Academic Regulations: Faculty of Medicine
| School | Medicine |
| Final Award | Doctor of Medicine (DM) With exit awards of: Master of Philosophy (MPhil) |
| Programme(s) | Doctor of Medicine |
| Last modified | April 2024 |
The Academic Regulations apply to and regulate the programme(s) listed above.
On occasion, programmes can be exempted from one or more of the clauses in the Regulations; one or more of the clauses can be varied; and programmes can impose additional requirements.
- Exemptions are characterised by the omission of the relevant clause.
- Variations are characterised by the replacement of the clause with alternative wording.
- Additions are characterised by requirements in addition to those detailed in the Academic regulations.
The programmes listed have approval from the Academic Quality and Standards Subcommittee for the exemptions and/or variations and/or additions to the regulations noted below.
Exemptions
The clause(s) listed below describe where an exemption to the Regulations exists:
None apply
Variations
The clause(s) listed below describe where a variation to the Regulations exists:
Existing University regulation | Approved Variation
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| 3. Candidature | ||
| 3.5 | A research student in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy may be permitted, at any time prior to the submission of the thesis, to transfer to a programme leading to the degree of Master of Philosophy. The period spent in candidature up to the point of transfer will be counted towards the period of candidature required for the degree to which the transfer is made. Details of the permission required to transfer for other programmes will be detailed in the Academic Regulations. | A research student in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Medicine may be permitted, at any time prior to the submission of the thesis, to transfer to a programme leading to the degree of Master of Philosophy. A research student registered for the degree of Doctor of Medicine may also apply to transfer to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, normally at the time of their second (confirmation) progression review, but not less than six months prior to the end of candidature. The transfer should be explicitly discussed and agreed by the assessors of the confirmation review; if this review has already passed then an additional review in the format of the confirmation review will be required. The period spent in candidature up to the point of transfer will be counted towards the period of candidature for the degree to which the transfer is made. |
| Existing University regulationCode of Practice for Research Degree Candidature and Supervision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18.16 | Progression Monitoring and Reviews
1 These timings may be adjusted on a pro-rata basis for research students registered on non-standard research programmes where other duties are a formal part of the programme; for example, the Clinical Doctorate Research Fellowship scheme or the Mayflower Scholarship scheme. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Approved variation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Research students enrolled on the DM programme will follow the progression review timelines for full-time doctoral students as published in the Code of Practice for Research Degree Candidature and Supervision:
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Additional requirements
The clause(s) listed below are in addition to the Regulations.
Existing University regulation | Approved Additional Requirement | |
| 2. Admission | ||
| 2.2 | Applicants for a research degree shall hold an undergraduate degree or Master’s degree in a suitable subject of any approved higher education institution or whatever award/range of experience is deemed equivalent by the Faculty Graduate School Subcommittee using the selection procedures specified in section 6 of the Code of Practice (Selection and Admission of Research Students: Selection procedures) and the guidance on recognition of prior [experiential/certificated] learning as set out in the Recognition of Prior Learning Policy. Applications from individuals with other non-standard qualifications must be approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on a case-by-case basis. Applicants may be admitted on transfer from another higher education institution according to the guidelines set out in section 6 of the Code of Practice (Selection and Admission of Research Students: Transferring from another institution). | Candidates must hold a medical qualification which is recognised by the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom, and must have held this qualification for at least three years by the date of submission of the thesis or published works.
Alternative Submission for the Degree a. Southampton graduates not employed in hospitals or institutions associated with the Faculty of Medicine may register as a student of the University for a DM degree if they can provide evidence that they have tried unsuccessfully to submit for the degree at their local university. Such students will undertake a period of supervised research in their home institution following the requirements of the University of Southampton Regulations for Research Degrees. b. Any graduates who hold a Consultant or equivalent position, or who work in General Practice and who are employed in local hospitals or institutions associated with the Faculty of Medicine, may apply for the award of the degree by submission of published works. Such works should be broadly comparable to a DM thesis, as specified in regulation 24 below. The normal requirement would be a minimum of four peer-reviewed papers in respected journals which form a coherent body of work.
Such candidates will not be allocated a supervisor but will be allocated an academic mentor who will provide informal guidance during the preparation of the candidate's thesis or published works. The proposed area of research must be approved by the Faculty normally at least one year before submission of the thesis. The degree of Doctor of Medicine denotes high professional standing and good competence as evidenced by high quality clinically orientated or biomedical research. Candidates must provide evidence that they have mastered a special field within the broad remit of clinical medicine or surgery, or more basic science as it relates to those areas. The scientific and research methods employed by the candidate must be validated. The work should be of a standard that might reasonably be expected from a candidate who has spent at least two years in part-time research. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate they have met the criteria expected of other doctoral level degrees as set out in section 4 of the Code of Practice for Research Degree Candidature and Supervision. |
These regulations should be read in conjunction with the Doctoral Programme Profile.
Disclaimer
As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our programmes to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, these regulations may be revised during a student’s period of registration, however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student’s programme.