medical school medical school a medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. such medical degrees include the bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (mbbs, mbchb, mbbch, bmbs), master of medicine (mm, mmed), doctor of medicine (md), or doctor of osteopathic medicine (do). many medical schools offer additional degrees, such as a doctor of philosophy (phd), master's degree (msc) or other post-secondary education. for a broad outline, see medical education. for a list, see list of medical schools. for trade associations for medical professionals, see medical college. medical schools can also carry out medical research and operate teaching hospitals. around the world, criteria, structure, teaching methodology, and nature of medical programs offered at medical schools vary considerably. medical schools are often highly competitive, using standardized entrance examinations, as well as grade point averages and leadership roles, to narrow the selection criteria for candidates. in most countries, the study of medicine is completed as an undergraduate degree not requiring prerequisite undergraduate coursework. however, an increasing number of places are emerging for graduate entrants who have completed an undergraduate degree including some required courses. in the united states and canada, almost all medical degrees are second entry degrees, and require several years of previous study at the university level. medical degrees are awarded to medical students after the completion of their degree program, which typically lasts five or more years for the undergraduate model and four years for the graduate model. many modern medical schools integrate clinical education with basic sciences from the beginning of the curriculum (e.g.). more traditional curricula are usually divided into preclinical and clinical blocks. in preclinical sciences, students study subjects such as biochemistry, genetics, pharmacology, pathology, anatomy, physiology and medical microbiology, among others. subsequent clinical rotations usually include internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology, among others. although medical schools confer upon graduates a medical degree, a physician typically may not legally practice medicine until licensed by the local government authority. licensing may also require passing a test, undergoing a criminal background check, checking references, paying a fee, and undergoing several years of postgraduate training. medical schools are regulated by each country and appear in the world directory of medical schools which was formed by the merger of the avicenna directory for medicine and the faimer international medical education directory. africa for a more comprehensive list, see list of medical schools in africa. by 2005 there were more than 100 medical schools across africa, most of which had been established after 1970. egypt medical schools within egypt are five-year programs. education is conducted in english and leads to a bachelor of medicine and surgery (mbbch). graduates must finish a two-year internship program at the end of their studies to obtain their general practitioner license. clinical training happens in each school teaching hospital with few exceptions. a small number of schools use ministry of health hospitals. admission into egyptian private and public medical schools is centrally managed by the government. after students submit their applications, they are distributed among different institutions according to both their order of preference and their high school performance. in egypt, there are two main pathways to postgraduate studies in medicine. the academic pathway, leading to a scientific degree: either msc. or phd the second is the fellowship of the egyptian board (feb) program. about 20% of medical graduates pursue post-graduate studies, the rest join the healthcare workforce as general practitioners. ghana there are seven medical schools in ghana: the university of ghana medical school in accra, the knust school of medical sciences in kumasi, university for development studies school of medicine in tamale, university of cape coast medical school and the university of allied health sciences in ho, volta region, the private accra college of medicine, and family health medical school, another private medical school. basic medical education lasts 6 years in all medical schools. entry into these medical schools is highly competitive and it is usually based on successful completion of the senior high school examinations. the university of ghana medical school and the university of cape coast have, however, introduced a graduate entry medical program to admit students with mainly science-related degrees into a 4-year medical school program (four and half years for the university of cape coast). students graduating from any of these medical schools get the mbchb degree and the title "dr". for the first 3 years, students are awarded bsc in the field of medical sciences from the university of ghana medical school; and human biology for knust and uds medical schools. the university of ghana medical school and knust school of medical sciences in kumasi use a traditional medical education model whiles the university for development studies school of medicine and school of medical science of the university of cape coast use the problem-based learning model. medical graduates are then registered provisionally with the medical and dental council (mdc) of ghana as house officers (interns). upon completion of the mandatory 2-year housemanship, these medical doctors are permanently registered with the mdc and can practice as medical officers (general practitioners) anywhere in the country. the housemanship training is done only in hospitals accredited for such purposes by the medical and dental council of ghana. following the permanent registration with the medical and dental council, doctors can specialize in any of the various fields that is organized by either the west african college of physicians and surgeons or the ghana college of physician and surgeons. medical officers are also sometimes hired by the ghana health service to work in the district/rural areas as primary care physicians. kenya in kenya, medical schools are faculties of a university. medical education lasts for 6 years after which the student graduates with an undergraduate (mbchb) degree. this is followed by a mandatory 12-month full-time internship at an approved hospital after which one applies for registration with the kenya medical practitioners and dentists board if they intend to practice medicine in the country. the first two years of medical school cover the basic medical (preclinical) sciences while the last four years are focused on the clinical sciences and internship. completion of formal specialty training in kenya is followed by two years of supervised clinical work before one can apply for recognition as a specialist, in their respective field, by the medical board. there are no medical school entry examinations or interviews and admission is based on the student's performance in the high school exit examination (kenya certificate of secondary education - kcse). students who took the as level or the sat can also apply but there is a very strict quota limiting the number of students that get accepted into public universities. this quota does not apply to private universities. further information: list_of_medical_schools_in_africa § kenya nigeria there are several medical schools in nigeria. entrance into these schools is highly competitive. candidates graduating from high school must attain high scores on the west african examination council's (waec) senior school certificate exam (ssce/gce) and high scores in five subjects (physics, mathematics, english, chemistry, and biology) in the university matriculation examination (ume). students undergo rigorous training for 6 years and culminate with a bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (mbbs/mbchb). the undergraduate program is six years and one year of work experience in government hospitals. after medical school, graduates are mandated to spend one year of housemanship (internship) and one year of community service before they are eligible to be fully licensed by the medical and dental council. candidates are required to score at least 280 in the ume. though this score may vary due to different performances per year and it also depends on the college standards. south africa