How to become a future doctor
There's more than 1 way into medical school in Scotland. Which route depends on where you're starting from—school leaver, graduate, career changer, or registered healthcare professional.
Which route is yours?
Explore the options below to find the route to studying medicine that matches your background and experience.
Standard entry
These 5 or 6-year courses are designed for anyone studying medicine as a first degree. They’re also open for university graduates who want to retrain. You’ll study core medical sciences alongside practical clinical skills.
More about standard entry routes
Graduate entry
If you already have a degree, graduate entry medicine in Scotland lets you study at an accelerated pace or through targeted work-based routes.
Widening access to medicine routes
These widening participation programmes support applicants from underrepresented backgrounds. They offer adjusted entry requirements, summer schools, and extra guidance to help you apply.
Read more about widening access to medicine
Career development routes
If you're a registered healthcare professional, you can apply for the HCP-Med programme at the University of Edinburgh. This route lets you study medicine while building on your existing clinical experience.
Is Scotland a good place to study medicine?
The short answer is yes.
Long answer: from your first year, you'll learn clinical skills and science from doctors who are still practising.
You'll spend a lot of time on placement in hospitals and GP practices across Scotland. This even includes working in rural and island communities.
Mixing university study with real patient time builds exactly the skills you need to become a doctor. It's also the reason why the degree takes longer than most full-time undergraduate programmes.
Do Scottish students pay for medical school?
If medicine is your first degree, tuition fees are covered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). You don’t pay it back.
Graduates who choose the standard entry route pay a reduced tuition fee in years 1 to 4, but year 5 and onwards is covered by SAAS. If you choose a graduate entry programme, tuition fees are paid if you meet the entry and residency requirements:
- ScotGEM graduate entry programme: Your tuition fees for all 4 years are fully funded by Scottish Government.
- HCP-Med: This route is for registered healthcare professionals. Your tuition fees are fully funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
What happens after you graduate from medical school?
When you finish your 4 to 6-year medical degree, you'll gain provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC). You can finally call yourself a doctor and start treating patients. But to keep you and patients safe, you're only allowed to practise within a supervised postgraduate training programme.
After medical school, your next step is to apply for a 2-year paid foundation programme across hospitals and GP surgeries. Your provisional registration covers your first year of training. After that, you'll gain full GMC registration to complete your second year.
Towards the end of your second year, you’ll be ready to apply for specialty training in your chosen field of medicine. Some resident doctors take a post-foundation training break (PFTB) before starting specialty training.
Why some resident doctors take a break before starting specialty training
Medical school and your first 2 years in postgraduate training can be intense. Some doctors use a PFTB to rest and pause their training to avoid burnout. It also gives you time to experience different medical specialties you might not have tried during foundation training.
What you can do during a PFTB
Lots of doctors accept fixed-term clinical fellowships in hospitals or General Practice. These non-training roles let you get hands-on experience in a specific area, teach, or complete research. They're a practical way to build your skills outside of a formal training programme.
Working and volunteering abroad are also popular options. Many doctors move to countries like Australia or New Zealand for a year or 2, before returning to complete specialty training. Others choose to volunteer with smaller medical charities or expedition teams in low-resource countries to get some global health experience.
In the past, doctors relied on flexible locum shifts to earn a living while building their portfolios. However, more recently, these shifts are harder to find and aren’t as reliable as taking a fellowship or moving overseas.
Common medical specialty training durations
| Medical specialty | Specialty training duration |
| General Practice | 3 years |
| Emergency Medicine | 6 years |
| Anaesthetics | 7 to 8 years |
Find out more about postgraduate medical training.
Learn more about entry routes to medicine
Select a guide below to explore your application routes in detail.