UCL Institute for Women's Health (IfWH)

Undergraduate Studies

Lead: Dr Melissa Whitten

The Institute contributes to and organises a major course module in Women’s Health and Communicable Diseases for approximately 400 undergraduate students each academic year within Phase 2 (Year-4) of the medical curriculum:

The Women's Health and Communicable Diseases module comprises Obstetrics and Gynaecology Genitourinary Medicine, Microbiology, Virology and Tropical Diseases. There is a multidisciplinary approach to teaching where subject areas overlap. Evidence based medicine is taught in an integrated fashion by staff from Public Health, Communicable Diseases and Women’s Health, Ethics and Law, Pathology, Public Health, Medical Humanities, Use of Medicine and the counselling needs of women are incorporated into the course template. Teaching and assessment is organised by a Module Management Group (MMG); Melissa Whitten is the lead for Women’s Health, and chair of the Module Management Group.

Course Structure

There are 14 weeks three times per year (year 4) including one teaching week and three Friday afternoon seminars. The first week is an introduction to the subject areas and teacher/student interaction is encouraged. Week 14 includes an Extended Matching Question paper (EMQ)/ Single best answer paper, an OSCE and a project (poster) presentation, which form the assessment for the module. It is mandatory to pass this to enter the final MB BS examinations. Eight weeks are spent in clinical obstetrics and gynaecology, four weeks at one of the base campuses and four at a district general hospital.

Teaching occurs in hospital and community settings, the latter with midwives and general practitioners. Currently a midwifery firm is set up and inter-professional learning takes place for midwifery, medical student, social workers and allied health professionals. Intimate examination skills are taught with the aid of Gynaecology Teaching Assistants and a recent introduction to the course are seminars in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.

Course information is electronically available and there is an interactive web based learning and revision facility.

In addition staff across the Institute contribute to modules in Phase 1 (years 1 and 2) of the curriculum and also to intercalated BSc courses and Student Selected Modules. In particular we run a SSM in Reproductive Ethics (Reproductive Medicine, Science and Society) in Year 2 which we are developing in collaboration with the Ethics Unit at the medical school in KwaZulu Natal (South Africa). Each year we offer laboratory based and library based projects for both science students and intercalating medical students in the BSc year. One of our objectives in teaching at this level is to introduce students to the range exciting developments in research in the division as part of the aim of recruiting and retaining health professionals in the disciplines covered by the Division. As an approach to this, under the auspices of the Institute of Women’s Health we are now developing a BSc programme and modules contributing to a Clinical BSc for intercalating medical students.