Medicine Graduate/Professional Entry Programme

A four year medicine programme enabling honours degree graduates in arts or science and healthcare professionals with equivalent academic qualifications to study for a fast-track degree in medicine.

• Underlying philosophy of full integration of medical science and clinical teaching.
• Linked to the 3 of the most successful teaching hospitals in London: Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals.
• Patient contact from first term.
• Teaching underpinned by our own virtual campus online learning resource.
• A wealth of facilities and resources including the largest UK pathology museum.
• Offers dissection and prosection teaching.
• Enriched by a global network of international partnerships including Johns Hopkins University.

The Graduate & Professional Entry (GPEP) MBBS is King’s four-year fast-track entry route into medicine for graduates and health professionals.

Since its launch in 2004, GPEP has quickly become one of the most popular routes of its kind in the UK. The first cohort of 23 students graduated in 2008.

The medical curriculum is divided into five phases (see below for details of the 'transition year'.

The first year comprises Phases one and two (Introduction to Medical Science) which focus on basic science, illustrated and informed by clinical practice. Phases three and four (Intensive Patient Contact) focus on clinical training, underpinned by science. The fifth phase (Shadowing Practising Doctors) is vocationally oriented and includes the opportunity to study abroad for an elective period.

Each phase contains elements from the core curriculum, as well as Special Study Components (SSCs), which offer a wide element of student choice.

From the start 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 four years of the programme, allowing students to revisit and progressively build on their skills.

Teaching takes place 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 recently reburbished Chantler Clinical Skills and Interactive Learning Centre, to develop and practise their skills in taught classes or on a self-access basis. Students 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 MBBS curriculum.

The 'transition year'

Students on the GPEP programme cover Phase One and Two material in an extended single year known as the ‘transition year’. The year starts with a three-week introductory period which includes a revision of basic science, mainly chemistry, biochemistry and cell biology, an overview of the principal medical disciplines such as physiology and anatomy, and lectures on diverse topics such as psychology, sociology, ethics and statistics.

GPEP students do not do an SSC or some of the practicals that are more orientated towards basic science. Students do get additional tutorial support including a set of tutorials from clinicians.

The GPEP course is also extended at the end of the year to provide a two to three-week slot to cover a couple of the early Phase two scenarios that the students do not cover in the main course. After the transition year, GPEP students are completely integrated into the mainstream MBBS cohort.


Outcome of the course
At the end of the undergraduate course you will receive your MB ChB degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council. Provisionally registered doctors can only practise in approved Foundation Year 1 posts: the law does not allow provisionally registered doctors to undertake any other type of work.

To obtain a Foundation Year 1 post you will need to apply during the final year of your undergraduate course through the UK Foundation Programme Office selection scheme, which allocates these posts to graduates on a competitive basis. 

Successful completion of the Foundation Year 1 programme is normally achieved within 12 months and is marked by the award of a Certificate of Experience. You will then be eligible to apply for full registration with the General Medical Council. You need full registration with a licence to practise for unsupervised medical practice in the NHS or private practice in the UK.


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.

Teaching will be delivered through lectures, case-based workshops, practicals and dissections. This is supplemented by small group tutorials, patient contact learning and commnication and clinical skills in small groups. 

There is particular emphasis on learning together with students from other health professionals, and thereby to value the contribution made by the range of professionals contributing to the delivery of healthcare.


Graduate/Professional Entry Programme students join, after their introductory first year, the third year of the standard five year MBBS 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 introductory 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 Student Selected Components 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 second 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
• Healthcare 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 three specialities.

The objectives of the final year are different from those of the rest of the course. In the first three years you will acquire knowledge and skills, and develop the appropriate professional attitudes that are essential for starting your career in medicine.

The prime objective of the final year will be to allow you to consolidate and apply this knowledge and to further develop your skills and attitudes so that you are ready for your pre-registration year. Thus, the emphasis in the final year is to develop the vocational qualities that a doctor should exhibit.

You will be required to demonstrate competence in the clinical skills appropriate to commencing work as a doctor.

You will be expected to show professional attitudes in your work based on an informed understanding of ethical and professional issues.

You will complete a series of clinical attachments in medicine, surgery, general practice, reproductive and child health and psychiatry. These attachments will be taken at outside hospitals and you will return to the main campuses for short periods of learning in topics such as informatics, communication skills, presentation and teaching skills, radiation protection and advanced resuscitation.

You will develop the skills you have learned in earlier years, and particular emphasis will be placed on clinical skills, time management, prioritising, problem analysis and solving, summarising and written communication.

You will become a member of the care team, whether in primary care or in hospital, and will play an active role in the care team, linked to the work of other junior medical staff.