Buckingham University
Overview
The University of Buckingham is home to the UK’s first independent not-for-profit medical school. The course is a condensed, 4.5 years MBChB programme suited to both UK and international medical students. There is no cap on international student places and being a relatively newer medical school, GMC accreditation was received in May 2019. The university provides exciting opportunities to learn through ‘Guided Discovery’ that is a form of Problem Based Learning. The course is based locally in Buckingham for the first two years of Phase 1. Buckingham is a quaint market town bustling with local businesses and students playing a large part in engaging with the community. The town also has links to Milton Keynes that students often use to commute to popular locations like Oxford and London for nights out and social events. For the senior years in Phase 2, students move to one of three clinical sites - Milton Keynes University Hospital, Stoke Mandeville Hospital or South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust. All three trusts have provided medical students with excellent teaching and opportunities to collaborate on research and audit projects.
University Life
The University of Buckingham Medical School is unique, with a smaller cohort than other medical schools around the country. This allows for many opportunities for students to receive one on one teaching with lecturers and clinical educators. There is a large community feel and excellent student support is offered, thus creating a productive environment to learn and engage with the curriculum at the university and all clinical sites. The local area at Buckingham is calm and relaxing, with many libraries situated around campus for students to study.
Our very own Vinson Building provides a public place for everyone to use for studying, eating, or to simply catch up with friends!
The Franciscan Library next to Verney Park provides many resources for Medicine, which you can borrow to use at your own leisure.
The Students’ Union provides great opportunities for socialising, with a wide variety of societies which you can join or create yourself.
Social Life
Buckingham is a vibrant town with many shops and restaurants to explore.
Situated just half an hour from Buckingham, you can travel to Milton Keynes which has a lively shopping centre with many restaurants where you can eat your heart out.
London lovers can travel there quickly from Milton Keynes Central Station so students can enjoy their weekends.
Interview
The Selection Day process is MMI style.
It is 8 minutes overall;
1 minute to arrive at the station (and calm your nerves)
1 minute to read the question/task
6 minutes to answer/do the question/task. The Selection Day can be set either on February, July, August, or October and are currently carried out on Microsoft Teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typical topics that have come up in the past would be role playing scenarios to test your communication skills.
They may test your mathematical skills by answering some problem solving questions.
Ensure you do your research on the GMC to be familiar with it and its rules on ethics.
Advice for the interview is to simply look presentable, be polite, confident, and the rest will follow.
Tips
Applications for the course can be made via the university website or through UCAS directly. UCAT and BMAT are not required. Selection is divided into two stages. The first uses the written application made by the candidate to assess academic achievements. For those that meet the required academic threshold, the second stage is an interview (currently digital MMI style) where task-based stations are used for assessment. This is a very similar style to the Objective Structured Selection Examinations (OSCEs) with stations used for examination purposes in every year of medical school. Well-rounded applicants that meet the entry requirements and perform well at the interview are offered a place. The medical school website links and admissions team are useful in understanding more about applying to the course and can answer specific questions applicants may have.
Saloni Nakhare 4th year medical student at Buckingham University @salonielle AND Written by: Elodie Oweis
2nd Year Medical Student at the University of Buckingham
Email: 1807947@buckingham.ac.uk