Medicine Graduate/Professional Entry Programme | MBBS | Full Time | UCAS code: A102

An innovative degree programme developed by King's with university and NHS partners in Kent and Medway. Enables honours degree graduates in arts or science and healthcare professionals with equivalent academic qualifications to study for a degree in medicine on a four-year programme.

• Underlying philosophy of full integration of medical science and clinical teaching.
• Patient contact from first week.
• 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 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 – all with distinction.

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

Phases 1 and 2 (Introduction to Medical Science) 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, which is compulsory, as well as Special Study Modules, 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 week 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 MBBS curriculum.

The 'transition year'

Students on the GPEP programme cover Phase 1 and 2 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 the SSM 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 three-week slot to cover some of the early Phase 2 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.


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 case-based, problem-solving and patient contact learning, in small groups. Clinical demonstrations and laboratory practicals will involve the whole cohort on a particular site. There will be 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.