Medicine

Medicine is the professional discipline concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in human beings. It is one of the most demanding and rewarding of all university programmes, requiring sustained commitment to scientific learning alongside the development of clinical skills, professional judgement, and the ability to communicate with patients and colleagues in complex and often emotionally charged situations. Medical students spend their undergraduate years building the scientific foundation of medical knowledge and progressively taking on clinical responsibility in supervised settings, developing the competence and character that safe medical practice requires.

At the University of Exeter, this five-year full-time programme leads to a medical degree that qualifies you to apply for foundation training as a junior doctor in the NHS. Exeter's medical school is known for a student-centred, inquiry-based approach to medical education, with early patient contact and a curriculum that integrates basic science and clinical medicine from the outset rather than separating them into distinct phases. You will develop your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology alongside the clinical skills of history-taking, physical examination, and clinical reasoning.

Community-based learning is embedded in the programme, giving you experience of primary care and public health alongside hospital-based training.

A typical entry tariff of 168 points applies to the standard academic requirements for this programme, though entry to medicine is competitive and applicants are evaluated holistically.

Graduates complete foundation training and then pursue specialty training in any of the recognised medical specialties, including general practice, hospital medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and public health medicine. Medicine offers a career with genuine purpose, significant intellectual challenge, and a wide range of professional paths, from clinical practice through research and academic medicine to medical education, public health leadership, and international humanitarian work.