year where you begin to develop your ‘bread + butter’ modules. Also learn a range of clinical skills across the specialties mentioned above including ECGs, chest x-rays, spirometry etc.

Year 3 at East Anglia Medical School

Modules include: Gastroenterology, renal, urology, neurology, ophthalmology, endocrine and ENT. Considered to be one of the most challenging years due to the amount of content you have to cover here. UEA also incorporates a spiral learning strategy so Year 3 exams (and Year 2, and all other years!) will ask questions from prior learning and modules too

Year 4 at East Anglia Medical School

This year you’ll cover the specialty modules of obstetrics & gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry, old peoples’ medicine & palliative care. You’ll also conduct your elective abroad at the end of the year too.

Year 5 at East Anglia Medical School

Spend one rotation in emergency care, but the bulk of the year is spent preparing for finals and being attached to a teaching hospital where you will work closely with the ward team and carry out the duties of an actual F1 in order to prepare you for the job. After finals, you also complete a 6 week Career Development Placement either at one of UEA’s teaching hospitals, or externally if you request permission

Teaching Style at East Anglia Medical School

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

Integrated with PBL and lectures. You have PBL once a week (usually Fridays in first year) where you meet with your group and clinical tutor (either a staff member or senior student on the MClinEd course) and discuss the case for the week and derive learning outcomes to delegate amongst yourselves to research and present for the following meeting.

This is complemented by several lectures throughout the week relating to the overall teaching theme. You also have a 2h anatomy dissection and tutorial each week and a student-selected component (SSC) project on a wide range of subjects.

You have GP placement once a week (usually Thursdays in first year) where you are a based at one practice for the whole year. This is good as you build a strong relationship with the staff, your GP tutor, and some patients you may bump into more than once! Here you will practice any clinical skills for the week whilst also speaking to patients and taking histories.

Communication Skills teaching workshops also take place once a semester with professionally trained actors. 

You are assessed with an OSCE at the end of each module, and also sit an overall End of Year OSCE with stations relating to all the modules you have been taught, plus 2×2 hour SBA (Single Best Answer) papers.

Does UEA/Norwich offer dissection?

Yes, 2 hours of anatomy every week with dissection.

1st year – lower limb

2nd year – upper limb

3rd year – head and neck

Anatomy tutorials are held in the Queens Building on campus with staff at each table to guide you through dissections. You are given a workbook with exercises each week to supplement your learning. You have the opportunity to carry out an SSC in Anatomy if you also wish. Anatomy questions are mainly assessed through writtens in End of Years, though it is obviously beneficial to know your anatomy relevant to each module as well!

Does UEA/Norwich offer a BSc? If so, how is the BSc year?

UEA offers Masters’ courses – these are in in Clinical Education (MClinEd), Masters in Research (MRes) and Masters’ in Health Economics, to name a few of the popular choices. Intercalation is an opportunity frequently availed with around 30-40% of the cohort choosing to do so each year, some will choose to stay at UEA and some will spend the year externally at another institution.

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

No such thing at UEA due to the early clinical contact and integrated nature of the course. Placements occur from the first week as mentioned earlier. From the first Thursday of teaching you are attached to a GP practice for the year alongside your PBL (transport is provided if outside of Norwich). You have a secondary care teaching block at one of the local hospitals also. Students have 24 hour access to the Bob Champion Research and Education Building (BCRE) where you can practice your clinical skills closer to OSCE time.

Social Life at East Anglia Medical School

What are the clubs and societies like? What is the social life like?

UEA MedSoc are the over-arching umbrella society, of which several different medical societies such as GPSoc, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Respiratory etc. (to name a literally a fraction, there is one for everything!) branch off from. 

MedSoc organise your fresher’s week and allocate you with into a ‘Medic Family’ (if you wish) which includes a few peers from your year group who are your ‘siblings’ and 2 members from an older year who are your ‘parents’. This is a great support network which often lasts the length of your time at medical school, I am still in touch with my ‘med-parents’ who are now junior doctors and specialist trainees, as well as providing help to my ‘med kids’ whenever they need it!

There are several different medic sports teams to join as well, some of whom compete in competitive local leagues in their respective sports. MedSoc also do lots of outreach work including volunteering and charity projects, so there is something to get involved with for everyone if societies’ sounds like your sort of thing.

FAQs