Medicine - Graduate Entry
The Medicine curriculum at UCC is rooted in the basic Medical Sciences of Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, but also places emphasis on clinical instruction. A distinctive feature is small-group, patient-centred teaching, in which students learn the skills of listening and communicating, history-taking and clinical examination.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | Major |
| Awarding Body | National University of Ireland |
| NFQ Level | Level 8 NFQ |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) | Major | National University of Ireland | Level 8 NFQ |
Duration
4 Years
Careers / Further progression
Skills and Careers Information
Following successful completion of the Final Medical Examination, and subsequent graduation, Medical graduates are required to complete one year of internship training in order to achieve full registration with the Irish Medical Council. While UCC School of Medicine makes every effort to support students in the search for an internship post, students apply and compete for internship posts in an open jobs market.
In Medicine, the primary degrees MB, BCh, BAO are only the start of your career, as all branches of Medicine require postgraduate training of 3-7 years after the postgraduation hospital intern year.
Many graduates choose to undertake part of their postgraduate training abroad and all Medical School academic staff are available to provide advice regarding the opportunities available.
Further information
There are a number of entry requirements you need to meet to be considered eligible for the GEM programme, but first, you need to confirm your status as an Irish/EU applicant or a Non-EU applicant.
To be considered an EU applicant, you must fulfil the criteria for determining EU fee eligibility as outlined here.
If you do not meet the eligibility criteria for EU applicant status, you will be deemed a Non-EU student for fees and application purposes and you should not apply through the CAO.
To be eligible for consideration for an EU GEM place, you must:
Hold, or expect to hold by July of the year you wish to enter Graduate Entry to Medicine, a minimum of second class honours, grade one (2H1 or equivalent) result in your first honours bachelor degree (NFQ level 8). The degree can be in any discipline.
Compete on the basis of your Graduate Australian Medical School Admission Test (GAMSAT) scores only. The GAMSAT-Ireland test is held in March and September each year. Please consult the GAMSAT website for further information.
Please note:
GAMSAT results are valid for two years prior to the start of the programme you are applying for. If you are presenting GAMSAT UK or GAMSAT Australia results you must provide these to the CAO when submitting your application.
The candidate with the highest GAMSAT score will receive the first offer; the candidate with the next highest score will receive the next offer until all available places are filled. (Please note neither ACER, the graduate-entry schools nor the admissions authorities recommend or endorse any particular texts or preparation courses. Nor do they support any commercially available preparation courses or have any association with commercial courses).
There are no interviews for EU GEM applicants.
Applicants who are eligible for the Graduate Entry to Medicine course are not eligible to apply to CK701 as Mature entrants.
Applicants who have previously been unsuccessful in any Medicine course are deemed not to be “in good standing” and will only be considered for admission to UCC’s Medicine courses on a case-by-case application basis, to be considered by the relevant Course Board. Applicants should include any details of extenuating circumstances along with their application.
Students whose mother tongue is not English must provide evidence of English Language ability.
For more information on the application process for GEM, please see the 2023 Graduate Entry Medicine Guidelines for CAO Applicants.
Fitness to Practise
Students will be subject to the University's Fitness to Practise Policy.
Student Vetting
All students on this programme will come into contact with the public and assume positions of trust through educational and training opportunities. To ensure the protection of the public, and to justify public trust and confidence, UCC is committed to ensuring that only suitable candidates are allowed to undertake this programme.
Garda vetting is carried out by the Admissions Office in UCC once a student has accepted their place on the programme. It involves a police check to establish whether the individual being vetted has had criminal convictions in the past or whether any criminal proceedings are pending. The Garda Siochána provide this information for students who have resided in Ireland for a period of six months or more (including permanent residence).
All students who have resided outside Ireland for a period of six months or more must furnish a Police Clearance Certificate from their country or countries or residence. This certificate should state that the student has had no convictions recorded against them while residing there.
Approximate Available Places Overall 38
Entry 2024
Early online application (discounted): Fee €30 Closing Date: 20 January 2024 at 5pm
Normal online application: Fee €45 Closing Date: 1 February 2024 at 5pm
Late online application - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: €60 Closing Date: 1 May 2024 at 5pm
Change of Mind - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: Nil Closing Date: 1 July 2024 at 5pm
Exceptional online late application (see page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee €60 Closing Date: 22 July 2024 at 5pm
Be sure to complete any action well in advance of closing dates. You should avoid making an application close to a closing date. No extensions to closing dates will be allowed and all application fees are non-refundable.
LATE APPLICATIONS
Late Applications are those which are received after 5pm on 1 February 2024. The closing date for late applications is 5pm on 1 May 2024, subject to the restrictions listed on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook. The online facility for late applications opens on the 5 March 2024 at 12:00 noon - a fee of €60 applies.
Exceptional Late Applications (Exception to the timetable)
The exceptional closing date of 22 July at 5pm applies only to applicants who are registered as an undergraduate student on 1 May 2024 in any year in any one of the participating HEIs (subject to the exclusions listed below). In order to avail of the Exceptional Late Application facility you must have entered the HEI through the CAO system. This is an exceptional late closing date and all steps must be completed by 5pm on 22 July. No changes may be made after this date.
