Medical Degree
Study medicine in the heart of our island city
Study and live in Portsmouth while earning a MBBS degree from King's College London, and benefit from:
- Collaboration with our region’s GPs, NHS Trusts, and experts from King's College London and the University of Portsmouth
- Our newly refurbished Medical Education Facilities and those at Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust
- An accelerated medical degree enabling you to graduate in just 4 years
Overview
Our region’s hospitals have many workforce gaps and we sit in one of the worst regions in the UK for a shortfall in the number of doctors per patient, with 2,500 people per GP. It’s widely known the UK’s health service is under strain. Demand is increasing, the level of care is ever more complex, our population is ageing, and our workforce is under greater pressure than ever before. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in Portsmouth.
The project to launch King’s College London Medicine in partnership with the University of Portsmouth is an exciting venture that will allow us to begin improving the future supply of doctors to the local area.
King’s College London Graduate Entry Medicine Programme at the University of Portsmouth will start teaching medical students from August 2024. Please note that applications for 2024 have now closed. Applications are now open for 2025 and close on 15 October 2024.
Apply for September 2025 entry
King's College London is a leading university in training doctors and together we've formed a partnership approved by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), where 54 medical students will begin their 4 year medical degree at the University of Portsmouth, in partnership with King’s College London.
Graduates will be awarded a medical degree from King's College London.
What do students think of our Medical Degree?
Hear from students from KCL who have been studying medicine at Portsmouth, including what the love about the course and their advice for anyone thinking of applying.
Jack: I'm Jack and I studied Human Sciences at UCL.
Modryen: My name is Modryen and I studied Biomedical Sciences at King's College.
Jazz: I'm Jazz, I studied Applied Medical Science at UCL in my undergrad.
Amma: My name is Amma I studied Biomedical Science at the University of Kent.
How are you finding the course so far?
Jack: I'm loving it at the moment it's um it's intense but a good intense like, I'm excited to actually stimulate my brain in a way that haven't before. My degree didn't have a career at the end of it like an exact, it wasn't a feeder almost so I'm happy to be able to actually know that what I'm learning is going to be applied later on.
Modryen: I'm enjoying because this was kind of like a different way for me to get to Med. It was an opportunity that don't really find very often and it also allowed me to experience that moving away from home feeling. Even though I'm no longer first year I can still have that experience again, so I enjoyed that and I enjoyed the course because as much as it split, now we kind of get straight into things. We get placement from in two weeks time and that's something you don't really get so quickly anywhere else, so I'm happy with that.
Jazz: It's broken up nicely, I don't feel overwhelmed, I feel like everything that we have learned like you learn, you go back, you have stuff on Keats to the then go check on when you get back home so I don't think it's overwhelming.
What's it like studying in Portsmouth?
Jazz: I would really really recommend. I was even say quite um reluctant when I first moved here nervous I would say. I was very adamant I wanted to stay at home and study medicine and i'd say it's the best thing that I could have done. Like I really really enjoy being here, making so many nice new friends. One of my friends came with me and yeah, I couldn't recommend it enough.
Amma: Yeah same, I would say like one thing she said about like lot of us want to stay at home and study, but trust me when you come here, you're where you live is like 5 minutes from where you study so it's like everything is so close together and you're not really wasting a lot of time commuting, you're always being efficient with your time which is very important.
Jack: So I've already love the city and it's great to be around similar age people, because I think we're the similar maturity level, similar interests and we obviously all really want to do this as we've had the time and a lot of effort to get here.
Modryen: I've enjoyed Portsmouth as well. I'm from London so this is kind of like a different experience for me, especially because my first degree I lived and I commuted, so this has been a time for me to move out, experience living other people and also have that that starting again without actually having to start again. We're all the same age so as much as I'm starting again I don't feel like I'm starting from zero. I kind of feel like people are similar to me, wanting to be here and it's not like I'm completely at zero so I feel quite welcomed in that sense.
What's it like being a KCL student at the University of Portsmouth?
Amma: First of all Kings College is Kings College, like it has that reputable name so um I knew that I'll would get the same quality of education here as in London. I think also moving to new city which is Portsmouth which is smaller which I said before makes it quite easier in terms of like being able to focus on your studies and not being distracted by. Like London is a city and there's a lot to do in a big city like London, but being here makes it more smaller, it allows us to be more focused as students.
Mondryen: In London because there's just so many students in general, we are the only medical students in the anywhere so as much as we do have placement things, there's so many of us that it's very easy to just to skip a step I feel like, because it's like oh but you kind of missed that bit, but we're the only ones so we're the ones that get everything. We're kind of the focus of the whole city so I think we that's a really great opportunity for us.
Jack: Yeah it's like no hiding place, but is that a pro or a con, depending on the day.
What's the teaching like on the course?
Jack: We're so focused cos we're such a tightknit group, there's a big focus on us and like you'll get a lot of eye contact with your professors and lecturers which I think in a big lecture hall where there's 450 people, which would be if we're in second year, um we wouldn't really get that um so it really does keep your focus. The smaller groups that we split off to each day I feel like is very hands on.
Amma: One thing I like about the teachers or lectures here that they really take their time and they really ask do you understand, can I move on to the next one, before they move on to the next one, which allows everybody to move at the same pace and like we're traveling together, like you're not leaving anyone behind which is really good.
