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Level 3
Access Diploma in Medicine and Medical Sciences
COURSE OVERVIEW
The Access Diploma in Medicine and Medical Sciences is a one-year intensive course designed to get you into Higher Education.
This course will seek to help you develop yourself as an independent, confident individual and will look to give you skills that cover all of academic university life.
The Medicine and Medical Science pathway is targeted at those wanting to move on to:
- Medicine
- Dentistry
- Veterinary Science
- Surgery
- Medical professions (paramedics or specialist nursing).
This course is co-taught with the Access to HE (Science) cohort, but has a greater content of maths, and has been specifically designed to help transition to Medicine linked courses at degree level.
You will also be developing a wide range of academic study skills on the course, from essay writing to using ICT, leading you towards the Independent Academic Study unit, where you will have the chance to experience what producing a dissertation will be like, once you move onto university.
FURTHER INFORMATION
All learners must be 19+ on the 1st September and must have a GCSE grade C (Grade 4 or above) in Maths, English Language and Science. You must also pass an interview to be offered a place. As Medicine and Veterinary Science are incredibly competitive, it is recommended that you have relevant work experience in the last 3 years, and meet the GCSE entry requirements of your chosen university.
It is also important to ensure you will realistically be able to manage the course workload alongside any other commitments in your life. Being a mature student is extremely challenging but also highly rewarding if taken up at the right time and with the right plans and support in place. You will need approximately 30 hours per week (term time) to manage the course workload.
Successful completion of this course will allow you to move on to institutes of Higher Education, such as Medical schools or Vet schools to pursue their specific programs. This course has a higher focus on the medical profession, and includes medicine specific modules not present in the other Science pathways.
You will be fully supported with your university applications by your course leader and the College’s Progression Plus team. This will include an introductory and personal statement focussed workshop, drop-ins available with the Progression Plus team, personalised feedback on your personal statement, and a unique reference provided by your course leader.
Historically, students have moved on to a wide range of universities including: Lancaster, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Surrey. Kings College, RVC & Bristol.
The course is assessed with a mixture of exams, workbooks, presentations and essays. The exact make up and balance of this will be explained when you start the course.
The course is credit based and each unit has a number of credits attached to it; 45 of the 60 credits will be attached to graded units on a Pass, Merit, Distinction basis.
Every assignment issued will have a set deadline that needs to be met and there will be a one to one or sometimes small group tutorial opportunity before submission. These tutorials should be prepared for by producing a plan for the assignment, noting any questions you need answering and where appropriate bringing some draft work that can be reviewed by the subject lecturer.
The College has some funding each year for 19+ students to access, where eligible, that can help pay for things like books and travel expenses. An application to this funding can be made once you join the course in September.
There is a course fee, which most students cover with the Advanced Learner Loan. This can be applied for online from June onwards and is not awarded based on income; eligibility criteria include being over 19 years of age and having lived in the UK for 3 or more years directly before applying.
For some applicants, this will be their first level 3 course and, if they are aged between 19 and 23 years of age, this will mean a level 3 entitlement offer, where no fee is charged.
Students planning to apply for Medicine, Veterinary Science/Medicine or Dentistry should be aware that you normally will need to complete either the BMAT or UCAT exams as well as a L3 course. These exams are organised externally to the college and normally need to be completed before application (before November of the year before you attend to start). Please ensure that you look up your university of choice to see if this is required.