If you did not enter your current course through the CAO system, you must first contact the Admissions Office of the HEI to which you wish to apply and they will inform you if you may submit an application direct to the institution.
Exclusions:
You may submit a late application only for entry to courses other than your existing course. If you wish to repeat the year in the same course you must arrange this within your HEI.
Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick and Maynooth University have special procedures in place in the case of current or previous students who wish to apply for entry to another course in the same HEI. Such applicants must contact their Admissions Office to determine the application procedure. However, if you are a student in another HEI and you wish to apply to any of these five HEIs, you should apply through CAO.
Refer to page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook on how to make an Exceptional Late Application.
Restrictions
As a CAO applicant you may experience one or more of the following restrictions based on your course choices, your category of application, or restrictions imposed by the HEIs that you wish to apply to. Please read the section on 'Restrictions' on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook carefully. This section includes information on:
General Restrictions
1. Making a late application
2. Making changes to your course choices
Restricted Courses
3. Applying for a restricted course
Mature Applicants
4. Mature applicants
Supplementary Admissions Routes
5. Applying for DARE and/or HEAR
Course Outline
Few fields can compete with Medicine in terms of the wide variety of opportunities available to the graduate.
For most doctors, their professional lives are centred on caring for people in the community or in the hospital setting. In this context, doctors are often the centre around which the healthcare of the patient revolves, interacting with all other members of the healthcare team.
However, doctors are also leaders in biomedical research, in the development of a new understanding of normal and abnormal bodily function, diagnostic methods, and therapies. Doctors are also engaged in the study of patterns of disease in the community; others work in pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, health insurance companies, and in the management of health and safety in the workplace.
The Medicine curriculum at UCC is rooted in the basic Medical Sciences of Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, but also places emphasis on clinical instruction. A distinctive feature is small-group, patient-centred teaching, in which students learn the skills of listening and communicating, history-taking and clinical examination.
The Medicine curriculum at UCC reflects current best practices in medical education and is under constant review and evaluation. The curriculum is further enhanced by a wide range of student-selected modules, from research projects to humanities workshops (e.g. Art and Medicine, Creative Writing). Research is a key element of Medicine at UCC, and all students complete a research project in their final year.
This is a four-year course in which the Biomedical Sciences are compressed into Year 1 and the first semester of Year 2, after which it overlaps significantly with Medicine MB, BCh, BAO (Hons).
Year 1 (Core Modules)
GM1001 Fundamentals of Medicine I (20 credits)
GM1002 Fundamentals of Medicine II (20 credits)
GM1003 Fundamentals of Medicine III (15 credits)
GM1010 Integrated Patient-centred Clinical Science and Practice (15 credits)
GM1020 Health and Disease in Society I (5 credits).
Year 2 (Core Modules)
GM2001 Fundamentals of Medicine IV (10 credits)
GM2006 Junior Clinical Elective (5 credits)
GM2013 Professionalism and Patient-Centered Practice (15 credits)
GM2015 Clinical Medicine I (15 credits)
GM2020 Health, Disease and Society II (10 credits)
GM2030 Research for Medicine and Health I (5 credits)
GM2105 Clinical Medicine II (10 credits).
Elective Modules (5 credits each)
AN3000 Advanced Anatomical Skills
BH3006 Psychological Medicine
EE3901 Biomedical Design
IP3008 Palliative Care: An Interdisciplinary Approach
IS3101 Health Information Systems and e-Health
MX3001 Maritime Medicine
MX3003 Medical Research Project
MX3005 Writing Skills for Medical Students - Fiction and Fact
MX3006 Student Selected Special Study Module in Medicine
MX3007 Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports Medicine
MX3009 Business Skills in Medicine
MX3010 Mitigating Medical Error
MX3011 Malnutrition and Nutrition Support
MX3012 Library Project in Medicine III
MX3013 Introduction to Evidence-based Practice in Medicine
MX3090 Medical Ethics, Legal Medicine and Moot Court
PM3090 Genetic Research in Human Disease.
Year 3
HC4005 Psychiatry (10 credits)
HC4006 Behavioural Medicine (5 credits)
CP4003 Reproduction, Pregnancy, Child Health and Development (15 credits)
CP4006 Fundamentals of Adult Disease (15 credits)
CP4007 Fundamentals of Otolaryngology, Dermatology and Ophthalmology (5 credits)
FM4005 Forensic Medicine and the Coroner's Court (5 credits)
MX4091 Research and Professionalism in Medicine I (5 credits).
Year 4
CP5100 Principles and Practice of Surgery (10 credits)
CP5200 Principles and Practice of Internal Medicine and General Practice (20 credits)
CP5300 Principles and Practice of Paediatrics and Child Health (10 credits)
CP5400 Principles and Practices of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (10 credits)
CP5500 Preparedness for Professional Practice (5 credits)
MX5091 Research and Professionalism in Medicine II (5 credits).
Academic Programme Catalogue
See the Academic Programme Catalogue (https://ucc-ie-public.courseleaf.com/programmes/) for the complete and up-to-date content for this course. Note that the modules for all courses are subject to change from year-to-year. For complete descriptions of individual modules, see the Book of Modules (https://ucc-ie-public.courseleaf.com/modules/)
School of Medicine
gem@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 1575
http://www.ucc.ie/en/medical/