Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery
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Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, or in Latin Medicinæ Baccalaureus et Baccalaureus Chirurgiæ (abbreviated MB BChir, MB BCh, MB ChB, BM BS, MB BS etc.), are the two degrees awarded after a course of study in medicine and surgery at a university in the United Kingdom and other places following its usage, such as medical schools in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Jamaica, South Africa, Pakistan and India. The naming suggests that they are two separate degrees; however in practice they are usually treated as one. (At Oxford and Cambridge it is/was possible to be awarded the two degrees on different dates.)
The degrees are the Commonwealth equivalent of what is known elsewhere as the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD). In countries that award bachelors' degrees in medicine, however, the MD refers to a Higher Doctorate, and is reserved for medical practitioners who do research and submit a thesis in the field of medicine.
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[edit] Naming
The Latin names for these degrees are variously Medicinae Baccalaureus, Chirugiae Baccalaureus or Baccalaureus in Medicina et in Chirurgia, abbreviated as MB ChB, MB BCh or in other ways depending on the individual institution; the English versions are Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, usually abbreviated as MB BS. The different Latin and English abbreviations may occasionally be combined by certain institutions such that BM BCh and BM BS are also seen. The specific names and abbreviations of the degrees vary with each awarding body and from region to region; this is mostly for reasons of tradition, rather than to indicate any significant difference of level or between the degrees.
The degrees are not offered in the United States, Canada and other countries. The equivalent degree in the United States is the MD or DO. In Canada the MD or MD CM are awarded.
[edit] Australia
MB BS are conferred by most Australian medical schools (undergraduate and graduate-entry).
The graduate-entry Flinders medical school confers BM BS.
The University of Newcastle offers the five-year undergraduate degree BMed. Although no degree in surgery is formally awarded by Newcastle, this degree is equivalent to the MB BS, and students may go on to a career in surgery the same as any other graduates in medicine and sugery.
[edit] Bangladesh
All medical schools in Bangladesh award MB BS.
[edit] England
Several variants of these degrees are awarded in England:
- MB ChB are used at the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Keele, Manchester, Sheffield, and Warwick.
- MB BS are used at the University of East Anglia, Hull York Medical School, the University of London, and University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- BM BCh are used at Oxford.
- BM BS are used at University of Nottingham, Peninsula Medical School and Brighton Sussex Medical School
- BM is awarded at the University of Southampton. Although no degree in surgery is formally awarded by Southampton, this degree is equivalent to the MB ChB, and students may go on to a career in surgery the same as any other graduates in medicine and surgery.
- MB BChir are awarded by the University of Cambridge.
At Oxford and Cambridge universities the preclinical course leads to a BA degree (upgradable after 3 tor 4 years to MA), after which most students used to go elsewhere to complete clinical training. They could take the degrees of their new university or return to their old university to take clinical examinations.
The English Triple Conjoint Diploma of LRCP, LRCS, LMSSA was a non-university qualifying examinations in medicine and surgery awarded jointly by the Royal College of Physicians of London, Royal College of Surgeons of England and Society of Apothecaries through the United Examining Board. These qualifications were registrable with the GMC until 1999. Prior to 1994, the English Conjoint diploma of LRCP, MRCS was awarded for over a century, and the LMSSA was a distinct and sometimes less-esteemed qualification.
[edit] Hong Kong
The awarding of qualifications in Hong Kong has continued to follow the British tradition despite the handover of the territory's sovereignty from the hands of the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China on 30 June 1997. The dual degree is awarded as:
- MB BS at University of Hong Kong; and
- MB ChB at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
[edit] India
All medical schools in India award the MB BS degree under the Medical Council of India and State Medical councils' regulations. An MB BS is an undergraduate degree, usually lasting 5½ years or more. It includes one year of a compulsory rotating internship. Completion of an MB BS degree is required in order to apply for, and join, a specialised program offering the MD / MS degree. Subsequently further specialisation can lead to DM or MCh degrees.
There used also to be Licentiate qualifications in Medicine and Surgery (LMS) in India, awarded after a shorter course, originally at a "medical school" rather than a "medical college."
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bombay awarded a Licentiate at LMS level, a Membership (MCPS) at MB BS level and a Fellowship (FCPS) at MD level. The State Medical Faculty of West Bengal (previously of Bengal) also gave Licentiates and Memberships.
[edit] Ireland
The three degrees of MB BCh BAO are awarded by all medical schools in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland - namely Queen's University Belfast, University of Dublin (Trinity College) and some constituent institutions of the National University of Ireland (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Dublin, University College Cork and National University of Ireland, Galway).
BAO is Baccalaureus in Arte Obstetricia (Bachelor of the Obstetric Art), which the Irish Universities began to award in the 19th century after legislation insisted on a final examination in obstetrics: however this third degree was not registrable with the GMC.