Jazz: I think for me, I've never experienced anything like that before like it's always been very lecture based, sat down for three hours, a load of information thrown at you and I've never learned any other style. I found coming here has really helped like the learning style, the practicality of it getting straight into it, like how you would do with [...] getting straight into like the anatomy but also like having some lectures, some practical as well has been really fun, I've really enjoyed that and the teaching.
How does case-based learning work?
Jack: So you're basically given a scenario, like a case study, and you'll then have to go learn kind of the lifestyle choices in one room um and how that can affect their pathology and then go and maybe examine them as well, and then investigate other causes um and other exams.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of applying to study medicine?
Jazz: It's probably is better than undergraduate medicine, I think undergraduate is very like it's focused on your qualifications realistically. Postgraduate medicine I found is more focused on what you bring to the table as a person and again with your personal statement, I think like rather than saying like I've followed a consultant around for the day and I've followed around then this person in A&E for the day, talk about what you've learned from it how you've reflected and what you've learned from the experiences, I found that was really helpful and also what you've been brought to the community as a person.
I think that in the personal statement shines so much more than saying I followed someone around for the day so I'd say that was probably my best advice for applying.
The new King’s College London branch campus at the University of Portsmouth will bring a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits to Portsmouth, Gosport, south east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
We have strong partnerships with hundreds of the region’s GPs, and with our region’s NHS Trusts.
Our established partnerships will ensure we're able to make a positive contribution to our region’s healthcare and help build a reputation for excellence across all settings, including in hospitals and GP surgeries, in our cities and in rural villages.
The University of Portsmouth is working towards eventually opening an independent Medical School.
A medical degree in the city is a long-held vision for us at the University of Portsmouth. Our region is one of the country’s worst-served for GP numbers and the people living in our city and region suffer an indefensible inequality in accessing health care. We look forward to playing a big role in changing that.
Teaching
The King's Graduate Entry Medicine MBBS degree will provide an innovative curriculum to support the training and development of the next generation of doctors and an opportunity for people in our region to engage with new career paths.
Together, we will train doctors who are compassionate, well rounded and highly skilled. Our future medics will balance global concerns about sustainability with the needs of the population.
Our future medics will be highly skilled at using new and emerging technologies, in which we already lead at Portsmouth across the full suite of healthcare courses we offer, and to which the NHS is increasingly turning to.
By working with King's College London at Portsmouth, we will train doctors with a deep understanding of our region’s health needs and a strong sense of belonging in our region.
Research
In the most recent Research Excellence framework (REF) in 2021, 79 per cent of the research from our Faculty of Science and Health was graded as world-leading or internationally excellent. In terms of the impact of our research, 94 per cent was graded as outstanding or very considerable in terms of reach and significance.
Our research in Health and Care Professions deals with the most-pressing health and wellbeing issues facing society – from the challenges of caring for an ageing population, to the importance of delivering effective health and social care to the most under-represented, vulnerable or isolated groups in society.
In our health, wellbeing and social care research, we're exploring how best to manage the demands of an ageing population, in which mental health problems are on the rise, and increasing numbers of people are living with complex, long-term health problems. We're helping health and social care providers to make best use of the limited resources at their disposal, so they can deliver vital care and support to those who need it most.
As the demands placed on the emergency services become ever greater and more complex, our acute and emergency care research is exploring how new technology – including the use of robots in surgery – can improve patient care in acute (hospital-based) and emergency contexts. We're also identifying what needs to be done so that a skilled workforce is in place to put these new technologies to use.
In our patient-and-user-experience research we're working to better understand the health and wellbeing needs, challenges and experiences of everyone in society – and by developing a better understanding of how patients, service users and family members experience healthcare services and illness, help make a positive impact on patients' and users' lives.
Main points of contact
King’s College London
Dr Russell Hearn, MBBS Programme Director (Portsmouth)
Hayley Clarke, MBBS Branch Campus Delivery Lead
University of Portsmouth
Dr Karen Ball, Head of School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Dr Donna Glyde, GP Lead
Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust
Dr Thomas Brown, Deputy Director of Research, PHUT Clinical Lead for the University of Portsmouth Medical Degree and Honorary Reader, University of Portsmouth
Dr Gaius Longcroft-Wheaton, Gastroenterologist, Honorary Reader of Medicine and Clinical Engagement Lead
Dr Eveleigh Nicholson, Consultant Diabetes and Endocrinology, Obesity and Bariatric Medicine and Associate Clinical Sub Dean and Clinical Placements Lead (UPMS)
Because we have partnered with KCL to deliver a course already accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC), our Medical Degree will begin graduating junior doctors in August 2028.
Our other healthcare courses
Nursing
Physiotherapy
Paramedic Science
Biomedical Science
Radiography
Operating Department Practice
Pharmacy
Explore our faculty
Explore the other Schools and Departments that make up our Faculty of Science and Health.
Faculty of Science and Health
Explore the Faculty of Science and Health at the University of Portsmouth, and learn more about the teaching and research activities that take place within the Faculty's different departments and schools.
School of the Environment and Life Sciences
In the School of the Environment and Life Sciences, we're addressing the most pressing issues impacting people's quality of life around the world.
School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
Through our teaching and research, the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences strives to find new ways to help those with debilitating illnesses and diseases.
School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences
Discover the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, where we're exploring health and exercise science, sport science, and the impact of psychology.
School of Dental, Health and Care Professions
Discover the School of Dental, Health and Care Professions' commitment to the health and care sector through innovative teaching and research activities.
Apply for September 2025 entry
Application deadline 15 October 2024
Contact us
To get in touch, please contact us at medicalschoolenquiries@port.ac.uk