Medicine

Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while studying and when in practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction, involving as it does a combination of science and human interactions, and numerous career opportunities.

At Cambridge, you study the medical sciences first, before learning to apply that knowledge to medical practice as a clinical student. The first three years (pre-clinical studies) are taught through lectures, practical classes (including hands-on cadaveric dissection) and supervisions, with typically 20-25 timetabled teaching hours each week.

The emphasis during the clinical studies (Years 4, 5 and 6) in Cambridge is on learning in clinical settings: at the bedside, in outpatient clinics and in GP surgeries, which is supported by seminars, tutorials and discussion groups.

Magdalene aims to make 9-10 offers in Medicine each year. We offer places to applicants from all types of educational background. Around 50% of our Medical Students are female.

Magdalene has six Directors of Studies in Medicine and a number of other senior members (Fellows and College Lecturers) in the subject. Personal contact with senior members occurs informally through supervisions, and supervisors are generally available to answer queries. Directors of Studies are available for consultation on academic matters. Your Tutor usually deals with matters of a non-academic nature such as social, financial or psychological issues. The ethos of the College is, however, that appropriate support is provided to students who need it, so students should never hesitate to ask.

The New Library with spacious work areas is open 24 hours a day. There is a substantial Medical Section which contains copies of all the recommended texts for the University courses, and most departments have their own well-stocked specialist libraries which are at your disposal. Additionally, there are large central libraries such as the University Library and the Clinical School Library. There is online access to a large number of journals provided by Cambridge Libraries in iDiscover.

We have a family of plastic half-skeletons  that are loaned to first year students (second years have the skull) in order to help them master the intricacies of Anatomy, which is crucial for all members of the medical profession. It is the responsibility of the student to care for their skeleton, and to return them intact at the end of the year.

Magdalene cannot accept applications for the Graduate Course in Medicine or for admission to the Standard Course as an affiliated student (i.e., those wanting to study medicine as a second degree).

More details of the course and the optional papers available can be found on the University’s Undergraduate Study pages and the Medical Sciences Tripos website.

Following the successful completion of their third year of the Tripos (BA), students remain in Cambridge for three more years to complete their Clinical Studies (MB, BChir). More details about Clinical Medical Studies are available on this website.

Second MB exams

In order to be registered as a Medical Practitioner, candidates must satisfy the requirements laid down by the General Medical Council via the various Royal Colleges in the form of examinations for the Second MB. The Tripos Examination will contain an element which will determine Second MB qualification. Students who fail to pass the Second MB components at their first attempt will be required to sit them again before the beginning of the following academic year. Students are typically permitted to have only two attempts at the Second MB examinations.

We welcome people with a broad range of relevant knowledge to medicine. However, potential medical students will need to be aware that there is a considerable amount of science in the course at Cambridge (bearing in mind that it is designated the Medical Sciences Tripos), and applicants will need to demonstrate appropriate preparation for this.

To apply for Medicine at Magdalene you will need A-level Chemistry, and two other science subjects from Mathematics, Biology, Physics, or Further Mathematics. Of these, we strongly recommend Mathematics, along with at least one of Biology and Physics.

We may consider Further Mathematics as a third Maths/Science A-level, but recommend combinations of either Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology, or Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics over Chemistry, Mathematics, and Further Mathematics (if you are taking three A-levels rather than four).

For applicants studying the IB, we require either Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology at Higher Level, or Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics at Higher Level (in the latter case, we would advise some reading of suitable Biology texts).

IB applicants starting the new IB Mathematics syllabus are expected to take IB Higher Level 'Analysis and Approaches'. If this option is not available at your school, please contact the College for further advice and guidance.

Minimum Offer 

A-level: A*A*A 

IB: 42 points overall, with 7,7,6 at Higher Level. 

Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept 

National restrictions mean that students under the age of 18 are not permitted to undertake any clinical elements of the Medicine course, which start in Michaelmas Term. Therefore, all medical students are required to be 18 years of age by 1^st November of their first year.

Candidates will normally have two interviews of around 20-25 minutes each.

The interview process aims to assess your intellectual ability, potential, and commitment to the subject.

We do not require a written work submission for this subject.

Candidates are required to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). The UCAT is a pre-registration required assessment. This means that you will have to register to sit the assessment at an assessment centre near to you. Registration for the pre-registration required assessment is separate from your UCAS application and it is essential that you are registered by your centre before the deadline. 

For further details see the UCAT website and the University UCAT page.

More information is available on the Interviews, Written Work and Assessments page.