Biomedical Science (Including Professional Training Year) BSc (Hons)

Cardiff University

Biomedical science underpins medicine and medical research and involves the study of a range of relevant topics that focus on normal development and function, as well as the mechanisms of disease and disease processes. Our Biomedical Sciences degree takes a broad approach which gives you the option to study many relevant biological subjects including human physiology, human anatomy, disease processes and their treatment, biochemistry, genetics and microbiology. The curriculum and its practical training is informed by the extensive range of biomedical research undertaken within the School of Biosciences and at the University Hospital of Wales, enabling you to receive training in topics relating to current research including cancer biology, stem cells, tissue engineering, gene therapy and neurodegenerative diseases.

Your third year is spent on a professional work placement related to your degree. Experience shows that this greatly enhances your subsequent employment prospects.

During the course of your studies, you will also have the option of changing to a more specialist degree, such as BSc Biomedical Sciences (Anatomy) or BSc Biomedical Sciences (Physiology), or another general degree, such as Biological Sciences. This will depend on the modules selected in your second and final years, and your Personal Tutor will be able to guide you through the options available to you.

The specialist Anatomy modules forming part of the Biomedical Sciences (Anatomy) degree involve human dissection under the direction of skilled experts within the Welsh Centre for Anatomical Education, which is housed within the School. For this reason, numbers on the Anatomy modules in years two and three may be limited by availability of cadaveric material at the Centre.

The programme combines scientific understanding with the development of academic skills (critical appraisal, evaluation and analysis of data) along with the development of practical, presentation and written skills within a scientific context. The course ultimately aims to produce graduates who are employable, well-informed, versatile and enthusiastic ambassadors for science.

The knowledge and skills that you develop during your Biomedical Sciences degree will make you employable in a broad range of careers within biomedical science including research, healthcare, publishing and teaching. The analytical and other skills acquired on the course are also an excellent grounding for many other career paths outside of science. Alternatively you may wish to further your studies by pursuing a higher degree.

Distinctive features

Our degrees are closely linked to the research interests of the staff who teach them, allowing you to experience the excitement of learning in an active research environment. We attract substantial external research funding and this will allow you make use of the latest equipment, techniques and facilities in your project work. The School also houses the Welsh Centre for Anatomical Education as well as leading the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, one of the University’s flagship Institutes, allowing access to a wide range of exciting training opportunities.

This programme offers a high degree of flexibility with student choice at its core. You have the freedom to decide how your academic experience develops. You can choose to specialise in a particular area or to maintain a wide breadth of learning and explore the interdisciplinary research that underpins much of the School’s success.