University of Liverpool - Medicine

• Duration of the degree is 5 years
• 18 years of age by Oct 1
• UCAT SJT won’t be used for international students but it will be used for domestic applicants

Subjects required: Chemistry and 1 sciences or math

• A Levels:
  • AAA in 2 years’ time, if you take more than 3 years to complete your A level, you will be considered as resit candidates
  • No predicted grade will be used
  • Resit only for those meeting initial cut off ABB and A*AA will be minimum requirement for those resat A level + A level resit only happens when GCSE requirement is met.
• International Baccalaureate (IB):
  • 36 with 666 HL or 555 a SL; or
  • 36 with 765 HL (7 and 6 in required subjects) + 555 at SL
• Bachelor degree holders: 2:1 in any major or 2:2 + Masters or PhD
• GCSE
  • 9 subjects at Year 11; and
  • Must include English Language (not English literature), Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry at B or Level 6; and
  • A minimum score of 15 points from the best 9 GCSEs or equivalents is required / achieved 15 points in 9 subjects or less is also acceptable as long as the above point is satisfied; and
  • GCSE 7-9 or A-A* is 2 points, GCSE 6 or B is 1 point.
  • Resit is only allowed if 15 points are achieved at year 11.
  • Math and Further Math is 1 subject
• HKDSE:
  • 5, 5, 5 in 3 electives, or 2 electives plus one core subject; and
  • Core math at least level 4; and
  • all DSE English papers at least level 4
• USA:
  • GPA minimum of 3.0 required; and
  • 3 AP at level 5; and
  • SAT 1290 (minimum Math Section 620+, Evidence–Based Reading and Writing 660+)
• ATAR 92
• Canada:
  • 85% average include level 12 Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics and English.

English Language Proficiency

• IELTS all band 7
• TOEFL 100 overall, with minimum scores of L24 W24 R24 and S26; no home edition will be accepted
• PTE all band 69
• IGCSE English B
• IB English B HL: 7
• IB English A: 6

Interview Shortlisting Requirements: UCAT + GCSE or transcripts available

• University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in the same calendar year as submission of the UCAS application.
• For bachelor degree holders wishing to apply to University of Liverpool’s Medicine A100 program should site for GAMSAT
• UCAT score domestic applicants to be shortlisted for interview: 1820-1950 and UCAT SJT band 4 will be disqualified.
• UCAT score international applicants to be shortlisted for interview: 1980 -2170 and UCAT SJT will not be used to assess applicants.

a. Where is it going to take place?

The local NHS Trusts, GP practices, hospices, specialist services and community services deliver the placement components of the programme, some are listed as below:

• Aintree University Hospital (UHLG)
• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals
• Cheshire and Wirral Partnership
• Clatterbridge Cancer Centre
• Countess of Chester Hospital
• Lancashire and South Cumbria
• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
• Liverpool Women’s Hospital
• Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
• Mersey Care
• Southport and Ormskirk Hospital
• Royal Liverpool University Hospital
• Broadgreen Hospital
• The Walton Centre
• Warrington and Halton Hospitals
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital

b. What are the clinical placement sites like?

