As you study Medicine and Surgery at Lancaster, you’ll experience a dynamic and supportive learning environment designed to shape you into a skilled, empathetic doctor.
Course structure and progression
Over five or six years, depending on your entry route, you’ll build the knowledge, skills and experience you need to become a confident, capable and compassionate doctor. You’ll start by learning the foundations of medical science and clinical practice, before progressing to hospital and community placements where you’ll apply your learning with real patients. Each year builds on the last, increasing your clinical exposure, responsibility and readiness for medical practice.
year-on-year overview of medicine and surgery accordion
Core Modules
Introduction to Biosciences Gain hands-on experience of essential laboratory skills and equipment and learn how to conduct ethical research, analyse data and present your findings clearly and accurately.
Molecules to Cells Learn how organisms can synthesise molecules to generate energy, build complex molecules and store genetic information.
Anatomy and Physiology Examine the structure-function relationships of the organs and tissues that protect, sustain and maintain the body in human health and develop essential scientific knowledge and practical skills.
Genetics and Biotechnology Explore the human genome, the role of bioinformatics in understanding genetic data, and how DNA damage can lead to mutations and disease.
Microbes, Pathogens and Immunity Learn how the human host responds to exposure to pathogenic microorganisms, with a comprehensive introduction to immune response and the intricate relationship between pathogens and human health.
Foundations of Medicine We will introduce you to healthcare in the UK and how it is delivered across primary, secondary and tertiary care, and about professionalism and what this means in practice for doctors.
Where You’ll Be Based
In Years 1 and 2, you’ll mainly be based at our Health Innovation Campus. This is where you’ll build the knowledge and skills you need to move into more focused clinical learning from Year 3 onwards with confidence.
The Foundation Block: Preparing You for University Study
You’ll complete a Foundation Block designed to help you move from A-levels to university-level learning. You’ll learn how to find, use, and evaluate reliable resources, and you’ll be introduced to topics you may not have studied before university, exploring them in more depth later in Years 1 and 2 and applying this learning in later years of the course.
The Foundation Block is supported by formative testing, helping you see how you are progressing and identify any areas where you may want to focus your study.
Learning About the Body’s Systems
You’ll begin by exploring the body’s main systems through lectures, small group and clinical skills teaching. This lets you focus on understanding the core systems of the body and how they work before moving on to more complex topics.
Within these blocks of study, you’ll have study skills and consolidation sessions to help you strengthen your understanding before moving on to the next body system. By learning about body systems, you’ll see how different organs work together - and how illness can disrupt this balance. This knowledge is essential for understanding more complex medical problems, especially when patients have more than one condition. It also gives you a strong foundation in the principles of health and disease, preparing you to meet new and unfamiliar conditions in the future.
Early Patient Contact
At Lancaster, you’ll start building your communication and clinical skills from your very first year. You will practice your communication skills with simulated patients (actors) at our Health Innovation Campus in a safe and supported environment, learning how to best adjust your communication for different people's needs.
This will help you grow in confidence when talking to patients, taking medical histories, and carrying out basic examinations.
Assessment and Progression
Throughout the year, you’ll be assessed to check your understanding and make sure you’re ready to progress to the next stage of the course. You’ll take part in formative (practice) assessments, which help you get used to the exam style and question types and give you useful feedback to guide your revision.
You’ll also sit summative assessments, which count towards your degree. The feedback from your formative assessments will help you prepare and perform at your best in the exams that count in your progression into the next year of study.
Exploring More Body Systems
In Year 2, you’ll continue to explore more systems of the body. Within each block, you’ll consolidate your learning to check and strengthen your understanding.
Your First Placements
You will spend time on campus as well as on clinical placements a range of care settings, allowing you to directly apply your learning from Year 1 to real-world clinical cases.
Placements Across the Region
In Year 3, you’ll spend most of your time on placement. You’ll be based in one of more than 70 health and care organisations across Lancashire, Cumbria, and North Yorkshire. These include acute hospitals, mental health trusts, GP surgeries, hospices, and community healthcare providers.
