Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - careers

We’ll work closely with you throughout your degree to give you all the advice you need to take your career in the direction you’d like
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - Careers

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - careers

We’ll work closely with you throughout your degree to give you all the advice you need to take your career in the direction you’d like
Whether it’s working as a doctor in the NHS or taking your skills to developing countries, we’ll work closely with you throughout your degree to give you all the advice you need to take your career in the direction you’d like. 
We’re rightly proud that 100% of our graduates found employment in the last academic year (Source: ). Ensuring that you graduate with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for safe practice and entry into your first clinical job is our absolute priority – so we’ve carefully structured our BMBS degree to do just that.
While our primary focus is on producing exceptionally well-prepared and highly competent doctors for the NHS, we understand you may want to follow opportunities in the independent health sectors and overseas. Whatever direction you decide to take, we’ll ensure your learning experiences make you stand out in any clinical employment market.
After qualifying, you’ll move on to the foundation years of your medical education and training. Further information on these foundation years can be found on the . If you’re planning to continue working in the South West, you’ll benefit from our close relationship with the , which supervises postgraduate medical education and training in the region. 
Medical graduates find employment in a diverse range of science-related roles, and graduates from our programme:
  • Continue with full-time higher research degrees and academia
  • Gain entry onto postgraduate medical programmes
  • Pursue postgraduate teaching qualifications
  • Work within the science media
  • Work within an industrial setting
  • Work within clinical diagnostic laboratories
  • Use their graduate skills to obtain work in non-science related fields.

General Medical Council

Postgraduate foundation training and beyond

At the end of the undergraduate course you will receive your MBBS (or equivalent) degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council, subject only to its acceptance that there are no Fitness to Practise concerns that need consideration. Provisional registration is time limited to a maximum of three years and 30 days (1125 days in total). After this time period your provisional registration will normally expire.

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. All suitably qualified UK graduates have found a place on the Foundation Year 1 programme, but this cannot be guaranteed, for instance if there were to be an increased number of competitive applications.

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.

Although this information is currently correct, students need to be aware that regulations in this area may change from time to time.


Medical Licensing Assessment

The GMC has decided to introduce a Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) to demonstrate that those who obtain registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice. The requirement to have passed the MLA will apply to UK students entering their final year in autumn 2023 for graduation in 2024 and after. Applicants should be aware that to obtain registration with a licence to practise, medical students will need to pass both parts of the MLA, pass university finals and demonstrate their fitness to practise.

The MLA will be in two parts: there will be a knowledge test, which will be set and run by the GMC, and an assessment, delivered by medical schools, that will evaluate students’ clinical and professional skills.