International Health BMedSc - Intercalated Degree

Summary

What is an intercalated Degree?

 As a medical student, you may choose to take a year out from your medical course and study on one of our intercalated Bachelor in Medical Science degree programmes. During this year you will acquire skills in analysing and interpreting research papers and you will also gain substantial, direct experience of novel medical or clinical research (either in a research laboratory or in community or clinical settings).

Other BMedSc programmes are also available - see:

Key facts

Duration: 1 Year Full Time

Start date: September / October annually depending on published term dates (Check to see if this course is receiving applications for September 2012)

Places available: 12 - 18 students per year

Entry requirements

Birmingham applicants students must have completed the first 2 years of the MBChB programme at the point they commence their intercalated year. Applications will be accepted from individuals wishing to intercalate after year 2, 3 or 4 of their medical studies.

Applications From Students Not Currently Registered at Birmingham

 We are happy to consider applications for any of the programmes within the Population Sciences and Humanities subjects from students from other institutions. We have a strong track record over recent years in supporting these students and facilitating integration into their new institution.

Applications from students from other universities should be made on our standard application form| and must be accompanied by a transcript of marks from your current institution. Should an offer of a place be made to you further admission forms will be sent from the University via our Course Administrator.

We are always happy to discuss our programmes with students from other universities. If you have any queries or wish to discuss the opportunities available to you in Birmingham please contact us.

Contact details

For further information regarding the International Health Programme please contact the Programme Lead, Dr Gilles de Wildt at G.R.Dewildt@bham.ac.uk or by telephone on 0121 415 8626 or the Course Administrator, Julie Shore at J.L.Shore@bham.ac.uk or 0121 414 3616.

How to apply

To apply, please down load and complete the application form.

Fees and funding

Standard Fees Apply

All students are entitled to reclaim up to £500 project expenses for conduction of their research. Claims must be accompanied by original receipts. Further to this students who incur travel costs are eligible to apply for an Arthur Thompson Travel Award (up to £500). Applications for these awards will be considered at the end of the programme of study and are not guaranteed. These sources of funding are available to all students irrespective of their primary University of study.

Internal bursaries:

 All students who are registered on the MBChB or Dental Programmes at the University of Birmingham are eligible to apply for a bursary to support them during their period of study. The intention to apply should be indicated on the application form and students expressing an intention will receive further information. Bursaries are currently set at £3,000 and are limited. Students with an overall mean mark of <65% in year 2 of their programme of study are unlikely to be awarded a bursary.

Our funding sources mean that we are unable to offer bursaries to students from outside of Birmingham.

External bursaries:

The College usually receives an invitation each year from the Royal College of Physicians to submit a limited number of applications for their Wolfson intercalated programme. The deadline for this is usually the end of March which means the programme needs to shortlist by mid-March. Bursaries are up to £5000 and are nationally competitive. Our students have a very good record in securing such awards. Any student interested in applying needs to contact the Admissions Tutor (Dr Lesley Roberts, l.m.roberts@bham.ac.uk) by the 31st of January in the year in which they plan to apply.

Eligible students should:

Demonstrate a consistent and outstanding academic track record (an overall mean mark >70% in year 2 and consistently high marks in other years. N.B. Because of the need to show consistent academic achievement it is expected that students will be in year 3 or 4 at the time of application. A second year applicant who can demonstrate excellence may be considered but should contact the admissions tutor at the earliest opportunity to discuss this).

Be applying for an intercalation in one of our science programmes (International Health, Psychological Medicine or Public Health and Population Sciences). As this bursary relates to science projects students on humanities programmes (Health care ethics and law and History of Medicine) should not apply (but should make contact with the relevant programme lead to enquire whether there are any discipline specific bursaries currently available nationally).

Have a research focus or area of interest (Support will be given during February to develop this into an application).

Be prepared to work on their application (including designing a research project) during February and early March.

All eligible students who express an interest will have the opportunity to meet with the Admissions Tutor to discuss the application and receive guidance in drafting an application. Further to this there will be the opportunity to submit one draft application by the 28th February for comment. All students will then be required to submit their application by the specified deadline (varies annually but likely to be mid-March). Students will be informed if their application has been selected for submission to the Royal College within 2 weeks. Any student submitted will receive an early and unconditional place on the programme. Unsuccessful applicants will be able to use their work in their application for an internal bursary.

Programme overview

"Today, good and evil are inseparable because we know about both. But is it enough simply to be informed? Are we condemned to be largely spectators? Can we affect the course of events?” Sebastião Salgado. 2001. 

