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Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Frequently asked questions: Intercalated Degrees

Who can take an Intercalated Degree? 

Applications to study for an Intercalated Degree will be considered from post 2nd, 3rd or 4th year Medical, dental and veterinary medicine students (or equivalent undergraduate award in UK/EU) countries who have passed all years to date.

Please note applicants for the Prehospital Medicine and Sports & Exercise Medicine courses must have completed year 3 or year 4 of the MBBS programme.

How to apply

External applicants

The School does not restrict these courses to its own students and welcomes applications from elsewhere in London, the UK, Europe and beyond.

Selection Criteria & Guidelines

What are the aims and objectives of Intercalated Degrees? 

The degrees provide an opportunity for in-depth study of selected biomedical technologies, health services research, and biomedical, and social sciences. They are aimed at those medical, dental or veterinary students wishing to undertake a year of research-orientated study.

Students could develop:

  • In-depth knowledge of defined areas of the science that underpins modern medicine
  • Skills of critical evaluation in relation to relevant biomedical literature and data
  • The ability to communicate scientific information in a variety of formats
  • Research skills enabling design, execution, interpretation and reporting of experiments in an area of biomedical or social science.

What is the structure of the BSc courses?

The degrees are based on a credit system, where you select courses from a list of options. All students must complete 120 credits, although the timing and content of the credits will depend on which degree you choose. All courses run over a 30 week period at least with respect to funding.

Project weightings vary between courses. The Experimental Pathology, Medical Education and Biomedical Engineering courses consist of 60 taught credits (lectures, seminars etc.) and a 60 credit project. The Global and Public Health course consists of 90 taught credits and a 30 credit project. Pharmacology and Innovative Therapeutics, Neuroscience and Sports & Exercise Medicine consist of 75 taught credits and 45 credits of project work. Prehospital Medicine consists of 60 taught credits, 30 clinical credits and a 30 credit research project.

For several of the degrees there are course credits designed to familiarise students with relevant basic scientific concepts. These, which are designated as "core credits", take place in the autumn term and all students must complete them and pass the assessment.

Each taught course credit involves the same amount of contact time, but the allocation of this time between lectures, self-directed learning, seminars and practical work will vary from course to course.

What should guide my selection of courses?

Interest

You are considering studying for an Intercalated Degree because you want to learn more about particular areas of biomedical science, so it will be sensible to select courses that will fire your enthusiasm.

Relevance

This may be taken in two ways. First it is sensible to select a series of courses that address a particular area of biomedical science. Secondly, while some students may select courses with a very close clinical association, others may wish to take the opportunity of focusing on an area of pure research, which nevertheless, has considerable medical relevance.

Assessment

Queen Mary has adopted a semester-based examination system. Taught modules will conform to this schedule for end module examinations held in January and May/June. In the latter period, project presentation, as well as any oral examination of the project will normally also take place.More details of the assessment procedures can be obtained from the individual course organisers.

Personal Tutors

Whilst intercalating, students will find that there is very strong personal support from within the School and the team within which they are working. Within each course there is also a system of Personal Tutors. Barts and The London students shouls also remain in contact with the mentor to whom you were assigned in the year preceding your intercalation.

Barts and The London Students' Association

There is a very active Medical Students' Association, with many clubs and societies. All intercalated students automatically become members of the Association if they join the Students' Union.

Fees

The home fees for intercalated BSc programmes should be the standard undergraduate fees (amounts can be found via QMUL coursefinder). Fees for overseas students will not be announced until the January preceding the relevant academic year. For more information, please see the QMUL Tuition Fees and Funding page.

Note, all students intercalating on MSc programmes will pay the standard MSc course fees, as detailed under the relevant programme page on the QMUL Postgraduate course finder.

Should you have any queries, please contact the Fees Office:

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 7676
Fax: +44 (0)20 7882 3024
email: fees@qmul.ac.uk

Alternatively, contact Thuraisha Naidoo (t.naidoo@qmul.ac.uk)

What are the fees for QMUL Malta students?

