The year 1 timetable is unsurprisingly mostly comprised of lectures with a few tutorials in a 9-5 format. Most days will compose of 4-5 timetabled events which means that apart from an hour for lunch, most of your day will be spent in lectures. It seems overwhelming at first, especially when every lecture feels like an entire A-level chapter but over some time, you adjust and get used to the volume of content.
In terms of modules, there are 4 running in parallel at the same time. These are composed of the core module, anatomy, pharmacology and CPP (Clinical and Professional Practice). The core module is the “main content” that you’ll be learning such as Circulation and Breathing and forms the bulk of your timetable. Anatomy and pharmacology are periphery modules, with a lecture for once every 1-2 weeks each. CPP tackles the clinical and social aspect of medicine with subtopics including clinical skills, ethics/law, professionalism and others.
I personally loved the set structure of the course and how organised everything was. Every module was organised well with supplementary activities such as short quizzes to solidify understanding. However, there’s no getting around the fact that the workload is intense and the course demanding. At the start of the course, a lot of my coursemates struggled a lot to make the jump to medical school and some still struggle. That’s not to say that the process isn’t enjoyable or achievable as almost everyone still manages to graduate but keep in mind that it is a very science/content-based course. I liked this aspect, but others may prefer a more practical course or one with more clinical teaching within the first 2 years.
The image on the right is an example timetable.