Our curriculum is patient-centred and continually adapts to the needs of society and developments in medical knowledge. You’ll learn from world-class educators and patients in state-of-the-art facilities, immerse yourself in our acclaimed undergraduate student research programme and benefit from a diverse, international student population.

The main hospitals associated with our programme are St Vincent’s University Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. In addition, there are more than 20 other training hospitals and more than 120 primary care practices that will facilitate your learning. You will also benefit from a diverse range of exciting international placement opportunities.

Your First Year Experience In your first year, you will be introduced to the science of medicine, which underpins our biomedical and clinical curriculum. You will also be introduced to ethical, societal and technological issues relevant to the practice of medicine.

Teaching methods include lectures, small group sessions, practicals and tutorials. There are four themes running through the entirety of both our undergraduate and graduate programmes: Evidence based medicine and research; Clinical competencies and preparedness; Professional medical practice; and Healthcare systems, quality and patient safety.

First Year
Focuses on core sciences and their application to Medicine. Highlights include:

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics
• Genetics
• Human Ethics
• Healthcare Imaging
• Science Medicine & Society

Second Year
Focuses on the structure and function of healthy organ systems. Highlights include:

• Anatomy Dissection
• Interviewing patients in the community

Third & Fourth Year
Complete the study of organ systems in health and disease. Begin clinical attachments. Highlights include:

• Pathology
• Microbiology
• Pharmacology
• Neurosciences
• Respiratory Diseases
• Clinical Skills and Attachments in hospitals
• Clinical Diagnosis & Therapeutics
• General Practice and Professionalism
• ENT & Ophthalmology

Fifth & Sixth Year
Immersive clinical attachments, instruction in the various medical specialties, clinical elective and professional completion. Highlights include:

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• Paediatrics
• Psychiatry
• General Practice & Community Medicine
• Legal Medicine
• Public Health Medicine
• Professional Completion

The Medicine course combines lectures, seminars, patient educator sessions, simulations, small group tutorials and clinical bedside learning.

For detailed information on subject content click here.

You may be interested in the following Blog posts: Doing the rounds as a Medicine student, Why study Medicine in UCD: A student perspective. Student explanation of UCD’s Biomedical Health & Life Sciences degree programme.

Our international network offers students exciting opportunities to gain experience overseas. Scholarships are available to support elective periods in clinical and academic centres all over the world.

Graduates of the School have achieved worldwide recognition in clinical practice, research and healthcare leadership. Following graduation, you are required to work as a supervised intern for a year by the Irish Medical Council. This can be followed by training towards a career in a wide variety of specialties and settings including hospitals, primary care facilities, or laboratory-based diagnosis and research.

Opportunities for Research
The Student Summer Research Awards (SSRA) programme is an eight-week research opportunity that brings to life our commitment to foster a passion for enquiry, discovery and investigative research for more than 100 students each year.

• Mature Entry Route
• DARE Entry Route
  
• HEAR Entry Route
  
• University Access
  

UCD School of Medicine Office C134,
1st Floor Health Sciences Centre
Belfield,
Dublin 4

Tel: +353 1 716 6686
Contact: ucd.ie/medicine/contactus/