Applicants with a disability or health condition

All students need to meet the Outcomes for Graduates set by the General Medical Council (GMC) in order to graduate. In most cases, health conditions and disabilities do not affect a medical student’s fitness to practise.

We encourage applicants to read the following GMC guidance, which includes information about the professional responsibilities of a medical student with a disability or a long-term health condition:

• GMC - Professional behaviour and fitness to practise
• GMC - Achieving Good Medical Practice: guidance for medical students

Only in very rare instances, your individual circumstances may mean you will be unable to meet the GMC outcomes, and therefore unable to study Medicine. For information about what happens in these circumstances, please see the Code of Practice on Admissions to the MB BS (PDF).

Before applying to Medical School

It is never too early to seek advice from us if you are considering applying to Medicine. If you have any questions, or you are unsure about whether your disability or health condition will impact on your ability to study or practise Medicine, we welcome you to contact our Admissions Team: further.enquiries@hyms.ac.uk

We can provide advice about the relevant University and Medical School student support services to help inform your decisions before applying.

Please note we are not able to provide professional advice or arrange pre-application occupational health assessments.

Coming to interview

If you are invited to interview, we will ask you if there are any reasonable adjustments we should make to ensure the interview experience we provide meets your individual needs.

Receiving an offer to study Medicine

All candidates who firmly accept an offer from us will be sent an Occupational Health assessment form which includes health screening and immunisation. Our Occupational Health will consider whether you will need any reasonable adjustments to support you during your studies.

The Occupational Health assessment will also assess the impact a long-term health condition is having on the person’s ability to practise medicine safely, which will be unique for each individual. This will follow the General Medical Council Outcomes for Graduates guidance and fitness to practise requirements. Although we hope that applicants will go on to become doctors working in the NHS, GMC registration will only be given to students who meet all the outcomes and are fit to practise at the point of graduation.

If you have a disability or long-term health condition that might impede your clinical capability or require reasonable adjustments to undergo an independent medical examination, and/or a skills assessment, your case may be referred to the Hull York Medical School Student Fitness to Study Committee, and if appropriate refer to the Fitness to Practise Committee.

In rare situations, we may have concerns that the nature of the disability may make it impossible for the individual to meet the outcomes for graduates even with adjustments. An application may only be rejected, or an offer of admission be withdrawn, on grounds of conduct giving rise to serious cause for concern (including failure to declare a known medical condition), or of impairment of health to such a degree as to pose a risk to patients.

If you have any questions about fitness to practise Medicine, please contact our Admissions Team: further.enquiries@hyms.ac.uk

Starting medical school

Most of the work to put in place adjustments and support will happen before you start Medical School. This is why we encourage you to declare your disability as early as possible in the application process, so we can arrange to have adjustments in place before you start.

Please note that there may be circumstances where adjustments we can provide may not be available in the NHS.

Support during your studies

We have our own dedicated Student Support Team, who understand what’s involved in studying Medicine and how best to support you. They can help signpost you to support services within the Medical School, in our parent Universities and external agencies as appropriate. Our Universities provide a comprehensive range of support, including:

• Identifying what reasonable adjustments may be needed for you, such as in lectures or examinations
• Liaising with us and other university services to put in place your support arrangements
• Identify materials that you might need in alternative formats
• Advice on applications for the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs)

Please visit the University of Hull – student support and the University of York – disabilities websites for more information.

Changes of circumstances during your studies

We encourage students who experience a disability or long-term health condition at any point during their medical studies to get in touch with our Student Support Team as early as possible. We can then provide more information on student support services and reasonable adjustments.