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King’s College London (KCL) has launched a fast-track medical degree to allow pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to train to become doctors.

Applications for the four-year Healthcare Entry Medicine (HEM) programme open in September and is for graduates who have at least two years’ experience working “in patient-facing healthcare”, according to KCL. The first students will enrol in 2026.

KCL said the programme, which is accredited by the General Medical Council, will adapt “some of the early clinical elements of a conventional medical degree to achieve qualification in four rather than five or six years”.

Placements are available at more than 350 GP practices as well as district hospitals in the South of England and the programme will focus on foundational bioscience and population health.

Entry requirements include a minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree or international equivalent in a healthcare profession such as nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, pharmacy or dentistry.

Applicants will need to pass the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) before applying for the programme.

“Both year one and two bring together science and clinical practice in blocks organised around the human life cycle and common pathological processes,” KCL said.

“(Students) will focus on the care of patients with common conditions in a range of clinical settings. (Students) will also follow patients for prolonged periods of time to learn how to deliver whole-person care. This part of the programme is underpinned by study in biomedical and population sciences.

“Years three and four are oriented towards future practice and include the opportunity to undertake elective study abroad. For these two years, (students) will follow the same programme as all our other medical students.

“(They) will also conduct quality improvement projects and develop skills to transform patient and population health globally.”