Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB,ChB)

Admission requirements

Write the NBTs
For the National Senior Certificate achieve an aggregate of at least 70%
Mathematics (level 4)
Physical Sciences (level 4)
Life Sciences (level 4)
Afrikaans and English as subjects are strongly recommended
About 235 candidates are selected in the year preceding study.

The aim of this programme is to produce recently graduated Stellenbosch doctors who have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to optimally utilise the opportunities available during the two-year internship so as to function autonomously in the primary health care sector thereafter, and who have acquired the ability and insight to develop further personally and professionally.

Training of medical doctors

The programme runs over six years and consists of three phases.

Phase 1: A foundation is laid during the greater part of the first year, by studying the natural sciences, such as Biology and Chemistry, within the context of health sciences, and basic aspects of health, and personal and professional development. The basic principles of the disturbance of body functions during illness and its treatment are also covered.

Phase 2 (clinical medicine): This phase extends from the second year to the end of the first semester of the fifth year and covers the theoretical and practical aspects of the normal structures and functions of the body’s various organ systems and their disorders in an integrated way. Already from the second semester of the second year students begin to acquire first-hand experience of the management of patients during clinical rotation modules.

Phase 3 (clinical consolidation or student internship): In the last three semesters, all training is practical and takes place in the clinical environment.

The six-year training is followed by two years of internship and thereafter a year of community service, subsequent to which you will be eligible for registration as an independent medical practitioner with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

A wide range of employment opportunities exist, for instance, in private practice, in hospitals or other medical institutions, in various government or nongovernmental organisations, in research, in academic medicine or in the private sector (for example, insurance companies or the pharmaceutical industry). Postgraduate studies for a career in research or for specialisation in any clinical discipline are further attractive options.

For more information refer to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Yearbook.

Extended Degree Programme (EDP) for MB,ChB

Students for the MB, ChB, BSc in Dietetics, BScPhysio and BSL and HT degrees who have been disadvantaged by suboptimal schooling may be selected by the Faculty to join its Extended Degree Programme. The objective is to put the degree in Medicine, Dietetics, Physiotherapy or Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy within reach of such persons. To this end, the programme offers them assistance in developing their potential.
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