• Aintree University Hospital (UHLG) serves approximately 350,000 people in North Merseyside and the surrounding areas and is an acute teaching hospital in the north of Liverpool providing emergency, specialist and general care. It is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside.
• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is a major national children hospital providing care to approximately 450,000 children per year in the UK. It serves not only the local children of Liverpool, but is the tertiary referral centre for children from Merseyside, Cheshire, parts of Lancashire, Shropshire and North Wales for many sub-specialties of paediatrics.
• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals provides services across the Fylde coast, Lancashire and south Cumbria, area that is home to 1.6 million people. A range of hospital services is provided to the 352,000 people living on the Fylde coast and the estimated 18 million visitors who visit each year.
• Cheshire and Wirral Partnership provides mental health and intellectual disability psychiatry services in both community and in-patient settings, principally across Cheshire and Wirral.
• Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is one of the UK’s leading cancer centres providing highly specialist cancer care to a population of 2.4 million people across Cheshire and Merseyside, and the surrounding areas, including North Wales and the Isle of Man. It is also the only facility in the UK providing low-energy proton beam therapy to treat rare eye cancers.
• Countess of Chester Hospital has an excellent reputation for delivering high quality patient care and is nationally accredited at the highest levels in many areas, in particular those relating to clinical outcomes and patient safety.
• Lancashire and South Cumbria provide services for a population of 1.8 million people across the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria. It specialises in secure, perinatal, inpatient and community mental health and learning disability services, including services for children and young people.
• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital serves a catchment area of 2.8 million people, spanning Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man, along with referrals from outside these areas for highly specialised services such as aortics. It provides specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, respiratory medicine including adult cystic fibrosis and diagnostic imaging, both in the hospital and out in the community.
• Liverpool Women’s Hospital is a one of the largest maternity and gynaecology units in the UK, with approximately 8,500 babies born each year.
• Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals provide the full range of acute inpatient, outpatient, day case, and emergency services to the local communities of St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Southport, Ormskirk and Liverpool, extending to over four million people including the whole of Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man with the regional Burns and Plastic Surgery and Spinal Injuries units.
• Mersey Care provides physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across the region. Mersey Care offer specialist inpatient and community services as well as learning disability, addiction and brain injury services.
• Southport and Ormskirk Hospital provides healthcare in hospital and in the community to 260,000 people across Southport, Formby and West Lancashire.
• Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms. It is a regional centre for pancreatic & liver, urological, ocular, testicular, colorectal & anal, and oesophago-gastric cancers, specialist palliative care, specialist radiology and specialist pathology and chemotherapy services. It also houses St Paul’s Eye Unit, a world-renowned ophthalmic service.
• Broadgreen Hospital treats patients from across Merseyside and Cheshire and is home to several elective (planned) surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation.
• The Walton Centre is dedicated to Clinical Neuroscience and serves Liverpool, the Cheshire-Mersey region, North Wales and the Isel of Man.
• Warrington and Halton Hospitals serve approximately 342,000 residents across Halton and Warrington boroughs and offer outpatient clinics and diagnostic services to ensure patients can access care close to home. 
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital is one of the biggest and busiest acute NHS trusts in the North West as it comprises the only Emergency Department in Wirral.

c. How is clinical placement going to be for undergraduate students?

For the undergraduate students, the clinical placement will take place from Year 2 to Year 5 and the graduate students will have the clinical placement from Year 2 to Year 4.

In Year 2, the students will have the secondary care placement as an experiential

Programme with a 4 weeks spread over the year.

In Year 3-4, the clinical placement will be 4-week in length with 4.5 full days at the placement site and Wednesday afternoon is reserved for sport or self-study time. In each hospital placement, the students are expected to complete a “long day”, working through until 9pm.

The students will be introduced to the following placements with rotation:

Year 3:

• Medicine A (Cardiology, Respiratory medicine and Dermatology)
• Medicine B (Gastroenterology, Diabetes and Infectious Diseases)
• Surgery A (Colorectal, Breast and Urology)
• Surgery B (Trauma & Orthopaedics and Vascular)
• Paediatrics A (focusing on “the normal child”)
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology A (“the normal pregnancy”)
• General practice A

Year 4:

• Medicine C (Rheumatology, Renal, Care of the Elderly)
• Medicine D (Palliative Care, Oncology, Haematology)
• Surgery C (Ophthalmology, Plastics, ENT, OMFS)
• Neuro (Neurology and Neurosurgery)
• Paediatrics B (Specialist practice, Child Psychiatry)
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology B (Specialist Practice, Neonatology, Sexual health)
• General Practice B

In Year 5, the students will be prepared for their role as a new Foundation Doctor with a 20-week intensive experience by 4-weekly rotation (each comprises of 2 weeks critical care and anaesthetics, 1 week acute mental health and 1 week of clinical skills / academic sessions). Extra ‘long-days’ and shifts are used to give the students increased experience of the demands of the role and the case mix out of hours.

d. What is the course structure?

