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Intercalated Global Public Health

Entry Year: 2025

Key information

Degree
BSc (Intercal)
Duration
1 years
Start
September 2025
UCAS code
B9MX
Institution code
Q50
Entry Requirements
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
Home fees
£9,250
Overseas fees
£29,950
Funding information
Paying your fees
Intercalated Global Public Health
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Overview

Understand the bigger picture of global health and the contribution you can make in your medical career.

Cancer. Cardiovascular issues. Acute infections and disease. To tackle the biggest threats to global health, it’s crucial doctors don't just treat ill patients but also tackle the broader economic and social determinants of health. Learn how to do this successfully at a medical school with a history dating back 900 years. 

If you’re already studying for a medical or dental degree, this is your chance to achieve an additional degree in just one year and develop an evidence base from which to advocate on behalf of your patients. Gender and sexuality, health systems, and globalisation are just a few of the areas you can specialise in. 

Create change with us 

Our teaching takes place in Whitechapel in the heart of London’s East End. As one of the most diverse parts of the UK, it is a fascinating microcosm for understanding global public health.  

As leaders in the field, we influence policy developments. Our academics explore everything from the impact of climate change on the health of indigenous people to the drivers of vaccine hesitancy. And you’ll carry out your own research too. Many students even publish their dissertations in peer-reviewed journals. 

Join us on our mission to promote social justice and health equity on a global, national, and local level. 

You may also be interested in our MSc Global Public Health and Policy, which is available to study as an intercalated degree after Year 3 of your MBBS Medicine or BDS Dentistry programme. 

Apply now for intercalated degrees

Apply by 1 February 12 noon to start your intercalated degree in September.

Intercalated degrees

Structure

You can start your one-year intercalated Global Public Health BSc after the second, third or fourth years of your MBBS, BDS or BVetMed.

Year 1

Semester 1: All students take four compulsory modules

  • Epidemiology and Statistics
  • Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Health
  • Health Systems, Policy, and Practice
  • Research Methods

Semester 2: Students write an 8,000 word dissertation and choose two elective modules from

  • Anthropology and Global Health
  • Gender, Sexuality and Health
  • Global Health, Governance and Law
  • Globalisation and Contemporary Medical Ethics
  • Health Systems Theory, Policy and Political Economy
  • Human Rights and Public Health
  • Planetary Health and International Health Policy
  • Public Health Nutrition
  • A Life-course Approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • Medicines and Pharmaceutical Markets

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Intercalated degrees

An intercalated degree will broaden your studies as you gain an additional qualification.

It will also:

  • strengthen your application if you wish to take the highly competitive academic Foundation Year route into clinical research or education and teaching
  • help you to progress into postgraduate training within your chosen speciality
  • develop your scientific awareness, with an opportunity to carry out original research
  • allow you to experience your chosen field and be sure it’s right for you.

Find out more about intercalated degrees

Testimonial

Spending time with students and experts during the Global Public Health iBSc was an incredibly eye opening experience. It encouraged me to spend time reading outside of academic medicine and consider the wider implications of clinical decisions we make on a daily basis. It encouraged me to explore topics within fields I had never thought I would enjoy and has opened up a multitude of career pathways for my future.

Kajal Ladva, Intercalated Global Public Health (2023)

Teaching

Teaching and learning

Our intercalated students study alongside MSc students. Teaching is through small-group seminars, giving you the opportunity to develop debating and advocacy skills, and to share insights and experiences with students from around the world. The programme provides students with support in developing their academic writing skills.

Assessment

You will have one exam for the Epidemiology and Statistics module. The other modules will be assessed through a combination of written assignments and presentations. The programme places a strong emphasis on developing your writing skills.

Resources and facilities

The School offers excellent on-campus resources to aid your studies, including:

  • lecture theatres, seminar rooms, cafés, computer labs, study and social spaces at Whitechapel and Mile End campuses
  • extensive library facilities – the Queen Mary libraries at Mile End and Whitechapel campuses, large medical archives at The Royal London and Barts hospitals, and access to the University of London library at Senate House.

Entry requirements

Intercalated degrees are for undergraduate students currently enrolled in the MBBS or BDS programmes at Queen Mary, or at another medical, dental or veterinary school.

Medical students
You must have completed 2, 3 or 4 years of the MBBS course (1 or 2 years of a graduate entry programme) and passed all years to date.

Dental students
You must have completed 2, 3 or 4 years of the BDS course and passed all years to date. You must also have completed all continuous assessment and have satisfactory annual progress reviews.

Veterinary students
Veterinary students are welcome to apply.

All students
Satisfactory performance in, and completion of, all student-selected components (SSCs).

Selection
Students who meet the criteria will be asked to attend an interview.

Where there is competition for places, students will be ranked on their exam results to date and their interview performance.

How to apply
See full information on how to apply for intercalated degrees.

Non-UK students

Students from the UK and overseas are welcome to apply for our intercalated degrees.

English language

Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.

You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.

Further information

Find out more about our intercalated degrees.

Funding

Loans and grants

UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for from Student Finance England or other government bodies.

Bursaries

Medical and dental students from Barts and The London will be considered for various bursaries based on research interests, financial need or academic merit.

These bursaries are not available to students from other medical schools, or to Barts and The London students who choose to intercalate externally.

Support from Queen Mary

We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.

Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:

  • additional sources of funding
  • planning your budget and cutting costs
  • part-time and vacation work
  • money for lone parents.

Careers

Your BSc will be an advantage if you later apply for postgraduate training in public health. Your understanding of the wider causes of ill health will be of benefit within all areas of medicine.

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