Program Overview

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Graduate Entry – Doctor of Medicine Degree (MD)

Introduction

The University of Nicosia Medical School offers a graduate entry MD degree programme designed for those holding university degrees in any field. This innovative programme has been designed in accordance with the European Union directive requirements for basic medical education and has been accredited by the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA) against the robust and comprehensive medical education standards of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).

Profile

General Objectives

The programme provides graduate students with the opportunity to receive high-quality education in Medicine. The general programme objectives are to:

• Train students to become highly competent physicians and equip them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to respond to the challenges of modern medicine.
• Produce competent and caring graduates, safe to practise initially as junior doctors, and with the potential to develop their careers in their chosen branch of medicine.
• Provide each student with the evidence-based knowledge and experience necessary to advance both scientifically and humanistically in the care and treatment of those who are ill including immediate care of medical emergencies.
• Foster the development of lifelong commitments to scholarship and service toward individual patients and the community.
• Encourage students to practise medicine holistically including ethical, legal, psychological and social considerations.
• Promote health and wellness through disease prevention and research.
• Contribute toward the establishment of Cyprus as a regional centre of excellence in medical education.

Programme Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the programme, students should be able to:

Knowledge

• Explain normal human structure and function at the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ and whole-body level from conception to old age.
• Explain the scientific principles underlying common and important disease processes including inflammation, infection, neoplasia and trauma.
• Describe basic pharmacological principles together with the pharmacology of commonly used medications, including their modes of action, pharmacokinetics, medication interaction and side effects.
• Describe the role of genetics in predicting the risk of disease and in personalised medicine.
• Explain the determinants of normal human behaviour at an individual and societal level.
• Explain how psychological and sociological factors might impact on the risk of disease and the outcome of treatment.
• Describe how individuals adapt to major life changes, including the onset of illness.
• Explain the concept of ‘wellness’ and describe the importance of promoting lifestyle factors in achieving the best possible health.
• Describe the role of epidemiology in evaluating the health of a population.
• Discuss the role of environmental, ecological, social, behavioural, occupational and cultural factors in determining health at individual, community and societal levels.
• Describe the principles of primary, secondary and tertiary disease prevention, together with the role of immunisation and screening.
• Describe the basic principles of communicable disease control in both hospital and community settings.
• Discuss the role of nutrition in health and illness.
• Discuss the determinants of health from a global perspective and recognise the impact that global factors may have on local health.
• Describe the utility of qualitative and quantitative methods in scientific research.
• Interpret common statistical methods used in medicine and in medical research.
• Critically appraise the research literature in terms of study design, results, analysis and conclusions.
• Discuss the role of doctors in contributing to the collection and analysis of patient data.
• Describe the principles of health informatics.

Skills

• Communicate compassionately and effectively with patients and when relevant, with significant others including taking a relevant focused history.
• Communicate effectively with colleagues in all professional settings, including group situations.
• Communicate effectively by written and by electronic means as well as orally.
• Keep accurate clinical records and demonstrate skills in the recording, organisation and management of information including the use of appropriate information technology.
• Conduct an examination of the major body systems in a simulated environment.
• Assess, investigate and manage patients in a safe, competent and caring manner applying sound clinical reasoning at all stages of the process.
• Prescribe drugs safely under supervision including dosage calculation, prescription writing and administration.
• Recognise and manage life-threatening conditions and provide the immediate core of medical emergencies including First Aid and resuscitation.

Professional Competencies

• Discuss the nature of medical professionalism and its importance in patient care recognising that the care and safety of patients is central to their everyday practice.
• Work with members of the multidisciplinary team and understand their own personal roles and responsibilities within the team as well as those of other healthcare professionals.
• Discuss the basic principles that underpin good ethical practice including the need to respect patients regardless of their lifestyle, culture, beliefs, religion, race, colour, gender, sexuality, disability, age, and social or economic status.
• Be aware of and be able to discuss the major ethical issues in healthcare as may be encountered in everyday clinical practice including concern for confidentiality and respect for individual autonomy.
• Explain the importance of maintaining patient confidentiality and of respecting the autonomy, dignity and privacy of patients.
• Explain one’s professional and legal responsibilities when accessing information in relation to patient care, research and education.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of always acting with honesty and integrity, including the duty of open disclosure when things go wrong.
• Demonstrate an understanding of when patient consent is required and how it is best obtained. This includes an understanding of when and how consent needs to be obtained from a third party.
• Recognise the potential impact on patient care of one’s personal beliefs and biases and describe the strategies that mitigate this.
• Describe the principles of safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.
• Display a life-long commitment to scholarship and service towards the individual patient and the community.
• Practise medicine holistically taking into account ethical, legal, psychological and social considerations.
• Promote health and wellness through disease prevention and research.
• Contribute toward the establishment of Cyprus as a regional centre of excellence in medical education.