The five-year curriculum comprises the following:

• Year 1:
  • core clinical sciences with the emphasis on the structure and function of the human body under “normal” conditions
• Year 2:
  • pathology and diseases with the focus on abnormality and illness-related change and the interaction with the environment
  • secondary care placement starts as an experiential programme
• Year 3:
  • core clinical practice
• Year 4:
  • specialist and challenging clinical practice
• Year 5:
  • preparation for practice with the focus on emergency and acute clinical medicine

There are also opportunities for University of Liverpool undergraduate students to study in Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, China in their final year through the Year in China offer or a Summer School programme.

e. Does the course require the students to do the research work?

The students begin their research journey from Year 1 of the course with Research & Scholarship 1 (RS1) with the support of an experienced academic or clinical supervisor. This understanding develops further in Years 2 & 3 (RS2 & 3), culminating in the writing of a research proposal and undertaking a personal research study.

f. What is the teaching style in University of Liverpool medical school?

The school uses an integrated teaching with the enhancement of the clinical context of a systems-based approach and the technology. The following teaching methods are adopted in the course:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Practical and Small Groups Sessions
• Clinical Placements
• Workshops
• Mobile Learning
• Virtual Reality and Simulation
• Personalised E-portfolio

g. Can the students study for an intercalated degree at University of Liverpool?

During their study, the students who wish to pursue an intercalated degree could declare their interest to the Intercalation team at the University and the intercalated degree sits between years 3 and 4 of the course.

University of Liverpool offers a wealth of undergraduate courses to explore including Acute, Critical and Emergency Care BSc, Anatomy and Human Biology and Pharmacology.

The interview is fully in line with the General Medical Council’s Selecting for Excellence Report and NHS England’s Values Based Recruitment. It will be conduced as face-to-face Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) to home students and online MMIs for international students.

• Motivation for Medicine

1. Why do you want to study Medicine?
2. Why Liverpool?
3. What makes Liverpool unique to other medical schools?
4. What do you know about the Liverpool Medicine course? How is it taught?
5. What interests you about the Medical School at Liverpool?
6. How do you think Liverpool’s focus on early clinical exposure and patient-centered care will benefit you as a medical student?
7. Why do you think you will be well suited to this course?
8. Tell us about your volunteering.
9. What are the advantages and challenges of being a doctor?
10. Which experiences led you to pursue a medical career?
11. Medicine is a demanding career with long hours and emotional strain. What do you think will be the most challenging aspect for you personally, and how will you manage it?
12. A friend asks you why you didn’t apply for nursing or another healthcare degree. How would you explain the difference in roles, and why Medicine is the right choice for you?
13. What do you find most rewarding about a career in medicine?

• Teamwork & Leadership

1. You’re leading a student project, but a key member stops contributing. How do you handle this without alienating them?
2. You’re part of a clinical team and disagree with your senior’s approach to a patient. What do you think you should do?
3. Your group has to present findings from a health project, but you realise a major mistake just before presenting. How do you manage the situation?
4. You’re observing a ward handover, and a nurse challenges a doctor’s decision. How should team members manage professional disagreement in front of patients?
5. You’re asked to explain how teamwork influences patient safety. What examples or principles would you discuss?
6. Describe a situation where you had to show leadership. What did you learn from it?
7. What skills do you think are essential for working in multidisciplinary teams?
8. What is the importance of trust in a healthcare team?
9. How do diverse perspectives within a team improve patient outcomes?
10. What would you do if you noticed a colleague was not pulling their weight in a team?
11. How would you manage a situation where team members have conflicting priorities?
12. Do you work better as a team member or a leader?

