The FACULTY BOARD OF BIOLOGY beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. In this Report the Faculty Board of Biology propose the abolition of Part II of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (MVST). This proposal will not reduce the choice of subjects available to medical and veterinary students at Part II, but is a rationalization of Part II teaching in the Faculty.
2. Part II of the MVST was introduced in October 1976 (Reporter, 1975-76, p. 184) in response to a perceived need to 'improve the opportunities for study available to medical students in their third year'. After nearly thirty years, and in the light of changes to the medical and veterinary curriculum and of the increasing pressure on resources, the Faculty Board of Biology have reviewed the requirements for such a course.
3. Following this review, the Faculty Board of Biology recommend that MVST Part II be abolished and replaced by a new subject in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) called Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS). Putting all Part II provision of the Faculty of Biology under the single umbrella of the Natural Science Tripos will simplify course management, examination, and reporting, and allow resources to be focused on delivery. The establishment of this course is the subject of a separate Report from the Strategic Committee for the Natural Sciences Tripos (Reporter, p. 54).
4. When it was first established, Part II of the MVST included a number of subjects specifically designed for medical students. The course has continued to evolve since that time, and now no longer includes courses exclusively for medical and veterinary students. It has become a somewhat artificial construct where the vast majority of papers are borrowed from subjects in the biological sciences in Part II of the NST.
5. One of the great strengths of the Cambridge pre-clinical course is the emphasis on the scientific principles of medicine, and it is important for Cambridge to emphasize this by demonstrating to external bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons that our medical and veterinary students graduate with a scientific degree. All medical and veterinary students obtain their professional requirements (Second M.B. and Second Vet.M.B. Examinations) by taking Part IA and Part IB of the MVST, and the third year is, in effect, the equivalent of the intercalated B.Sc. Degree course offered elsewhere. Between 60 and 65% of medical and veterinary students currently study a subject within Part II of the NST in their third year, with 30% (100-110 students) reading Part II of the MVST, and the remaining 5% taking a Part II from another Tripos. The Faculty Board believe that the two elements of pre-clinical study will be further differentiated, and the scientific nature of Part II emphasized, when the MVST contains only Parts IA and IB, and all students progress to the B.A. Degree via another Tripos.
6. At present, students taking essentially the same papers are assessed under different sets of rules, either NST or MVST. With the introduction of the proposed new subject BBS in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos, it is not sensible, either on academic or on resource grounds, for there to be two distinct routes of academic progression utilizing the same courses and assessment, but being classed by different Examiners. The arguments in favour of the new course are presented in the Report of the Strategic Committee for the Natural Sciences Tripos that establishes the course, and are not rehearsed here.
7. As a result of the proposal to abolish Part II of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos, the Faculty Board have agreed to delete the supplementary regulations for Part II (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 329) with effect from 1 October 2005.
8. The Faculty Board recommend:
I. That the regulations for the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 323) be amended, with effect from 1 October 2005, as follows:
Regulation 1.
By amending the regulation so as to read:
1. The Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos shall consist of two Parts: Part IA and Part IB.
Regulation 4.
By deleting this regulation and renumbering subsequent regulations, and amending cross-references accordingly.
Regulation 8.
By replacing in lines 2-3 the words 'Part IA, Part IB, and Part II' by the words 'Part IA and Part IB'.
Regulation 9.
By replacing in line 1 the word 'three' at each occurrence by the word 'two'.
Regulation 10.
By amending the second paragraph so as to read:
The Examiners shall be nominated by the Faculty Board of Biology.
Regulations 26-33.1
By deleting these regulations.
II. That, with effect from the same date, Regulation 10 of the regulations for entries and lists of candidates for Examinations (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 202) be amended by deleting the reference to Part II of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos.
| 28 June 2004 | M. A. STANLEY, Chairman | H. J. FIELD | N. HOLMES |
| D. BAINBRIDGE | W. FOSTER | D. W. MACDONALD | |
| TOM BLUNDELL | J. S. GIBSON | P. A. MCNAUGHTON | |
| M. BURROWS | J. C. GRAY | T. W. ROBBINS | |
| G. J. BURTON | W. HARRIS | R. THOMAS | |
| R. H. S. CARPENTER | S. B. HLADKY |
1 The last regulation makes provision for students who have spent three terms studying diligently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be deemed to have obtained honours in Part II of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos. A similar provision in the regulations for the Natural Sciences Tripos permits such students to be deemed to have obtained honours in Part II of that Tripos.