There is a wide choice of subjects to suit individual students, ranging across Neuroscience, Psychology of Emotion and Motivation, Human Physiology, Immunology, and Molecular Medicine to give just a few examples.
All medical students at Oxford simultaneously study for an Honours Degree in Medical Sciences and an Honour Degree in Medicine. It is important to point out this requirement because it means that the course in Oxford is six years, with the extra year being designed to lay the foundations of a scientific approach to Medicine.
Watch our Open Day talk about studying Medicine at Jesus College below.
The first five terms of the medical course are organised into six overlapping courses:
- Organisation of the Body
- Physiology and Pharmacology
- Biochemistry and Medical Genetics
- Applied Physiology and Pharmacology
- The Nervous System
- Principles of Pathology
These involve all the pre-clinical departments and provide an integrated base of professional knowledge which is examined at the end of the third and fifth terms in the medical qualifying examination (1st BM). Informal tests during the five terms are used to ensure that any difficulties students may encounter are dealt with swiftly. During the remaining four terms of the course students choose from a wide range of topics among the scientific disciplines on which Medicine is based, and on which research is actively being carried out in the pre-clinical departments at Oxford.
There is a wide choice of subjects to suit individual students, ranging across Neuroscience, Psychology of Emotion and Motivation, Human Physiology, Immunology, and Molecular Medicine to give just a few examples. Chemical Pharmacology and the History and Philosophy of Science are also offered as supplementary options. It is possible to undertake cutting edge research by taking part in the laboratory investigations of relevant University-based scientists and by preparing a project dissertation as part of the final examination. By the time the final examinations are taken, at the end of the first three years, students have an impressive grasp of the critical and imaginative mental disciplines needed to equip the future doctor in an increasingly technical and scientific world.
After obtaining an Honours Degree, medical students move on to undertake their clinical training in the Oxford Clinical School.
As with all other subjects at Oxford, teaching is based on the weekly tutorials given by the College’s medical tutors to individual students, or to small groups of students. Work must be prepared in advance, and in each tutorial students discuss their conclusions and any difficulties which have arisen. In addition, lectures and practical classes are held in the University departments for students from all colleges; these make up a large proportion of the timetable in the first five terms but diminish in importance later, as more time is devoted to private study in the University, College libraries, and scientific laboratories.
At Jesus we aim to make the course interesting, enjoyable and also challenging so that our medical students develop high levels of self-motivation. The welfare of our students is paramount, and we make particular efforts to match a variety of teaching methods to individual students’ needs along with regular contact with the tutors. We encourage the arrangement of teaching by specialists outside the College when required, and contacts with hospital medicine through the Clinical Fellows attached to the College.
The full range of teaching is available in the College through the Medical Fellow and associated lecturers. Unusual amongst Colleges, we have a Clinical Fellow – based at the John Radcliffe Hospital – who undertakes regular, tutorial-style meetings with students during their clinical years.
Medical students are probably required to work harder than students reading for most other degrees, largely because they have to take professional qualifying examinations as well as the Honours Degree. This does not in any way preclude participation in the usual varied activities that characterise College and University life, although it does put an extra burden on a person’s stamina and ability to organise his or her time efficiently.
Fellows
Dr Shankar Srinivas is the Zeitlyn Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at College and Professor of Developmental Biology in the Department of Physiology Anatomy and Genetics. He tutors first year students in Organisation of the Body and Medical Genetics, and third year students in the Critical Analysis and Synoptic papers. His research group, based in the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, works on how the embryo is shaped in the womb. His group focuses particularly on how features along the head-tail axis emerge, and how the heart forms and starts to beat. His group employs techniques ranging from molecular genetics to imaging developing embryos with advanced microscopes.
Dr Deborah Hay
Dr Deborah Hay is a Hugh Price Fellow of the College and Clinical Tutor for Laboratory Medicine in the Radcliffe Department of Medicine. She is a consultant haematologist who trained in Oxford, and is now based at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Her clinical interests focus on haemoglobin disorders and laboratory diagnostics but the majority of her time is spent teaching clinical medical students and coordinating teaching provision in the clinical disciplines of haematology, microbiology, immunology, biochemistry and histopathology. Deborah provides oversight for the three years of the clinical course and expects to meet with clinical students each term for review, as well as providing regular teaching in years 4 and 6. Students are welcome to attend her clinic on a Friday morning in the Oxford Haematology and Cancer Centre, and to join her teaching sessions on Monday afternoons in the haematology laboratory.
