BOLOGNA AND MEDICAL DEGREES – THE IMPORTANCE OF ...

Correspondence address:
Dr Geoffrey Chadwick, Clinical Skills Centre, School of Medicine and Medical Science,UCD Dubiin 4 Ireland
Modular Structure at
UCD School of Medicine &
Medical Science
Dublin, Ireland
Dr Geoffrey Chadwick, Dr Jason Last
UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science Teaching and Learning Team
Medicine Programme Outline
1) Six year undergraduate curriculum:
- School leavers and mature entrants
- Exemption from first year on the basis
of strength in laboratory sciences
- Soon to require HPAT (National Aptitude Test)
2) GEM Programme
- Four year graduate entry to medicine
- Honours (2:1) level 8 primary degree and GAMSAT
Modular and Semester Based Programme
• A typical undergraduate Stage in UCD is two semesters - one year (see above). This is
represented in the following figure; six modules, each worth 5 credits, run in parallel
within each of two semester. Student have elective choices of 35 credits.
Six Year Undergraduate Programme
• Stages One to Four have six modules per semester and 5 ECTS type credits per
module (30 credits per semester and 60 credits per stage).
• Stage One: Scientific basis for medicine
• Stage Two: Introduction to molecules, cells, tissues, medical practice, population
health, and systems based modules covering healthy organ systems
• Stage Three: Completion of healthy organ systems, introduction to illness and disease,
commencement of systems based study of disease and its treatment and disability.
• Stage Four: Completion of systems based microbiology, pathology and applied
pharmacology and commencement of in depth clinical studies in the second semester.
• Stages Five and Six: are based in 22 different training sites and do not neatly conform
to the typical academic year. Students rotate through 10 credits modules usually, with
patient centred approaches to learning alongside consultant teams and community
based practitioners. Legal medicine, ethics and population health are conisdered in
smaller modules. The final professional completion semester contains elective
experience, a subinternship, intensive revision and other activies designed to give
students confidence and competence in their professional capabilities.
GEM Programme
Stage One and Two: 150 credits covering topics equivalent to Stages 2,3,4 above.
• Stages Three and Four: 120 credits and shared with undergraduate curriculum.
The UCD Medical Curriculum is fully modular and semesterised
with an ECTS compliant credit system and contains great student
choice in a wide variety of medical and nonmedical disciplines