Curriculum

Years 1 – 3

• In the first three years, emphasis is placed on contextual learning with learning outcomes linked to weekly scenarios or cases which are increasingly clinical in nature.
• The first Pre-medical Basic Sciences year is designed to provide a solid grounding in the basic sciences that underpin the practice of medicine.
• In the second year, the learning of the basic sciences remains the focus but this becomes integrated and system-based and covers sequentially the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, endocrine, musculoskeletal, neurological and reproductive systems as well as growth and development in childhood.
• In the third year, the basic structure of weekly cases continues, but the topics become more complex and address multiple systems.

Year 4 -5

• In Years 4 and 5, learning takes place in the clinical environment.
• Curriculum delivery in Years 4 and 5 utilizes both horizontal and vertical integration.
• Medical and surgical disciplines are integrated horizontally, for example, Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology; Nephrology and Urology; Rheumatology and Orthopaedics.
• Vertical integration is utilized to build on previous knowledge, including formal structured revisiting of the basic sciences.

Structure

• The graduate entry MD programme (GEMD) is structured around 10 semesters over a period of 5 years.
• In each semester students are required to take 30 ECTS credits, completing 300 credits after 10 semesters of full-time tuition.

Assessment

• The assessment in all five years of the graduate entry MD Programme is designed to evaluate the knowledge, skills and professional competencies that students need to achieve in order to practice medicine.
• Knowledge and Skills are assessed by:
  • Final Exams (Years 1-3)
  • End of Year Exams (Years 4-5)
  • Project work (in Years 1-3) including scientific reports, oral presentations and posters.
• Practical skills are assessed by Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).
• Professional Competencies are assessed longitudinally in every year and in Years 4-5 by Workplace Based Assessments and reflective portfolio entries.

Accreditation

• The graduate entry MD programme is accredited by the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA).
• CYQAA holds Recognition Status by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the graduate entry MD programme is thus assessed against the rigorous standards for Basic Medical Education of WFME.
• The framework for WFME accreditation has been developed jointly with the World Health Organisation.

Admissions

• Academic Requirements
  • A Bachelor’s degree from any field with at least a 2.2 class honours or equivalent GPA.
  • Entrance Examination
    • MCAT: 498 minimum score
    • GAMSAT: 55 minimum score (must have a minimum of 50 in all sections)
    • UCAT: 2500 overall score (1875 for applicants taking the UCAT in 2025) with a minimum of 500 in each section, and a situational judgment score within Bands 1-3.
• English Language Requirements
  • 6.5 overall in the IELTS (with 6.5 in writing and a minimum of 6.0 in all other elements),
  • 79 in TOEFL iBT
  • grade 5 in the GCSE (or B with the old grading system),
  • a score of 5 in English in the International Baccalaureate Standard Level (SL),
  • a score of 8 in English in the European Baccalaureate.

Tuition

• Annual tuition is €24,000 per year.
• In years 4 and 5, Clinical Training Supplement fees may be charged depending on clinical site allocation.
• On average, staying in Nicosia for the whole year will cost a minimum of €12,000.
• In addition to tuition, the following fees also apply:
  • Application fee (one-off
    on refundable payment): €60
  • Administrative fee (deducted from the first semester tuition upon completion): €1,000
  • Entry Visa application and Alien’s registration fee (one-off
    on refundable payment): €150
  • Annual health insurance fee (compulsory for non-EU only): €180
  • Annual malpractice insurance fee (Years 1-3): €300
  • Annual malpractice insurance fee (Years 4-5, pending clinical site): €6000
  • International student guarantee (one-off/refundable payment): €400
  • Renewal of visa after one year (international
    on-EU): €55
  • Annual Personal accident insurance (Years 1-5): €50
  • Annual Clinical Training supplement for eligible students who will attend UK / USA placements (Years 4 – 5): €6000
  • Annual Clinical Training supplement for eligible students who will attend Switzerland placements (Years 4 – 5): €3000