Sussex portion of the medical school to the University of Sussex school of life sciences 'John Maynard Smith' building. Also located close by are the medical research building and the genome damage stability and control centre (an MRC research facility). The medical school requires dissection of human cadavers as a compulsory part of the course. This means the course is more anatomically based than that of many other modern UK medical schools. As well as the emphasis on anatomy, BSMS also gives early clinical exposure, with students from preclinical years regularly going on placements in both the primary and secondary care sectors. Undergraduate course BSMS offers a Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (BM BS) qualification certified by the GMC. It is a five-year systems-based course with optional intercalated degree year. Having originally had a yearly intake of approximately 120 students, BSMS now admits approximately 200 each year onto the BMBS degree, following the UK Government's required expansion of medical student places in 2017 Postgraduate courses BSMS offers a number of full and part-time postgraduate courses, as well as research degrees. The intercalated degree Although BSMS does not offer an accelerated graduate entry programme, subject to performance students may study subjects of their choice in greater depth by taking an intercalated Bachelors or Masters level degree, resulting in an extended 6-year course. This is taken between the third and fourth years of the BM BS programme, and provides the necessary academic background for a career combining medical practice with medical research or teaching. BSMS offers a range of intercalated degrees (at the MSc level) open to its own and external medical students . It is also possible for BSMS students to transfer to another university to undertake an intercalated degree, and then return to complete the medical course at BSMS. Teaching hospitals and clinical placements Students will undertake a range of clinical placements, mainly at the Royal Sussex but extending into other trust and primary care settings. The University Hospitals NHS Trust provides a full range of clinical specialties with major centres in cardiology/cardiovascular surgery, cancer, renal dialysis, neurosurgery and HIV medicine. In 2017, there were 12 hospitals affiliated with the school. The clinical placements are served in general practices and teaching hospitals throughout the south-east, including many in Kent, and all Sussex hospitals, such as the Royal Sussex County Hospital. Medical students have General Practice placements in years 1,