Queen Mary fees office will assess student fee status upon application to do an intercalating course.

Students deemed to eligible for “home fee” status will pay home fees for the year they are in London. International students will pay the standard iBSc or MSc fees for the London course as determined by their fee status, regardless of their fees for the Malta MBBS.

It is our understanding that Student Finance for England (SFE; or Wales, Scotland and NI) will not fund Home/EU students on the Malta programme wishing to intercalate in London. Students need to be studying at a UK institution to be eligible for funding and despite the connection to QMUL, the medical school in Malta would be classed as a foreign institution that students will be studying at for a period of five years. Students may make enquiries with SFE based upon their own circumstances, as factors may change and will depend upon the rules of SFE (or Wales, Scotland and NI) at the time.

Important: All students who began their MBBS Malta studies in 2017/18, please see the following information.

What financial support can I expect?

The School has a good record of attracting charitable funds to support medical students, who undertake an intercalated degree within Barts and the London.

Special Awards

In 2019/20, a range of awards were offered on the bases of financial need or academic merit or a combination of both. The maximum value of these awards is £5,000 and the minimum around £1000 per student. Some awards are tied to specific areas of study such as cancer, musculoskeletal problems or care in the community and the recipients of these awards must complete specific research topics. For others the award is on academic merit and you, in conjunction with the course tutors may need to make an additional application to the grant giving body. Special awards for dental students are available from The Health Foundation. Once you have been considered for a place on the intercalated degrees programme you will be informed in more detail about available bursaries. Students do not apply for these awards; recipients are selected for them by the Intercalated Degrees Committee. There are also a number of intercalated hardship bursaries that are based solely upon financial need and students will be invited to submit an application for these bursaries. Please note that these bursaries are not available to students from other medical schools or to Barts & The London students who choose to intercalate externally. 

Access Funds, Student Loans and NHS Bursaries

All students, other than those already holding an undergraduate degree, who qualify for home fee status will be eligible to apply for the Financial Assistance Fund, government student finance and NHS bursaries.  Home and EU students are eligible to receive NHS funding if they intercalate after successfully completing 4 years of their course.  If you intercalate pre-year 4 then you will not be eligible for NHS funding until your 5th and 6th year of study. Further details will be provided on enrolment.

Prizes 

Prizes are awarded for the best overall performance in each of the courses. There are some additional special prizes.

Paid Work

Some students will wish to undertake paid work during their intercalated year. Obviously it is essential that a job does not interfere either with your lectures or your project work. The School emphatically recommends that you spend no more than 10 hours per week engaged in paid or, indeed, unpaid work not connected with their course of study.

Accommodation

For information on accommodation in University Halls or the private sector market, please contact the

Residences Office
Queen's Building
Mile End Road
London
E1 4NS

Monday to Friday 10-00am to 3-00pm

www.residences.qmul.ac.uk

Interrupting / Rejoining the MBBS and BDS Course

Non-Bart's and the London students should make appropriate arrangements for interrupting and rejoining the MB BS degree course with their Registry.

All students accepted onto the courses and who receive a mandatory award for the MBBS degree course should write to their LEA in the Easter prior to starting the degree course to formally give the dates of interrupting/rejoining their medical course for one academic year (at the same time applying for a discretionary award for the degree course).

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure the details on these web pages are correct. However, fees, course components and other details may change from time to time, both before and after a candidate's admission to the course.

This prospectus is intended solely for the guidance of those seeking admission to the Intercalated Degrees Program offered by The School of Medicine and Dentistry and does not constitute part of any contractual obligation expressed or implied on the part of The School.

Admission to the University of London and to the Medical School is subject to the requirement that the student will comply with the University's registration procedure and will duly observe the Statutes and Regulations of the University, and of Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry.

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