Cand.med.-degree programme

Introduction

The medical degree programme leads to the cand.med. degree. The duration of the programme is six years (6 1/2 years with an elective semester). Credits: 360 (390 incl. elective semester).

The cand.med. programme gives you the theoretical, practical and behavioural basis required to practice medicine. During the course of the programme, you will develop an understanding of the biological, mental, environmental and social factors on which human health is based and of how you can use this understanding to help patients. You will also gain insight into health economics and the organisation of the health service. The programme is scientifically based, and it also forms the basis for further education and researcher training.

The programme includes extensive clinical service that covers a wide range of patients, from primary health care in Norwegian municipalities to centralised specialist hospital departments, and from emergency medicine to caring for chronically ill patients.

Medical students (up to 10%) who are interested in medical research and would like to pursue a future career in research can apply for the Medical Student Research Programme. Students admitted to the Medical Student Research Programme receive organised researcher training in addition to the ordinary medical degree programme.

They carry out their own research and write a research paper that can be the start of a doctoral thesis. For students who choose the research option, the duration of the medical degree programme will be seven years.

Language of Instruction

Norwegian

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Describing the different biological, mental, environmental, social and cultural factors that form the basis for human health, for the development of diseases and injuries, and for the interaction between these factors in treatment and prevention
• Describing how the health service is organised in addition to describing the interaction between the different medical disciplines and between public and private health care providers in patient treatment.

Practical abilities/skills

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Using expedient, scientifically based methods to diagnose, treat and prevent disease in the medical area with a view to relieving suffering, illness and injury in patients
• Cooperating with the patient in making a diagnosis and in planning and implementing treatment and preventive measures
• Implementing rational and efficient work procedures
• Critically assessing the scientific basis for medical knowledge and decisions
• Using the resources that society has allocated to the health service as fairly as possible, including priorities at the individual level
• Interpreting and communicating the limitations of the methods used by medical science, and the relationship between what is possible in technical and societal terms and what is desirable from a human perspective.

General competence

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Creating security and confidence in the doctor-patient relationship
• Reflecting on ethical issues and dealing with people who need their advice and services in a responsible and respectful manner
• Creating good cooperation and relations with colleagues and other health service personnel
• Applying scientific thinking and taking a critical approach to research results

Demonstrating the ability to reflect on their own behaviour and learning, and taking responsibility for their own further and continuing education in their professional careers.

Professional Prospects

Before candidates can be granted authorisation as medical practitioners, they must complete a total of one and a half years of medical internships in hospitals and in the municipal health service after completing the medical degree programme. They can work as hospital doctors or as GPs in the primary health service. They can also become researchers or teachers.

Study Period Abroad

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry cooperates on student exchanges with many different educational institutions, most of them in Scandinavia and Germany. This cooperation takes place within the framework of permanent networks such as NORDPLUS and ERASMUS. In the elective semester, you can choose to take the 30-credit course Global Health, which combines tuition in global health theory with a two-month placement in India or another low-income country. Applications for admission to the Global Health course are submitted in the second year of study. Grant schemes are available in connection with all the exchange agreements.

Teaching methods

During the first two years of the programme the main emphasis is on fundamental knowledge about the human body. The first year includes extensive joint tuition for students of medicine, nutrition, and dentistry in the subjects Chemistry, Biochemistry, Cellular biology, Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology (Basics in Biomedicine). In addition, students study Medical Nomenclature (Latin) and Medical Statistics, attend a series of clinical seminars, study Medical Ethics and Philosophy of Science. The students take a course in Macro Anatomy during the last six weeks of their first year. The second year of the programme deals with the structures and functions of the body and includes courses in Neurobiology, Anatomy, Organ Biochemistry and Physiology.

Following completion of the first part of the programme the class of students is divided in two groups; one group continues straight to the clinical unit of the programme, and the second half takes an 'elective semester'.

During the elective semester, students can go on an exchange period abroad, study other subjects or take a break from studying.

In the second part of the programme, students learn practical medical work while also receiving theoretical tuition. Clinical instruction emphasises patient-centred teaching in small groups. In addition to Haukeland University Hospital and Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital in Bergen, some of the clinical tuition will take place at the hospitals in Førde, Haugesund and Stavanger, and in their district psychiatric centres (DPS). During the last year of studies, students have a four-week placement with a GP. They must also write a special assignment by the end of the fifth year of studies. The purpose of this assignment is to give students an opportunity during the medical degree programme to demonstrate that they master scientific thinking and methods and that they can make use of data and literature searches in the medical field, as well as showing that they can express themselves in writing.

Application procedyre

Pre-requirements

Higher education entrance qualifications or equivalent prior learning and work experience. Applicants must also meet science subject requirements (MEROD requirements): mathematics R1 or mathematics S1+S2, physics 1, chemistry 1+2.There is also a demand for proficiency in Norwegian.

Admission to the Medical degree programme is coordinated through The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service (NUCAS). Look at NUCAS web site for information on how to apply and about Norwegian and English language requirements. All the programs that go through NUCAS require that the applicant have a permanent/renewable residence permit in Norway. http://www.samordnaopptak.no/info/english/

If you have foreign higher education and wish to know how your qualification relates to the Norwegian education system, you can consult The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT):http://nokut.no/en/Foreign-education/General-recognition/

Please consult UiB's home page http://www.uib.no/education for information on courses for exchange students.

Antall studieplasser

160

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Describing the different biological, mental, environmental, social and cultural factors that form the basis for human health, for the development of diseases and injuries, and for the interaction between these factors in treatment and prevention
• Describing how the health service is organised in addition to describing the interaction between the different medical disciplines and between public and private health care providers in patient treatment.

Practical abilities/skills

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Using expedient, scientifically based methods to diagnose, treat and prevent disease in the medical area with a view to relieving suffering, illness and injury in patients
• Cooperating with the patient in making a diagnosis and in planning and implementing treatment and preventive measures
• Implementing rational and efficient work procedures
• Critically assessing the scientific basis for medical knowledge and decisions
• Using the resources that society has allocated to the health service as fairly as possible, including priorities at the individual level
• Interpreting and communicating the limitations of the methods used by medical science, and the relationship between what is possible in technical and societal terms and what is desirable from a human perspective.

General competence

After completing the programme, the candidates should be capable of:

• Creating security and confidence in the doctor-patient relationship
• Reflecting on ethical issues and dealing with people who need their advice and services in a responsible and respectful manner
• Creating good cooperation and relations with colleagues and other health service personnel
• Applying scientific thinking and taking a critical approach to research results

Demonstrating the ability to reflect on their own behaviour and learning, and taking responsibility for their own further and continuing education in their professional careers.