Medicine with a Gateway Year

Medicine is one of the most demanding and rewarding of all degree programmes, preparing you to diagnose, treat and prevent illness in patients across the full range of clinical settings. It requires a combination of rigorous scientific knowledge, clinical reasoning, communication skills, professional accountability and ethical judgement that develops across years of integrated study and clinical training. Medical graduates are among the most trusted professionals in any society, and the intellectual demands of the degree reflect the complexity of the role they are prepared for.

At the University of East Anglia this six-year programme includes a gateway year, which is designed for motivated students who need additional preparation before entering the main five-year medical degree. The gateway year develops your academic knowledge and professional identity as a medical student from day one, with dedicated support from the medical school, opportunities for clinical shadowing with local healthcare providers including the NHS, and regular sessions with an academic adviser. You will work within a small cohort that allows you to build the collegial relationships that medical training depends on.

Registered doctors work across the full spectrum of medical practice, from general practice and emergency medicine to the full range of hospital specialties including surgery, paediatrics, psychiatry, oncology, cardiology and many others. Junior doctors progress through foundation training and specialty training towards consultant or GP positions, supported by ongoing professional development throughout their careers. Medicine also opens routes into research, public health, medical education, policy and global health.

The foundation year at UEA is specifically designed to ensure that students who might otherwise miss out on a medical career have a supported and structured pathway to the same destination.