Members of SSiM contribute to a number of Undergraduate degree programmes, particularly the MBChB degree. Medical students have also taken Special Study Modules and Special Study Activities, which explore medicine from social, ethical and historical perspectives. Our Undergraduate teaching includes the following modules:
Intercalated (POSH) BMedSc
The Intercalated degree programme, structured within the framework of Medicine in Society lasts one academic year and is available to MBChB students after the end of Years 2, 3, as well as to BDS students at the end of Year 2. It also admits students from other UK medical and dental schools. Students attend taught modules, which are taken in the first semester, in one of five themed areas:
- Healthcare, Ethics and Law
- History of Medicine
- International Health
- Psychological Medicine
- Public Health
In the Second Semester the sole activity of the student is the research towards a 10,000-word dissertation. Many students undertake this work abroad or in other parts of the UK, for which there is substantial financial support from the Medical School.
Additional details relating to the programme are available from the Intercalated Degree course page.
Short Electives in the History of Medicine (SP1)
A number of shorter courses exploring medicine from ethical, social or historical angles are available to undergraduate medical students in years 1, 2 and 3. Each module involves students attending some lectures on a specialist subject, designing a project in collaboration with a member of staff, writing up a research essay based on primary and secondary sources and presenting their findings to their group at the end of the module. Modules include:
External Teaching [as in outside the College can also be listed]
BA History, Years 2 and 3: Research Preparation and Dissertations
(Dr Heggie and Professor Reinarz)
History undergraduate students can undertake research into aspects of the history of medicine. In their second year, students in History and Cultures identify potential supervisors for their final-year projects as part of their Research Methods teaching. As part of their Dissertation Preparation module, they meet their supervisors and design suitable research topics, undertaking literature surveys and archival research. During third-year, students write up their findings in close collaboration with supervisors and a 12,000-word dissertation is submitted in Winter Term.
MA in Birmingham and Midland History (Professor Reinarz)
The School of Historical Studies runs a two-year, part-time MA in the history of Birmingham and West Midlands History. As part of this course, students receive three lectures on aspects of midland history from Jonathan Reinarz. Lectures include an introduction to the sources in the history of medicine, the history of business in Victorian Birmingham and the history of Birmingham medicine in the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Students may chose a subject related to the history of medicine for their dissertations, which are due at the conclusion of the second year. In the past, students have researched subjects, including the history of midland friendly societies, WWI hospitals, and the health of female munitions workers in Birmingham.