University Teaching Weeks
Between placements, you’ll return to campus for teaching weeks to deepen and consolidate your learning. As in Years 1 and 2, your learning continues to focus on understanding the body’s systems and how disease affects them, but with more emphasis on linking this to clinical practice, in both treating and managing patients.
Building Your Research Skills
You’ll also complete a four-week research module, helping you develop research skills that are increasingly important in modern healthcare. This also provides a strong foundation if you choose to intercalate and study for a further degree between Years 4 and 5.
Advanced Clinical Learning
Year 4 follows a similar pattern to Year 3, with most of your time spent on placements and university teaching weeks in between.
The Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA)
Unlike students at many other medical schools, Lancaster students complete all parts of the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) in Year 4. These are the exams set by the General Medical Council (GMC) that you must pass to join the UK medical register.
This includes:
The Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
The Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA)
Passing these allows you to gain provisional registration with the GMC. By the end of year 4, you are almost a doctor!
Freedom to Focus in Year 5
Because you complete the MLA in Year 4, you won’t have formal final exams in Year 5. This means you can focus fully on your final-year clinical experience.
In Year 5, learning continues through your clinical placements in a role that closely reflects the working life of a newly qualified doctor. This year is designed to feel like an internship and to prepare you for starting work as a Foundation doctor.
You’ll be assessed mainly through your portfolio and regular reviews with your clinical education supervisor. Your final-year portfolio will support your professional development and prepare you for Foundation training and the next stage of your career as a doctor.
Elective
At the end of year 5, you will complete a four-week elective period, which you arrange. You can do this in a clinical placement in a hospital or community healthcare setting of your choosing in the UK or anywhere in the world. Some students choose to do short research projects focusing on improving healthcare.
We are delighted to introduce an optional wellbeing. This is a short, structured part of the curriculum designed to help you look after your mental, emotional, and physical health, and to build positive habits before you commence your NHS Foundation Years. Examples of well-being electives might be yoga practice, exploration of your religion, arts or music study, meditation and mindfulness, language study, or another theme that best suits you.
Find out what day to day life looks like for our medical students. Head over to the Faculty of Health and Medicine TikTok account for student insights, behind-the-scenes content and more.
Throughout your degree, you’ll complete clinical placements in both hospital and community settings across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Hospital placements take place at local NHS Trusts, where you’ll apply your learning in real clinical environments and develop essential patient communication skills. You’ll also gain experience in community settings such as GP practices, primary care assessment services and specialist clinics, reflecting the shift in modern healthcare delivery.
Stories from our students
Our students share their experiences of studying medicine and surgery at Lancaster
Catherine
I chose Lancaster for medicine because of the smaller year groups in comparison to other universities. I liked the more communal feel as well as how beautiful the campus is. Our year group is very close! You get to know everyone over the five years and build up such an amazing community and support network. It means there's always a friendly face to talk to when exams are coming up.
Pranj
For my Year 5 elective, I had the opportunity to travel to Malaysia for a month. I shadowed a consultant neurologist, and it was fascinating to see the variety of cases that I had only read about in textbooks before. It was also comforting to see how much trust and respect patients had for their doctor, which felt really motivating.
Ewan
Lancaster offers a very inclusive and welcoming environment. The colleges make the university feel like a smaller family within the wider university, which allows you to build new friendships through the events and sports teams each college offers outside of the people you live with. I play football for my college, Grizedale, and for the medical school team, Medsoc FC.
Shobana
One of the best aspects has been the independence the course offers. Lancaster provided a strong structure and support system while still allowing me to take ownership of my learning and develop my own study approach. Another great aspect is the location. Being close to the Lake District made hiking and outdoor activities much more accessible, which was a great way to unwind alongside studying medicine.
Clinical Skills teaching at Lancaster Medical School
Clinical Skills is a key component of medical education. At Lancaster, we use a variety of modern technologies in our Clinical Skills lab. This element of teaching aims to prepare you for placement and your future as a medical practitioner, allowing you to build confidence, skills and practice in a safe and supported environment.
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