As of April 2017[update] there are nine recognized medical schools in Uganda.
Admission to medical school in Uganda requires the candidate to have attained the pre-requisite minimum score on the A-level national examinations leading to the award of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education or UACE, administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). Proficiency in Biology or Zoology, Chemistry and Physics at A-level standards are requirements for entry into Ugandan medical schools.
Training leading to the award of the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) lasts five (5) years, if there are no re-takes.
There is a major examination after the first year. If the candidate does not pass, the candidate will repeat first year. Another major examination is given after second year. A failing candidate will have to repeat second year. After each clinical rotation, the candidate is examined and failing candidates are required to repeat that rotation during the next vacation period.
The last major examination is the final 5th Year MBChB examination. This is divided into three parts:
The final year clinical examinations in each of the four clinical disciplines are attended by an "External Examiner", often a professor of International or Regional repute, from a foreign medical school. The examiners arrange it so that the excelling students and those who are on the verge of failing are seen by the External Examiner in at least one of the clinical face-to-face encounters. So if you are a candidate and you go before the "External Examiner", it usually means that you are either excelling in your field or you are on the verge of failing that subject.
After successfully passing the final 5th year examinations, one is awarded the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB). A year of internship in a hospital designated for that purpose, under the supervision of a specialist in that discipline is required before an unrestricted license to practice medicine and surgery is granted by the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council. Six months of the internship must be spent in a medical discipline (either Internal Medicine or Pediatrics) and another six months in a surgical discipline (either Surgery or Obstetrics and Gynecology).