MBBS | Medical degrees | Bachelor of Medicine | Bachelor of Surgery

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery are usually used as synonyms. At some institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge, it was possible in the past to be awarded the two degrees in different years!

In many countries, the degrees are awarded after an undergraduate course lasting five or six years. In some cases, a graduate in another discipline may subsequently enter a special graduate-entry medical course, reduced in duration to account for relevant material covered or learning skills acquired during the first degree. In some cases the old first year courses (for six year degrees) in the basic sciences of physics, chemistry and biology have been abolished, and that standard has to be reached by means of school examinations before entry. However, in most countries a newly-graduated Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery must spend a specified period in internship before they can obtain full qualification as a medical practitioner.

Classification
Medical degrees differ from other undergraduate degrees in that they are professional qualifications which lead holders to enter a particular career on successful completion. This is not the case with most other undergraduate degrees, while the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery are undergraduate or graduate degrees (depending on the institution), they are perhaps more accurately conceptualized as a so-called first professional degree. Other professions whose qualifications follow a similar pattern include:

• Dentistry
• Engineering
• Optometry
• Pharmacy
• Qualifying law degree
• Veterinary medicine
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery are usually awarded as general/ordinary degrees, not as honours degrees, and as such the graduate is not classified as for honours degrees in other subjects. However, at many institutions (for example the University of Manchester in England and the University of Dundee in Scotland) it is possible for the degrees to be awarded with Honours (i.e. MB ChB (Hons)) or with Commendation, if the board of examiners recognises exceptional performance throughout the degree course. Very few of these are awarded.