Professor Sumana Sanyal
Fellow & Tutor in Medicine | Professor of Molecular Pathology
Oriel provides a stimulating and congenial environment for studying medicine at both pre-clinical and clinical levels. Students from all years, both pre-clinical and clinical, interact actively and productively.
The Oxford medical course sets out to train doctors who will be at the forefront of medicine, be it as GPs, hospital doctors or researchers. We thus emphasise the scientific basis of medicine throughout the course. We are interested not just in the facts (although all medics need to learn a very large number of facts), but also in the experimental basis of current medical practice (why and how do some cells become cancerous?) and in evidence-based clinical medicine (what is the most effective way of treating a patient with raised blood cholesterol?). Thus we are looking for students of the highest academic ability, with the drive to maintain learning throughout their careers, and with a deep curiosity into how the body works and how and why it sometimes does not.
The entire purpose of the interview is to establish what you do when you don’t know the answer.
Oriel’s tutors are experienced teachers but additionally are researchers of international renown in their particular fields. The very well-stocked library supplies students with personal copies of all the standard texts, which they may retain for the duration of their courses. Oriel has an active medical society, which meets annually for a lecture and dinner at which students meet senior doctors in a very relaxed atmosphere, and we have a list of ex-Oriel medics who are always available for consultation by students and junior doctors. Oriel has a generous academic travel grant scheme and has extra funds to help clinical students with their elective travel.
Oriel is developing a strong medical “subject family” which brings together undergraduates, graduates, researchers and clinicians engaged in the biomedical sciences for discussions and other events.
All candidates take the BMAT test. No written work is required. Oriel does not have a preference for Maths or Biology at A level, and students taking one non-science A level are encouraged to apply.
Number of placesPre-Clinical: 5 or 6, Clinical: 4 or 5
DepartmentsFellow & Tutor in Medicine | Professor of Molecular Pathology
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