LRCPI LRCSI, or simply LRCP&SI, denotes a holder of the historical non-university qualifying licenciates awarded jointly by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to students of the RCSI's medical school. Unlike the corresponding licentiates awarded by the Royal Colleges in Scotland and England (which were external qualifications), these qualifications are still registrable with the Irish Medical Council. Students at RCSI still receive these licenciates but now also receive the degrees MB BCh BAO, due to RCSI's status as a recognised college of the National University of Ireland.
The RCSI students also received a Licence in Midwifery (LM) from each college, in the same way that the Irish Universities granted BAO degrees, so their qualifications were sometimes expressed as L & LM,RCPI, L & LM, RCSI or more misleadingly as LLM, RCP&SI.
LAH formerly denoted a licentiate of the now-defunct Apothecaries' Hall, Dublin, and is no longer awarded.
[edit] Kenya
The two National Universities(the University of Nairobi and Moi University) with Medical Faculties in Kenya offer the 'MBChB' degree.
[edit] Myanmar
All medicine schools in Myanmar award the M.B.,B.S. degree.
[edit] New Zealand
The two New Zealand Medical Schools, Auckland and Otago, style their degrees as MB ChB. The New Zealand MB ChB degrees take at least 6 years after commencing university study depending upon graduate or undergraduate entry.
[edit] Pakistan
All medical schools in Pakistan award MB BS. as per the Medical and dental council of Pakistan. An MBBS is an undergraduate degree, usually lasting 5 years.
[edit] Scotland
All medical schools in Scotland award MB ChB. The University of St Andrews awarded MB ChB until the early 1970s, but since the incorporation of the medical school in the new University of Dundee, the University of St Andrews now only awards a pre-clinical BSc or BSc (Hons), and students go elsewhere to finish their training, usually to the University of Manchester for an MB ChB.
The Scottish Triple Conjoint Diploma of LRCPE, LRCSE, LRCPSG (earlier LRCPE, LRCSE, LRFPSG) is an old non-university qualifying examination in medicine and surgery awarded jointly by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, previously through a Conjoint Board and from 1994 through the United Examining Board. These qualifications were registrable with the GMC until 1999.
[edit] Singapore
The only medical school in Singapore, the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, confers the MBBS degree.
[edit] Wales
All medical schools in Wales award MB BCh.
[edit] West Indies
All constituent countries of the University of the West Indies confer the MBBS degree due to the historical affiliation of the University of the West Indies to the University of London.
[edit] Classification of degrees
The degrees of MB BS are rather difficult to classify. They can be received both after an undergraduate course, which lasts five or six years in addition to one year of practice as a pre-registration house officer (PRHO), or after a graduate course which lasts 4 years in addition to one year of practice as a PRHO (which now, in the UK, incorporates the first year of Foundation Training following the initiative "Modernising Medical Careers"), having previously obtained an undergraduate degree of a good class.
The degrees differ from other undergraduate degrees in that they are professional qualifications which entitle bearers to a guaranteed position upon receipt. This is not the case with other undergraduate degrees, so whilst the MB ChB are undergraduate/graduate degrees, they are perhaps more accurately conceptualised as a so-called 'First Professional' degree.
It is a general/ordinary degree (not an honours degree), and as such one is not awarded 1st class, 2:1 etc. as one does for honours degrees. At some institutions (for example the University of Manchester) it is possible for the degrees to be awarded with Honours, i.e. MB ChB (Hons) etc., if the board of examiners recognises exceptional performance throughout the degree course. Very few of these are awarded.
More often, it is possible to study one subject for an extra year for an honours BSc, BMedSci, BMedBiol or similar: as with the Oxford and Cambridge BAs. At a few universities most medical students obtain an ordinary degree in science as well: when the University of Edinburgh had a six year course, the third year was followed by award of an ordinary BSc (Med Sci).
[edit] Progression
Graduates of these degrees are entitled to use the title Doctor, and are eligible for membership of professional institutions (such as the Royal College of Physicians after sitting further postgraduate examinations, as well as being eligible to submit research for the awarding of the degree of MD or DM.
At some institutions it is possible to study for the degree of Master of Surgery (ChM, MCh, MChir or MS), and the possession of a medical degree is normally a prerequisite for this. There is also a similar Masters degree in Obstetrics (MAO) in Ireland.
[edit] Stylisation
The degrees of Medicine and Surgery are sometimes stylised more formally, when abbreviated as M.B., Ch.B. / M.B., B.S.
Note the punctuation:
- the period (".") marks the level of degree and discipline
- the comma (",") indicates a separate degree
[edit] See also
- Bachelor's degree
- Homologation
- Medical school
- Medical education
- Doctor of Medicine - for more about the degrees of MD and DM
- Master of Surgery - for more about the degrees of ChM, MCh, MChir & MS.