 Everyone involved with medicine will come across some aspect of international health in their career, whether they will recognise it as such is less certain. This degree can benefit anyone going into medicine, whether, for example, they intend to pursue a career in surgery in the UK or wish to work at an international level. The course will introduce you to the great breadth and depth of international health, though it cannot hope to cover all that makes up international health. This might fuel a career in international health, some time working abroad, or it might just make you a better doctor in this country. 

The course is designed to equip you with researcher skills for the future as well as developing your knowledge of the topic of international health.

Semester one in the autumn consists of three specialist modules covering international health with one larger module covering research methods (both theoretical and applied). Semester two involves a research project that can be conducted anywhere in the world. This will be devised in semester one and written up for the end of semester two.

All students will be provided with at least one nominated academic supervisor to support their research activity and will also have access to research and statistics support through dedicated research clinics.

We have attracted students from all over the country to study in Birmingham for this year long course. Equally, we have had students undertake an extremely diverse range of work in countries all round the world, including the UK.

On completion of the degree students should have knowledge and understanding of:

  • the definition of international health and the range and depth of topics important to the subject
  • key topics in the area of international health such as healthcare organisation, the role of pharmaceutical companies, the effects on health of migration and conflict etc.
  • commonly used research methods and data analysis techniques within health and medicine
  • how research methods are applied to inform on the health of the population (epidemiology) and the management of international health issues
  • an understanding of the practicalities of conducting research in a range of settings
  • the legal and ethical frameworks of medical research

In addition to enhancing knowledge and understanding, we believe our teaching methods, with emphasis on feedback and easy access to support, strongly support development of the following skills and attributes: 

  • the ability to critically read and appraise research evidence
  • the ability to produce scientifically valid research
  • the ability to manage a research project from conception to completion with enhanced project management skills which will be transferable to other aspects of your career
  • the ability to effectively communicate your ideas or scientific findings through a range of commonly used presentation mechanisms including oral presentation, poster presentation, production of a journal article and essay writing
  • enhanced independent learning skills
  • greater awareness of team working and skills to support this in clinical and academic settings
  • improved ability to think logically and broadly about a range of problems, drawing on a variety of disciplines to support arguments

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Content of the Course

This is a full-time course running for one academic year. The programme requires completion of 120 credits as follows:

Semester one:

  • Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
  • International Healthcare Organisation Module
  • Communicable diseases in International Health
  • Non communicable diseases in International Health
  • International Health Research Design

Semester two

  • International Health Research Project 

Support and supervision
 You will have an academic supervisor to oversee their research activity. The Programme lead Dr. Michael Innes will offer support and guidance for all aspects of the course. You have access to research and statistics clinics which operate on a booking system.

Examples Projects from Recent Years

  • Perceptions attitudes and barriers to accessing healthcare services in a poor urban community, Gondar, Ethiopia
  • The ethnic distribution of chronic suppurative otitis media in Nepal
  • The beliefs of the Beta Israel about pregnancy and child health in Gondar, Ethiopia: a qualitative study.
  • How new roads affect the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases in rural Ecuador
  • A comparison of a general practitioner’s (GP’s) consultation style with and without the presence of a professional interpreter.
  • Influenza pandemic: A Qualitative study of the Knowledge and attitudes of Birmingham medical students.
  • The effectiveness of an educational intervention on the rate in initiation of breast feeding within an hour of delivery: A pilot RCT in Uganda.
  • Why are the indigenous people of Northwest equador not accessing
    western healthcare?
  • Women’s Barriers to Antenatal Care in Rural Zambia
  • Health seeking Behaviour by Primary Carers of Children Aged Under 5 years in Muhoroni, a Rural community in Western Kenya
  • Associations between maternal depression and adverse infant health outcomes: a feasibility study
  • The perceptions and attitudes towards psychotic behaviour in rural Kenya: A qualitative study
  • Assessing clubfoot training given to midwives in Malawi
  • Epidemiology and home-based treatment of paediatric burns in Cochabamba, Bolivia
  • Comparing anatomy perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of 4th year medical students in India and the UK

Testimonials

“The guest lecturers have been so varied and completely widened our horizons”
“..it was one of the most rewarding things that we have ever done”
“Your enthusiasm and obvious love for teaching has made the course both challenging and incredibly inspirational”
“I looked forward to Thursdays!”
“There should be more International Health sessions in the [main] course”
“All sessions have been great”
“The range of speakers was fantastic”
“This is a great course, I have learned a lot, but most of all it has been incredibly interesting”
“I still feel there is more I could have learnt”
“I’m sad it’s over”