Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

The aim of the MBBS programme at the College of Medicine is to prepare and equip the doctors in training with necessary knowledge and skills to enable the graduating doctors to practice medicine successfully in Malawi and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sub-region.

 

Structure of the MBBS programme

The MBBS is a five year programme. The current curriculum has been designed to have a strong science foundation but allowing students to meet with the patient very early on in the training. In third year there is a definite transition from a heavy science to clinical training while maintaining the scientific basis of training.

Bachelor of Internal Medicine

The aim of this programme is to address the need for specialist physicians at the district hospital level, who have the skills to manage these complex medical conditions, we have developed a three year Bachelor of Science in Internal Medicine (BSC-IM ) for clinical officers. This is a response to the MOH’s quest to improve quality clinical care in medicine at the district and sub-district level. This program is tailored specifically for clinical officers who would like to improve their skills as physicians in internal medicine.

Potential students of this program have been trained in clinical medicine. The training of clinical officers is based on knowledge of common medical problems in Malawi and to a large extent is practice based. There is less emphasis of the scientific basis of disease causation. The BSC-IM training will, therefore, try to fill this deficiency where possible and continue the important practical training. The first semester of year 3 will therefore be devoted to providing the science. This will be followed by a system based approach to training.

Adult learning approaches will be used throughout the program. It is expected that the learners will become self-motivated and acquire life-long learning skills and carry them into their professional practice. Learners will adopt critical analysis, in-depth exploration, problem solving and decision making to improve the quality of care at their hospitals. Interactive dynamic teaching methods will be used

Programme Structure

 The hours quoted here are notional hours: It is expected that the total learning time will exceed 40 hours a week considering the organization of learning in medical training. However, the calculation of the notional hours is based on a 40 hour week. Students will have lectures, ward rounds, small group discussion; attend clinics and other learning activities. 10 contact hours = 1 credit.