Clinical Medicine and Surgery Course Requirements has been designed to recognize that its graduands will have a strong clinical and community health knowledge in order to provide health care that will integrate curative and preventive health care.

If you missed to join Medicine at a degree level, do not worry. Clinical Medicine and Surgery course is close to it. It is one of the most popular courses, not only in Kenya, but even in the developed countries, like America where it has over 200,000 of them, Kenya has over 20,000.

Clinical Medicine and Surgery

Clinical Officers are involved in proactively managing preventative care, reaching out to patients to ensure they get recommended tests and follow up interventions.

Their major functions include; provision of curative, promotive and rehabilitative services, management of health services, and participation in health education to the public, act as catalysts of change in ensuring community is healthy for national growth, liaising with community leaders in increasing community participation in preventive health care.

You can choose to specialize later in Pediatrics’, ENT, Anesthesia, Ophthalmology, Lung and Skin, Orthopaedic, Mental Health, among others; or proceed for a degree in Clinical Medicine and thereafter proceed for a Master’s Degree. The doors are now open for you.

Clinical Medicine and Surgery Course Requirements

For admission at KMTC to pursue a diploma in clinical medicine you require the following qualification.

KCSE mean grade of C plain with a C in English or Kiswahili, and C in Biology/Biological Science, C- in Chemistry/Physical Science. C- in any one of the following: Mathematics, Physics/Physical Sciences.

These requirements apply when registering for a Diploma in the course in all other institutions including approved medical schools.

COURSE DURATION: 3 years.

Clinical Medicine and Surgery Fee requirements

The fees for each level of the course vary and also differ per each institution you choose.

In most colleges and universities the tuition fees for a Diploma in medicine and surgery start at around Kshs. 60,000 to 85,000 per semester. Please note that this doesn’t include administrative fees, upkeep, hostel, examinations, and all other charges. This fee is for self-sponsored students which means if you are admitted through KUCCPS then your fee will be subsidized.

Before committing to any institution please inquire about the fees and other charges to be aware of all payment requirements.

Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of the programme, a graduate of the Diploma in Clinical Medicine program is expected to:

Practice professional values, behavior and ethics.
Demonstrate a clear understanding of scientific foundation of medicine.
Practice clinical skills.
Handle issues related to population health and health systems.
Demonstrate skills for management of information essential for policy decisions, planning and implementation of activities and programs in the health sector.
Apply critical thinking and research to solve problems in health-related issues.
Apply leadership and management skills in varying and diverse circumstances.

Clinical Medicine and Surgery Units

For a student pursuing a diploma in medicine in a Kenya institution, these are some of the units that they are required to cover.

This list is specifically for a Diploma in KMTC but the units are almost similar in all other institutions since they are guided and regulated by the Clinical Officers Council (COC).

The units are as follows per year and semester.

Year 1, Semester 1 units

Clinical Methods I
Medical Parasitology & Laboratory Techniques I
Medical Microbiology I
Medical Biochemistry I
Examination Module Year 1 sem 1
Community Health I
Pharmacology & Therapeutics I
General Pathology I
Human Anatomy 1

Year1, Semester 2 units

Clinical Methods II
Medical Physiology II
Human Anatomy II
First Aid
Pharmacology & Therapeutics II
Medical Biochemistry II
General Pathology II
Medical
Microbiology II
Medical Parasitology & Laboratory Techniques II
Examination Module Year 1 sem II
Community Health II
Behavioural Sciences

Year 2, Semester 1 units

Clinical Pathology I
Medicine I
Reproductive Health I
Surgery I
Paediatrics and Child
Health I
Pharmacology &
Therapeutics III
Health Statistics
Examination Module Year 2 sem 1

Year 2, Semester 2 units

Clinical Placement IV
Clinical Pathology II
Medicine II
Reproductive Health II
Surgery II
Pediatrics and Child
Health II
Community Health III
Pharmacology and
Therapeutics IV
Health System
Management II

Year 3, Semester 1 C.O units

Rural Attachment
Community Health IV
Special Units
HEALTH SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT III
Medicine III
Reproductive Health III
Surgery III
Paediatrics and Child
Health III
Examination Module year 3 sem 1

Year 3, Semester 2 units

Community Health VI
Health Services Management (Entrepreneurship)
Medicine IV
Reproductive Health IV
Surgery IV
Paediatrics and Child Health IV
Research II
Examination Module

Course Specialization Areas

Some of the areas that students can specialize in later by doing a higher diploma or undergraduate on include the following.

Pediatrics
Ophthalmology and Cataract Surgery
Dermatology and Venereology
Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) and Neck Surgery
Anesthesia
Mental Health and Psychiatry
Ophthalmology Advanced Refraction and Low Vision
Oncology and Palliative care
Emergency and Critical Care Medicine
Orthopaedics
General Ophthalmology

Those interested in becoming a Medical Officer (MO) can get credit transfer from some universities although it is not guaranteed.

Some will require you to start from 1st year for 6 years even if you have a diploma in clinical medicine. Contact the institution for more details.

Job Opportunities and Salary

For a diploma, the main employer of CO in Kenya is the county and central government. Other places where you can secure employment include.

Leaning institutions (technical colleges, secondary schools, etc)
Churches and missionary hospitals
Private hospitals
Insurance companies
Trainer in a learning institution

The average salary of a graduate with a Diploma in medicine can vary widely depending on the employers. The salary can range from Kshs. 40,000 to above 150,000 if you have specialized.

Colleges and universities offering clinical medicine and surgery in Kenya

For any learning institution to offer the course, it should be registered and accredited by the Clinical Officers Council (COC). The COC ensures the institution meets its standard for training the course.

As you register in any learning institution ensure it is registered otherwise when you finish the course the COC will not register you to practice as a clinical office in Kenya.

Some of the main colleges and universities accredited for the course are: