Program Overview

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Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) MBChB 2025 entry

ScotGEM is a four-year graduate entry medical programme. It is designed to develop doctors interested in a career as a medical generalist within NHS Scotland. The programme is tailored to meet the current and future needs of the NHS in Scotland and focuses on rural medicine and healthcare improvement.

Overview

The unique and innovative programme is taught through a partnership between the universities of St Andrews and Dundee in collaboration with NHS Fife, NHS Tayside, NHS Highland, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and the University of the Highlands and Islands. This exciting partnership has enabled us to create a truly distinctive programme.

First and second year are led by the University of St Andrews, with third and fourth year led by the University of Dundee. In first year, students are based at the University of St Andrews and within Fife. From second year onwards, the programme includes periods of time living and studying in rural areas of the Highlands and Dumfries and Galloway. You must be prepared to live and study in this context.

ScotGEM will be awarded on a joint basis by the universities of St Andrews and Dundee.

Key Details

• UCAS code: A101
• Start date: 8 September 2025
• End date: 23 June 2029
• Duration: Four years full time
• School: School of Medicine
• Number of places: 70

Entry Requirements

This programme is only open to applicants who are classed as Home or RUK (rest of UK) for fee purposes. Those who are classed as overseas for fee purposes are not eligible to apply for this course. See the fees status policy for more information.

Applicants to the ScotGEM programme must meet a number of entry requirements, including both academic and non-academic conditions.

If you gained your qualifications outside of the UK, please ensure that they meet the entry requirements.

Course Details

ScotGEM’s unique and innovative four-year graduate entry medicine programme is run by the universities of St Andrews and Dundee in collaboration with our health board partners – NHS Fife, NHS Tayside, NHS Highland, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and the University of Highlands and Islands.

ScotGEM addresses all core MBChB requirements as stipulated by the General Medical Council (GMC). Whilst ScotGEM focuses on enthusing graduates to become medical generalists (which includes general surgeons or physicians as well as GPs) with experience in rural health care, the programme will prepare students for any branch of medicine through the normal postgraduate training process.

Key highlights of the programme include:

• Case Based Learning (CBL) to anchor learning in a more realistic context
• Exposure to community based medical practice from the start
• A Clinical Interactions Course (CLIC) – consultation, examination and procedural skills integrated with real patient contact
• A Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) in Year 3, based in a GP practice across Scotland, where you participate in care delivery and follow patients through their hospital and specialist treatment experiences

ScotGEM aims to produce a cohort of high quality, adaptable and compassionate clinical leaders. You will contribute to local communities and the health service while in training through supported 'Agents of Change' projects in all four years.

Working as an effective doctor involves being able to change health and care systems. Agents of Change enables ScotGEM students to learn and attempt to bring about real change in healthcare delivery. This aspect of the course has five themes:

• informatics
• quality improvement
• prescribing and therapeutics
• public health
• community engagement

Agents of Change helps learners understand, develop and practice skills required to generate change in complex systems. It includes taught materials and project work and helps students develop their expertise.

Modules

To graduate from the MBChB ScotGEM programme, you must complete specified modules across the four years at the universities of St Andrews and Dundee. ScotGEM will address all core MBChB requirements as stipulated by the General Medical Council (see GMC outcomes for graduates).

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3
• Year 4

Teaching

ScotGEM uses a wide range of teaching methods, much of which will be delivered within an NHS setting. A case-based learning approach in the first two years will prepare you for an exciting range of clinical learning opportunities in third and fourth years.

The ScotGEM course is based on clinical cases from the outset. These will be supported by:

• learning objectives
• lectures
• practical classes
• tutorials
• simulated and ‘real’ clinical and consultation skills
• extensive supported independent and peer-peer learning

Your learning will be underpinned by a sophisticated online Curriculum Management System, which will give you access to a wide range of resources and enables you to monitor your progress, particularly during Year 2 when students will be located in different regions.

Assessment

In years 1 to 3 of the course you will be required to pass assessments of knowledge, clinical skills and a portfolio demonstrating professional development. In Year 4, there is no formal knowledge assessment, you are assessed on your Clinical Skills and Portfolio only.

• In Year 1, you will be assessed on your knowledge using a mix of online multiple choice questions and short answer written assessments. Year 2 will use online multiple choice questions.
• In every year, there will be a portfolio assessment based on a mixture of engagement with learning, workplace-based performance and project work related to the curriculum themes.
• In every year, there will be an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).
• In order to join the General Medical Council (GMC) register upon graduation, students must pass the GMC Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA). This is comprised of two components, the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) and the Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA). Students will sit the AKT at the end of Year 3, and the CPSA at the end of Year 4.

Fees

• Scotland: Fees will be paid by the Scottish Government
• England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man: Following the decision of the UK Government to raise undergraduate tuition fees and maintenance loans in line with inflation from April 2025, we are reviewing the consequences of that decision for fees payable by students from the Rest of the UK who have chosen to study in Scotland, and will update the information on this page as soon as possible.

Careers

Graduates of ScotGEM will receive an MBChB degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Whilst ScotGEM is designed for students who are interested in a career as a medical generalist, the programme will prepare students for a career in any branch of medicine through the normal postgraduate training process.

There is a wide range of career opportunities for doctors with over 60 different specialties available. For more information, please see NHS Medical Careers.

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students to build their employability skills.