Lecturers
Dr Gillian Douglas
Dr Gillian Douglas is a lecturer in Medicine, tutoring first and second year medical students in Physiology and Pharmacology. Her research area is cardiovascular disease, with a focus on novel therapies for the treatment of atherosclerosis.
Dr Pamela Lear
Dr Pamela Lear is a lecturer in Medicine, tutoring first year students in Biochemistry and Endocrinology, and second year students in aspects of Neuroscience. Her research area is obesity and the involvement of channel proteins in this process.
Clinical Lecturers
Dr Sam Lipworth
Dr Sam Lipworth is a specialist registrar in internal medicine and infectious diseases who is currently undertaking research into the molecular epidemiology of non-tuberculous mycobacteria.
Mr Sotiris Mastoridis
Mr Sotiris Mastoridis is a Clinical Lecturer in Surgery whilst continuing his specialty surgical training.
Dr Julian Ormerod
Dr Julian Ormerod is consultant cardiologist who provides clinical teaching and tutorials for 4th year and final medical students at the College.
Mr Cian Wade
Mr Cian Wade is an academic foundation trainee in the Oxford Deanery. He teaches a variety of topics relevant to the clinical medicine course between Years 4 and 6.
The deadline to submit your application for undergraduate study via UCAS is 16 October (please note that this date is usually 15 October, except where this date falls on a weekend). Please refer to the University’s webpages for detailed information on how to apply.
Places available at Jesus College
Jesus College welcomes applications from anyone keen to read Medicine. Although Medicine is a competitive subject throughout the country, and all universities have many applicants for the places they have available, we do not feel that this consideration should weigh too heavily with anyone who is determined to study Medicine.
The numbers of available places are limited by a University quota which applies to all Oxford colleges: competition for places at Jesus is the same as all other colleges due to a central allocation system. At present we are keeping the number of places at 4 each year (in a total College entry of about 100 undergraduates). We see this as an advantage to our students because it maximises the opportunities for individual teaching.
Academic requirements
Please click here to see the academic requirements for Medicine.
Any candidate in doubt as to their academic eligibility for this course is strongly encouraged to seek advice by contacting the Medical School.
Selection criteria
The specific selection criteria are given on the department’s website here.
Admissions tests
All candidates must take the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) as part of their application. Separate registration for this test is required and it is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that they are registered by the registration deadline of 29 September 2023. We strongly recommend making the arrangements in plenty of time before the deadline. Everything you need to know, including how to register and guidance on how to prepare, can be found can be found here.
Written work
You do not need to submit any written work as part of an application for this course.
Interviews
Those invited for interview will be seen by tutors from two different colleges in order to present candidates with a variety of situations and reduce the possible arbitrariness of one single longer interview.
Deferred Entry
Please refer to the Departmental website for subject-specific advice.
The Tutors have no objection in principle to offering a place to a candidate who wishes to defer entry for a year, provided this intention is made known at the outset. You must apply for deferred entry at the time of application to Oxford: you cannot change your mind after an offer has been made.
You should be aware that applicants who are offered places for deferred entry will generally be among the very strongest of the cohort for their subject, and the College limits its offers of deferred places in order not to disadvantage candidates applying in the following year. In some cases, an applicant for deferred entry may be offered a place for non-deferred entry instead.
Joint Schools
There are no Joint Schools for Medicine. Jesus College does not offer the Biomedical Sciences degree as a stand-alone course.
A medical qualification may lead to a wide range of future career paths and you will have opportunities through your training to discuss your hopes and plans with University and NHS staff.
A careers session is organised for final year students and foundation year doctors, and details of specialist postgraduate training and requirements for postgraduate qualifications are available from the Director of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and from the Regional Advisors of the medical Royal Colleges.
Please use the links below for further information:
If you have any questions about entrance requirements, or about applying to study at Jesus College, please contact the Admissions Officer:
Email: admissions.officer@jesus.ox.ac.uk
Web: www.jesus.ox.ac.uk