Extended Medical Degree Programme

A six-year medical degree programme for students studying A levels/Access to Medicine at non-selective state schools in London, Kent and Medway to study medicine at a slower pace and with greater support for first three years. The course covers the same topics, level of detail, exams and required pass mark as conventional medical students.

• Underlying philosophy of full integration of medical science and clinical teaching.
• Teaching underpinned by our own virtual campus online learning resource.
• A wealth of facilities and resources including the largest UK medical anatomy museum.
• Offers dissection and prosection teaching.
• Enriched by a global network of international partnerships including Johns Hopkins University.

The EMDP is the UK’s flagship widening access to medicine programme. The programme runs for six years rather than the usual five, allowing the first two phases to be studied at a steady pace. Students receive mentoring and support during their first three years. EMDP students follow the same medical curriculum as all other medical students and undergo the same rigorous assessment.

Now in its twelfth year, over 300 students are currently studying on the EMDP. Each September we will take another 50 eligible students onto the course.

Which programme should I apply to?
Applicants will only be considered for the EMDP if you apply for course code A101. If applicants wish to also be considered for the standard 5-year programme then you must apply to UCAS course code A100 as well as A101, and each application will be considered separately.

Eligibility for the EMDP
All 50 EMDP places are funded by HEFCE which means that only applicants with Home/EU fee status are eligible to apply to the programme.

To be eligible to apply, applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

• Since the age of 11, applicants have attended only educationally non-selective state schools or FE Colleges – no private or selective study. All schools attended since the age of 11 should be listed on the UCAS form.
• Applicants have completed all GCSEs, including maths and English, at a non-selective state school. Please note that candidates re-sitting GCSEs in maths or English will not be considered and are recommended to reapply once they have achieved their grades.
• Applicants have completed, or are completing, A levels or the IB at a non-selective state school or FE college in Greater London, Kent or Medway. Independent candidates are not eligible.
• Applicants have studied Chemistry and Biology to A2 level, plus at least one other A level in any subject.
• Applicants taking an Access to Medicine course are eligible if they have completed it, or are about to complete it, at an FE college in Greater London, Kent or Medway. If applicants are taking the Access to Medicine course have previously started or completed A levels, all academic achievements will be assessed.
• Applicants who have previously started or completed a degree at another higher education institution in the UK or overseas are not eligible.

How are applications assessed?
Applications are considered in light of each candidate's educational background. To be considered for interview, candidates must first satisfy all eligibility criteria (as listed above). Candidates then must be predicted to achieve, or already have achieved, the minimum entry requirement appropriate to their A level school or college.

A candidate's academic achievement at GCSE will be taken into account along with other non-academic criteria, such as evidence of commitment to the community outside of the school environment. Careful consideration will be given to a candidate's reference and any mitigating circumstances will be taken into account.

The EMDP is a competitive programme with around 10 applications for every place. It is not possible to interview everyone who is eligible and meets the minimum entry requirements, and we will select only the most competitive candidates in light of their educational background for interview.

Minimum entry requirements
Minimum entry requirements are decided against a candidate's school's average A level score per student, as published by the Department for Education. Schools' scores are updated annually in January.

The EMDP has differential minimum entry requirements based on the school's published average score per student as compared with the national average.

For a candidate whose A level school's average point score per student is equal to or lower than the national average, the minimum entry requirement is BBB (chemistry, biology and one other subject)

For a candidate whose A level school's average point score per student is higher than the national average, the minimum entry requirement is AAA (chemistry, biology and one other subject).

For candidates taking the IB, the minimum entry requirement will be decided in light of the school's average IB performance.

For information about schools' scores, please visit the Department of Education website: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/?pid=pt2011_&cre=holdingpagelink

Please note that our data will be updated for 2013 entry and our assessments will be made on the most recent data as available before the new admissions cycle.

The medical curriculum is divided into five phases.

Phases 1 and 2 (Introduction to Medical Science) focus on basic science, illustrated and informed by clinical practice. Phases 3 and 4 (Intensive Patient Contact) focus on clinical training, underpinned by science. Phase 5 (Clinical Assistantships) is vocationally oriented and includes the opportunity to study abroad for an elective period.

Each phase contains elements from the core curriculum, which is compulsory, as well as Student Selected Components, which offer a wide element of student choice.

