At Lancaster University, studying Medicine and Surgery is about more than learning to diagnose and treat disease. It is about becoming a compassionate, thoughtful doctor who can thrive in the rapidly evolving world of healthcare.
Our MBChB programme is designed with the future of medicine in mind. Through modern teaching methods, early clinical experience, and strong partnerships with healthcare providers, you will build the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills needed to succeed as an empathetic and patient-centred doctor.
What makes Lancaster distinctive is our values-led approach. We believe in social justice, inclusion, and sustainability and so these sit at the heart of our programme, encouraging you to understand patients as whole people shaped by their lives, communities, and environments.
Our curriculum also reflects the realities of modern healthcare. You will explore how many people now live with multiple long-term conditions and about the body’s systems in an integrated way, helping you understand how conditions interact and preparing you to care for real patients with complex needs.
A fresh look at teaching medicine
The world of medicine is constantly evolving. To reflect that, we are refreshing the way we teach medicine and surgery at Lancaster, so that we can prepare our students to excel as medics in the healthcare environment of the future. You will learn about the latest developments in clinical medicine and technology through modern and engaging ways of learning.
One of the things that makes Lancaster different is our focus on multimorbidity. Instead of learning about illnesses one-by-one in isolation, you’ll explore how people often live with several long-term conditions at the same time. This reflects what doctors see in real life and helps prepare you to care for real patients from the very start of your training.
To reflect this, you will learn about the body’s systems, such as the cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal or renal systems before seeing how dysfunction leads to ill health, causing problems for patients with movement or homeostasis, for example. You will also learn how social, psychological and ethics impact on perception and delivery of healthcare so you can treat the whole person rather than addressing isolated ailments.
Our curriculum themes
We are passionate about our research, which focuses on understanding the health needs of local, national and global populations and we use this to inspire the doctors we train to have a positive impact on people’s lives.
Our curriculum is built around core themes that will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills required for modern clinical practice including:
medical sciences
the psychology and sociology of health and illness
population health
professional practice and values
medical ethics and law
A balanced mix of teaching methods
Your learning will include a mix of methods and formats, each of which is carefully chosen to fit what you are learning
Case-Based Learning (CBL) that helps you think like a doctor and work through real clinical problems
Clinical skills teaching to build practical, hands-on abilities
Simulation-based learning so you can practise safely and grow in confidence
Anatomy teaching, including using modern tools like Anatomage tables
Early and ongoing patient contact, in both community and hospital settings
All of these approaches are chosen because they match what you’re learning at each stage, whether that’s understanding how the body works, learning how to communicate with patients, or making complex clinical decisions. The aim is to help you feel prepared, supported, and ready for real medical practice.
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