• Ethical & Professionalism

1. You witness a fellow student posting unprofessional comments about patients online. What would you do, and why?
2. A patient refuses a treatment that could save their life. What ethical principles are involved, and how would you manage this situation?
3. A friend on your course is struggling with mental health and missing classes. What should you do, balancing professionalism and compassion?
4. A patient’s family member offers you confidential information without the patient’s consent. How would you respond?
5. The NHS faces a shortage of organ donors. Should organ donation be an opt-out system, and why?
6. Discuss the ethical implications of the Shropshire maternity scandal.
7. What are your thoughts on the introduction of Martha’s Rule in 2024 and its impact on patient safety?
8. Reflect on the Lucy Letby case. How can healthcare systems prevent similar incidents?

• Communication & Empathy

1. A patient has just received an abnormal test result and is anxious. How would you explain the next steps to reassure them while remaining honest?
2. You are a student on placement, and a patient is angry about waiting times. Demonstrate how you would respond to de-escalate the situation.
3. You’re explaining a simple medical concept, like vaccination, to a child and their parent. How would you ensure both understand, and what would you do if the parent disagreed?
4. You’re speaking with a patient who doesn’t speak much English. What strategies do you think could use to communicate effectively and safely?
5. You’ve just broken some bad news in a role-play. How would you check the patient has understood and feels supported?
6. How do you think effective communication impacts patient care?
7. Describe a time when you had to resolve a conflict. How did you handle it?
   

• Situational Judgement & NHS Values

1. You arrive late for placement and see your team already with a patient. What do you think you should do next, and how might you prevent this from happening again.
2. You’re working with a peer who regularly cuts corners to finish tasks faster. What would you do?
3. You overhear a colleague making a discriminatory remark about a patient. How would you address this professionally?
4. You see a doctor being rude to a nurse in front of a patient. What’s the best way to handle this situation?
5. You’re working on a busy ward, and a patient thanks you for their care. How would you respond appropriately, reflecting NHS values?

• Data Interpretation, Roleplay & Problem Solving

1. You are shown a chart showing a rise in A&E attendance in Liverpool. What factors could explain this trend, and what could be done to address it?
2. You receive patient data showing reduced vaccination uptake in a specific age group. How would you interpret this, and what public health strategies might help?
3. You’re given a drug dosage chart and asked to calculate a safe dose. Explain how you would approach this and check your working.
4. A table shows hospital readmission rates have increased. What questions would you ask to understand why?
5. You’re given a graph comparing patient satisfaction scores across departments. What conclusions can you draw, and what actions might you recommend?
6. How would you explain a complex medical condition to a patient with low health literacy?
7. Roleplay a scenario where a patient’s family is upset due to a delay in care. How would you communicate with a patient who is refusing life-saving treatment?
8. Roleplay how you would handle breaking bad news to a patient’s family in a compassionate manner. A colleague is visibly distressed.
9. Roleplay how you would offer support. How would you handle a patient who repeatedly misses appointments?

• Resilience, Reflection & Personal Attributes

1. You receive lower-than-expected feedback on a presentation. How would you reflect and improve next time?
2. You experience an emotionally challenging situation during work experience. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from it?
3. You’ve failed to meet a deadline for a group project. What steps would you take to recover trust and prevent recurrence?
4. You’ve had to balance academic work with caring responsibilities. How have you managed this, and what skills has it developed?
5. You’re asked what resilience means in medical practice. How would you explain it, and how do you build your own resilience?

• NHS Knowledge & Healthcare Awareness

1. You are asked about current NHS challenges. Which issue do you think is most significant, and why?
2. The NHS is under pressure to modernise digital health systems. What are the benefits and risks of greater use of technology in medicine?
3. Liverpool has one of the widest health inequalities in the UK. What can doctors do to reduce these disparities?
4. Junior doctors have taken industrial action recently. What are your thoughts on the ethical balance between patient care and fair working conditions?
5. You are asked to discuss preventive medicine. How can prevention strategies help the NHS become more sustainable?
6. What are the potential ethical concerns with the increasing use of AI in healthcare?
7. How should the NHS adapt to the climate crisis and promote sustainability?