Students can follow a year-long BSc in a subject of their choice by ‘intercalating’ the degree between phases of their MBBS.

From the first term of your programme you will be introduced to patients and clinicians. You will also work with other students destined for healthcare professions such as dentistry, nursing and midwifery. Interprofessional Education is embedded in the curriculum, developing teamwork, communication, and an awareness of ethical and professional responsibilities.

An important feature of the King’s approach to studying medicine is the way in which understanding is built up: as new knowledge is added, material covered in earlier phases is reinforced. So, for example, communication skills are developed through a ‘spiral’ curriculum which runs through all five years of the MBBS, allowing students to revisit and progressively build on their skills.

Teaching takes place mainly on the three hospital campuses (Guy’s, King’s Denmark Hill and St Thomas’), with placements in general practices in London and district general hospitals throughout south east England adding a further dimension to the clinical experience.

Lectures and seminars are complemented by rich and varied opportunities to develop practical skills such as venepuncture and examination. Students can make use of 17 separate rooms in the Chantler Skills Centre, the largest of its kind in the UK, to develop and practise their skills in taught classes or on a self-access basis. They also benefit from the training provided by trained Patient Educators and student peers. These are innovative schemes which supplement more formal teaching.

A key resource for all King’s medical students is the Virtual Campus, a constantly updated online environment which you can access at any time, from anywhere in the world. As well as providing administrative support including timetables and reading lists, the virtual campus offers innovative teaching and learning resources such as clinical videos and interactive scenarios.

Although there are four entry routes into medicine at King’s, all students follow the same MBBS curriculum.

Currently, students study the following programme structure. King's reviews its programmes on a regular basis, in order to continue to offer innovative and exciting learning opportunities and this information is therefore subject to change. Please check here for updates, or contact the School/department for further advice.

First semester:
Biochemistry, cell biology, pharmacology and histology.
The anatomy and physiology of the kidneys, liver and gut.

Second semester:
The liver, kidney and gut (covered via six clinical scenarios).
One Student Selected Component (SSC), completed at the end of the year.

Plus EMDP-specific material:
Chemistry
Numeracy
Academic English
Subject-based tutorials


First semester
Immunology and statistics
The anatomy and physiology of the heart and lungs.
Communication skills
Clinical skills, covered in GP surgeries, hospital visits and inter-professional education (IPE).
One Student Selected Component (SSC)

Second semester:
The heart and lungs (covered via seven clinical scenarios).
Medical sociology, psychology and medical ethics.
Clinical skills are covered in GP surgeries, hospital visits and inter-professional education (IPE).
One Student Selected Component (SSC)

Plus EMDP-specific material:
Academic English
Critical thinking
Subject-based tutorials

24 clinical scenarios, as covered in the conventional degree programme.

Clinical teaching is integrated across the major specialities relating to diseases of the abdomen, chest and head with an introduction to clinical pharmacology and therapeutics.

You develop the skills of history-taking first learned in the clinical contact sessions in the second year, and begin to learn the basic skills of clinical examination, diagnostic reasoning, interpretation of pathological and radiological data and practical procedures such as venepuncture and basic resuscitation.

The clinical attachments consist of two sections. One of a 'clinical immersion' period when you will be part of a clinical team on a ward. The other is of a similar length and includes two days of Special Study Modules and time to expand on the basic science and dealing with certain topics in therapeutics, imaging, pathology etc.

Students build on the basic knowledge and skills developed in the third year in adult medicine and surgery and psychiatry, and extend these to the special groups of patients. There are three blocks of training:

• Accident and emergency medicine, anaesthetics, orthopaedics, rheumatology, rehabilitation and neurology
• Reproductive and sexual health, including obstetrics and gynaecology, breast medicine and neonatology
• Health care of the elderly, child health and paediatrics, palliative care and dermatology.

You will develop the special communication skills required for these groups of patients, and will gain an understanding of ethical issues and their application in the context of the sensitive areas that the management of these patients presents. You will learn about the psychological and socio-economic circumstances of patients, particularly those who are more vulnerable and disadvantaged from age and dependency, and the role of the multi-disciplinary team in the care of dependant patients. There will be teaching in public health, epidemiology, pharmacology, therapeutics and the laboratory sciences as applied to the year four specialities