Medical Programme
Welcome to the David Game College Medical & Life Sciences Programme. University admissions in medicine and related fields are fiercely competitive and successful candidates need to have an outstanding academic record as well as demonstrate exceptional commitment when applying for courses. The medical programme at the College has been designed to boost students’ chances of securing their first choice medical/dental school or related degree (e.g. neuroscience, immunology, virology, genomic medicine, medical genetics, biomedical science, nursing, pharmacy or pharmacology).
In addition to core medical courses, the programme also prepares students who wish to study life sciences at leading universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and UCL. Entry standards for life sciences subjects into Oxbridge, Imperial and UCL can be high as those for medical studies. The course helps students better understand their potential area of study and the College has over 30 years’ experience and implicit knowledge of what is required to get a student successfully into medicine. .
To achieve this, the College has a highly experienced and dedicated team who have between them considerable experience and specialist knowledge and insight into how best to secure a place. The course is led by John Dalton, former managing editor of one of the world’s leading medical journals Current Opinion in Gastroenterology, and one of the early editors of the medical text book, Immunobiology by the late Professor Charles Janeway of Yale University. The course is supported and taught by Dr Peter Stanley (who taught pre-clinical medicine students at UCL). Dr Stanley specialises in UCAT, BMAT and cardiovascular diseases. Further clinical expertise and coverage is provided by Dr Iqbal, a consultant physician in acute medicine at an NHS hospital and a graduate and Gold Medal winner from Imperial College. In addition, Dr Julia Cushnir and Dr Daniel Pooley also help support the course through the Chemistry and Physics departments.
The Medical Programme advises on preparing students who may wish to apply to Medical Schools in the United States, in particular Ivy League universities such as Harvard, John Hopkins, Stanford and Yale. Naturally, these institutions are extremely competitive and command significant financial resources. David Game College has experience of placing students in foreign universities, especially in the United States.
Key Features of the Medical and Life Sciences Programme
The programme has two elements:
- The Fundamentals: overview of key information for applicants applying for medicine and related degrees
- Lectures: talks on key topics in medicine and the life sciences
The course will also run special seminars on:
- Preparation for UCAT & BMAT aptitude tests
- Medical Interviews (conventional and MMI)
The Fundamentals:
- Overview of studying medicine in the UK
- Structure and role of the National Health Service (NHS)
- Medical ethics and the law
- Challenges facing the NHS and emerging issues
- The importance of good communications and team work
- The emergence of personalised medicine
Core Lectures Topics:
- Antimicrobial resistance and infections
- Biology of cancer
- Neuroscience – dementia
- Pathogens, infections and disease
- Genomics, genomic medicine and epigenetics
- Socioeconomic challenges and health in the UK
- Immunology and herd immunity
- Receptors and drugs: how medicines work
- Role of technology in medicine
- What have we learnt from the global pandemic?
Duration: 7 Months
Venue: David Game College, Large Lecture Theatre, 31 Jewry Street, London, EC3N 2ET.
Course Benefits
The course has been designed to boost examination grades, deepen knowledge of physiology, biochemistry and clinically-related subjects, and serves as evidence to demonstrate interest in pursuing a medical or scientific career.
The course also provides important contextual information that will allow students to better comprehend those factors that impact medicine in the UK (and globally). Complex issues, such as medical ethics and critical thinking, are explored. This involves debating and discussing topics such as assisted dying, resource allocation in medicine, consent, health equity and challenges caused by an ageing population. Finally, some reference is made to a growing field called evolutionary medicine and its impact on our understanding of disease and epigenetics.
In addition, the course explains the role of the National Health Service and the impact that technology is having on medical diagnosis and thereby allows students to gain a wider understanding of medical matters. Students will also gain up-to-date information on key medical topics and gain important insights and preparation for interviews and aptitude tests (UCAT and BMAT).
