Developing you to become a doctor

Our programme is based on Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s integrated curriculum. This has been tailored to benefit from the unique facilities of our universities and innovative developments in the healthcare services across Kent and Medway.

To help develop you to become a doctor, you will focus on how to apply your learning to clinical practice throughout the programme. The patient-centred focus of your programme will help you gain a broad understanding of patients’ experiences of a range of health conditions.

Learning methods

You will use individual patient studies to help you to underpin the knowledge, skills and professional values of a doctor. Patient educators are involved throughout our programme to give you critical understanding of the patient’s journey and feedback on your skills.

You will use an ePortfolio as part of your continual professional development, which will continue for the rest of your professional medical career. To help develop your skills, patient educators are involved throughout our programme to give you critical understanding and feedback.

Learning about leadership, management and how to work effectively within teams, you will have opportunity to learn alongside students from other years on the BM BS* programme, as well as with students on other programmes at the Canterbury campuses.

For the first two years on our programme, you will focus on systems-based learning, working individually and in groups for both your academic and clinical teaching. You will learn the core knowledge and clinical skills of a doctor using lectures, tutorials, clinical seminars, workshops, cadaveric dissection, e-learning and clinical simulation. We will help you reach your full potential as you learn in modern, bespoke simulation facilities and learning spaces.

How will my progress be measured?

Formal and informal assessments occur throughout the course. You will have the opportunity to prepare for your summative assessments through formative opportunities. Summative assessments include a combination of knowledge assessments including very short answer questions, single best answer multiple choice questions and some essays. We will also test your clinical and professional skills through practical assessment methods such as OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Exams).

Your professional development will be captured through assessments that sit within your e-Portfolio. This can include feedback from colleagues and staff, and your own reflective writing. Regular meetings with your Personal Academic Tutor in Years 1 and 2, and your Clinical Academic Tutor in Years 3-5, ensure that you are given support to keep on track throughout your programme.

Feedback

You will receive regular feedback on your progress in the classroom and the clinical environment to help you define your strengths and areas for development. Your Personal Academic Tutor and Clinical Academic Tutor will help you define your personal development plan for each part of the programme.

Our programme is growing with you. We encourage students to feed back to us about the curriculum through formal and informal routes. We pride ourselves on having a culture of openness and listening. Wherever possible, we will act on student feedback to continually improve the learning environment.

Facilities and resources

In Years 1 and 2, your studies will be based primarily at both the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University campuses. You will be learning in purpose-built teaching facilities including a modern anatomy laboratory, clinical simulation spaces, and IT resource centres. You will do six one-week clinical placements in Year 1 and six in Year 2, which will provide you with rich opportunity to see, learn and practice the skills you are concentrating on at that time in the programme.

In Years 3, 4 and 5 you will be mainly based in and around an acute care hospital trust in Kent and Medway. You will learn through clinical placements in a range of medical and surgical specialties, mental health care, primary care and community services. In addition to wards and clinics, placement sites have comprehensive learning facilities including medical libraries, computer suites and clinical skills training areas to support your learning.

Digital resources

Today’s doctors need to be confident in using information technology effectively. Your degree will include training in digital literacies, information management, electronic patient records and the principles of bioinformatics.

Our web-based virtual learning environment provides you with online access to digital learning resources and study support tools. Lecturers can post presentations online, often with lecture recordings and links to the online library system. A wide range of digital learning resources, including videos, quizzes and interactive cases will also be provided.

Use of technology to enhance learning is encouraged. Digital media will be used in the dissection lab, and technologies such as virtual microscopy and radiology will be used in lectures, tutorials and clinical placements to help provide a full perspective on a patient’s illness.

All university campuses and hospital sites have computer clusters providing connections to both the university and hospital networks. This ensures you are always in touch with your learning resources.

Professional applied knowledge, skills and values

By the end of your programme you will have:

Developed your knowledge and understanding of:

1. The fundamental medical sciences
2. The structure and function of the healthy human body and how it alters in disease
3. Pregnancy, childbirth, development and ageing
4. The causes, pattern, treatment and outcomes of common medical conditions
5. The principles of population and environmental health, showing the wider determinants of disease and the impact of ill health on society
6. The principles of health promotion, disease prevention and therapy
7. How research informs current and future medical practice
8. Human relationships in the context of the family, community and culture in health and disease
9. The organisation and provision of health care in the UK
10. The ethical and legal responsibilities of doctors

You will learn how to:

11. Undertake scholarship and academic study
12. Problem solving and evaluation
13. Take an accurate and detailed medical history
14. Identify the clinical signs of disease
15. Use clinical information for diagnosis
16. Design appropriate treatment plans
17. Perform specified clinical procedures
18. Manage medical emergencies
19. Work in partnership with patients, relatives and carers settings for shared decision making
20. Use and interpret diagnostics effectively
21. Conduct novel research, appraising and summarising evidence and for use in clinical practice
22. Improve healthcare at individual and systems level

You will develop:

23. A responsibility for life-long learning
24. The habit of critically evaluating your professional performance
25. An awareness of the need to involve patients and their relatives in decisions about their treatment and care
26. Means and behaviours for working as part of an effective multi-professional team
27. The judgement to recognise when to seek assistance

* Disclaimer: This information is for indicative guidance only. KMMS is a new medical school and the BS BM programme is subject to successful progress through the General Medical Council’s quality assurance programme.