The practice of Medicine offers a breadth of experiences that it is impossible to find in any other subject. Every day brings different patients with different needs. It's a great choice for scientists who strive to understand and apply research findings to improve the lives of the patients in their care. It offers a meaningful career that is prestigious, secure and relatively well paid. However, practising Medicine can be arduous, stressful, frustrating and bureaucratic and it’s not suited to everyone. You need to be sure that Medicine is the right choice for you. These pages will help you work that out, but there's no better way to find out for sure than by gaining insight of medical practice by seeing it in action and talking to those who provide healthcare. Studying Medicine because that is what is expected of you is never a good idea: make sure that your motives for choosing to do so are well reasoned. Medicine has been studied at Oxford from as early as the 14th century, although a Clinical School was established as recently as 1936 by a benefaction from Lord Nuffield for postgraduate teaching and research. Clinical student training started during the Second World War when medical students were evacuated from London. Today, the Medicine course at Oxford provides a well-rounded intellectual training with particular emphasis on the basic science research that underpins medicine. We have retained a distinct three-year pre-clinical stage that includes studying towards a BA Honours degree in Medical Sciences, followed by a three-year clinical stage. Although the Medical School at Oxford has expanded in recent times, it remains relatively small, allowing students and staff to get to know one another and benefit from a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.