Program Overview

Medicine

Overview

The Medicine program at Queen's University Belfast is a five-year undergraduate degree that provides students with a comprehensive education in the field of medicine. The program is designed to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become a caring and compassionate doctor, critical thinker, problem solver, and reflective practitioner with excellent clinical skills.

Course Structure

The program is divided into four years of study, with the final year being a clinical elective. The first two years focus on the scientific basis of medical practice, with an emphasis on the mechanisms of cellular structure and function, pathology, microbiology, therapeutics, and genetics. The third year has a greater clinical focus, with classroom-based and clinical teaching taking place in each of the medical and surgical disciplines. The fourth year builds on the clinical experience gained in the third year, with a focus on child health, reproductive health, mental health, cancer, general practice, and ageing and health.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Apply biomedical scientific principles, methods, and knowledge to medical practice and integrate these into patient care.
• Apply social science principles and methods to medical practice and integrate these into patient care.
• Apply the principles, methods, and knowledge of population health and the improvement of health and sustainable healthcare to medical practice.
• Demonstrate clinical skills in patient assessment and in assigning priorities to newly presented clinical problems.
• Present succinct clinical histories.
• Formulate differential diagnoses from histories and physical examinations.
• Demonstrate a better understanding of the medical discipline they have elected to study.
• Describe the epidemiology, disease processes, and presentation relevant to the geographical location of the elective.
• Describe the organization of healthcare provision in the geographical location of the elective.
• Comment on the influence of social and cultural factors in health and illness specific to the geographical location of the elective.
• Compare the healthcare system in Northern Ireland with that of the geographical location of the elective.

Admission Criteria

• A-level: AAA at A-level + A in a fourth AS-level subject, including A-level Chemistry plus at least one other A-level from Biology/Human Biology, Mathematics, or Physics.
• GCSE: Mathematics minimum grade C/4 and either GCSE Physics minimum grade C/4 or GCSE Double Award Science minimum grades CC/44.
• UCAT: All applicants are required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) and the results achieved will be used as part of the selection process prior to interview.
• Interview: All applicants will be ranked on cognitive performance, and a proportion selected for interview.

Tuition Fees

• Northern Ireland (NI): £4,855
• Republic of Ireland (ROI): £4,855
• England, Scotland, or Wales (GB): £9,535
• EU Other: £38,400
• International: £38,400

Additional Course Costs

• Enhanced disclosure check with Access NI: £33
• Good quality basic stethoscope: approximately £60
• Medical textbooks: prices vary
• Scrubs: approximately £25 per set
• Travel costs to and from clinical placements: vary depending on location
• Accommodation and subsistence costs for clinical SSCs: can be reclaimed
• Hospital placement costs: vary depending on location and accommodation arrangements

Career Prospects

• Consultant working in a hospital
• General Practitioner
• Academic Clinician
• Consultant in Public Health Medicine

Prizes and Awards

• The School has many prizes and awards which recognize achievement at all levels of the program.

Degree Plus/Future Ready Award

• Students can gain wider life, academic, and employability skills through placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports, and more.

Student Accommodation

• The most affordable, purpose-built student accommodation in Belfast.

University Rankings

• Queen's is ranked 8th in the UK for Graduate Prospects – On Track (Complete University Guide 2025)