1. The degree of Doctor of Medicine may be awarded by the Senate to candidates who, to the satisfaction of the School of Medicine, have successfully pursued a programme of registered study as described in the following regulations and have fulfilled any other University requirements. (See Note 1.)
   

2. Candidates must hold a medical qualification which is recognised by the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom, and must have held this qualification for at least three years by the date of submission of the thesis or published works.
   
   
3. In addition, candidates must be employed during their period of registered study in appropriate clinical or scientific work in hospitals or institutions associated with the School of Medicine.
   

4. The candidate's application, proposed area of research, and programme of study must be approved by the School of Medicine. Candidates will be registered in the School of Medicine.
   
   
5. In approving candidature, the School shall state the effective starting date, which shall not normally be backdated by more than 3 months.
   
   
6. The programme of study shall be one of part-time study and research for a minimum period of twenty-four months and a maximum period of forty-eight months. A candidate who fails to submit a thesis by the end of the maximum period of study shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the programme. This time limit may be extended by Senate on the recommendation of the School in special circumstances.
   
   
7. A candidate will be expected to take part in a programme of graduate studies, including lectures, seminars and associated assessments, to the satisfaction of the Head of the candidate's Research Group or Division.
   

Supervision

8. Every candidate shall be allocated to supervisors by the School on the recommendation of the candidate's Head of Research Group or Division. The supervisors will be responsible for the supervision of the design and progress of the candidate's research project, for providing academic advice to the candidate, and will report on the candidate's work and progress when requested to do so by the School.
   
   
9. In addition, the School may approve arrangements for an individual candidate to receive supervision jointly by the University and the clinical institution where the candidate is undertaking his/her research.
   

10. The School may at any time review the progress of an individual candidate. If this is unsatisfactory and if, after due warning, there is insufficient improvement, the School may recommend termination of candidature to Senate. The candidate may appeal against the decision by using the procedure set out in the General Regulations.
    
    
11. Candidates registering for the degree of DM may apply to transfer to MPhil or PhD registration after at least one year of part-time registered study. Transfer to PhD registration should occur not less than six months before submission of the PhD thesis. Time already spent in candidature for the DM will count towards the period of study required for the MPhil or PhD.
    

12. Candidates for the DM degree must continue in registration for the degree until such time as they submit their thesis or withdraw, except that the School may, on the recommendation of the Head of Research Group or Division, permit temporary suspension of candidature. Periods of temporary suspension shall not count towards the maximum period of study.
    
    
13. If, having completed not less than two years part-time registered study, the candidate ceases to receive supervision, the School may allow transfer to nominal registration for a period not exceeding twelve months in the first instance. A candidate wishing to extend the period of nominal registration beyond twelve months must apply in writing to the School of Medicine Director of Postgraduate Studies. Periods of nominal registration count towards the maximum period of study.
    
    
14. Candidates shall pay the fee prescribed in the Fees Regulations if still in nominal registration after six months have elapsed from the date of transfer.
    

15. Exceptionally, candidates may apply for the award of the DM degree without having pursued a programme of registered study, as follows:
    
    
    1. Southampton graduates not employed in hospitals or institutions associated with the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences may apply to submit a thesis for examination without registering as a student of the University if they can provide evidence that they have tried unsuccessfully to submit for the degree at their local university.
       
       
    2. Any graduates who hold a Consultant or equivalent position, or who work in General Practice, may apply for the award of the degree by submission of published works. Such works should be broadly comparable to a DM thesis, as specified in regulation 18 below. The normal requirement would be a minimum of four peer-reviewed papers in respected journals, which form a coherent body of work.
       
       
    3. The published material should be bound together with an abstract and a supporting statement indicating the candidate’s aims, the nature of the research, and the contributions to it of the works submitted. Where published papers from different sources are included, the candidate must provide a separate introduction, which links the material and demonstrates the nature and extent of his/her original contribution. If the published work is already in book form, the abstract and supporting statement must be bound.
       
       
    4. If the candidate incorporates material which has been produced in collaboration with others, a written statement should be included, indicating the share the candidate personally took in the work.
       
       
16. Such candidates will not be allocated a supervisor but will be allocated an advisor who will provide informal guidance during the preparation of the candidate’s thesis or published works. The proposed area of research must be approved by the School normally at least one year before submission of the thesis.
    

17. Regulations applying to the degree of PhD shall also apply to candidates for the degree of DM.
    

18. The degree of Doctor of Medicine denotes high professional standing and good competence as evidenced by high quality clinically oriented or biomedical research. Candidates must provide evidence that they have mastered a special field within the broad remit of clinical medicine or surgery, or more basic science as it relates to those areas. The scientific and research methods employed by the candidate must be validated. The work should be of a standard that might reasonably be expected from a candidate who has spent at least two years in part-time research.
    
    
19. For each candidate an internal and external examiner shall be appointed to examine the thesis. The supervisor may not be appointed as an examiner.
    
    
20. Candidates for the DM will normally be required to attend for an oral examination.
    
    
21. The examiners for each candidate shall recommend one of the following courses of action:
    
    
    1. that the degree of DM be awarded;
       
       
    2. that the degree of DM be awarded subject to minor amendments to the thesis being made by a date specified (minor amendments include: minor omissions of substance, typographical errors, occasional stylistic or grammatical flaws, corrections to references, addition/modification of one or two figures, and minor changes to layout, and require no new research. These changes need only be certified by the internal examiner). The date specified for the submission of such minor amendments should normally be no later than a month after the formal notification to the candidate;
       
       
    3. that the degree of DM be awarded subject to the correction of modest errors/omissions of substance being made, by a date specified (the procedure for re-examination of the thesis should be clearly specified in the report). Such amendments may require limited further analysis but will not affect the originality of the central thesis. They will be of a scale to require certification by both the internal and external examiners, though normally not so extensive that an oral is required. The date specified for the submission of such intermediate amendments should normally be no later than six months after the formal notification to the candidate.
       
       
    4. that the candidate be required to attend for a further oral examination;
       
       
    5. that the candidate be permitted to submit by a date specified a revised thesis for the same degree for re-examination on one subsequent occasion. The date specified for submission of the revised thesis should normally be no later than twelve months after the formal notification to the candidate.
       
       
    6. that the degree be not awarded and that resubmission of the thesis be not permitted.
       
       
22. A candidate who fails to submit a corrected or revised thesis by the date set by the examiners shall normally be regarded as having failed the examination and the recommendations of the examiners shall lapse.
    
    
23. Where the examiners recommend that the degree not be awarded and that submission of a revised thesis be not permitted, the candidate may ask for the case to be reviewed in accordance with the procedures laid down by Senate. A copy of the procedures may be obtained from the School of Medicine Research Administrator.
    

1. Exceptionally, candidates may apply for the award of the degree without registering as students of the University following submission and examination of a thesis or published works (see Regulations 15 and 16).