Train as a Doctor for the Country That Needs You Most
Accreditation status: This programme has been developed by LUE in accordance with Eswatini Higher Education Council (ESHEC) Programme Approval Standards and is being submitted to ESHEC for accreditation. As a professional medical degree, the MBBS additionally requires endorsement by the relevant national medical regulatory body prior to final ESHEC accreditation. Prospective applicants should confirm the current accreditation and regulatory-endorsement status of this programme with LUE’s Admissions Office before enrolling.
Eswatini’s physician density is approximately 0.10–0.14 per 1,000 population — among the lowest in the world. The Ministry of Health’s own 2023 Health Labour Market Analysis found that existing supply meets only 48.1% of documented health-workforce need, with the largest gaps among physicians and specialists, while 41% of the existing health workforce intends to migrate.
The University of Eswatini does not offer a medicine programme, so Emaswati citizens wishing to become doctors must currently train abroad. LUE’s Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) is designed to change that: a five-year, ESQF Level 8 professional degree producing safe, competent, ethical physicians for Eswatini’s health system.
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
5 Years (10 Semesters): a 2-Year Foundation Sciences Phase and a 3-Year Clinical Clerkship Phase
600 credits
Level 8 — Professional Degree (Bachelor’s Degree with Honours-equivalent professional exit)
Full-Time, Campus Learning with Clinical Placements
30 modules across 5 years
Three full years of whole-year clinical clerkship rotations (Years 3, 4 and 5), including two Elective Clinical Attachments and a Year 5 Research Project/Dissertation
Awarded as a single integrated professional qualification (Pass/Fail progression per level), not a classified Pass/Merit/Distinction degree — consistent with international practice for first professional medical degrees
Responds directly to one of the most severe, best-documented physician shortages in the world — your qualification addresses a need the country’s own Ministry of Health has explicitly quantified.
A curriculum contextualised throughout to Eswatini’s specific disease burden: the world’s highest adult HIV prevalence, high-burden tuberculosis status, and non-communicable diseases causing 46% of deaths.
Benchmarked against the University of Botswana, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine) and the University of the Witwatersrand, so your qualification is built to travel.
Three full years of clinical clerkship (Years 3–5) mean you graduate having actually managed patients across every major discipline of medicine, not just studied theory.
A dedicated Family Medicine and Rural Health Practicum directly addresses Eswatini’s documented rural health-workforce maldistribution.
Human anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, pathology, microbiology, immunology and pharmacology, integrated system-by-system in Year 2 (cardiovascular/respiratory, GI/hepatobiliary/renal, endocrine/reproductive, nervous/musculoskeletal/haematological).
Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Orthopaedics and Trauma, and Accident and Emergency Medicine — each built across progressive I/II/III rotations of increasing responsibility.
Community and Family Medicine I & II and a capstone Family Medicine and Rural Health Practicum connect your clinical training directly to Eswatini’s rural health-workforce needs.
Research Methodology, Biostatistics, Medical Ethics and Law (Year 2), followed by a full Research Project/Dissertation with oral defence in your Final Year.
600 credits over 5 years: a 2-year Foundation Sciences Phase (biomedical sciences), followed by a 3-year Clinical Clerkship Phase (Junior Clerkship, Senior Clerkship and Final Year) of progressively increasing clinical responsibility.
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Human Anatomy I: Head, Neck and Thorax | 20 cr. |
| Human Physiology I: Cell, Nerve, Muscle and Cardiovascular Physiology | 15 cr. |
| Biochemistry I: Metabolism and Bioenergetics | 15 cr. |
| Introduction to Medicine, Professionalism and Communication Skills | 10 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Human Anatomy II: Abdomen, Pelvis, Limbs and Neuroanatomy | 20 cr. |
| Human Physiology II: Respiratory, Renal, GI and Endocrine Physiology | 15 cr. |
| Medical Genetics and Embryology | 10 cr. |
| Behavioural Sciences, Community Health and Epidemiology | 15 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| General Pathology | 15 cr. |
| General Microbiology and Immunology | 15 cr. |
| General Pharmacology | 15 cr. |
| Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems | 15 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary and Renal Systems | 15 cr. |
| Endocrine and Reproductive System | 15 cr. |
| Nervous System, Special Senses, Musculoskeletal System and Haematology | 15 cr. |
| Research Methodology, Biostatistics, Medical Ethics and Law | 15 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Clinical Skills | 10 cr. |
| Internal Medicine I | 20 cr. |
| General Surgery I | 20 cr. |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology I | 15 cr. |
| Paediatrics I | 15 cr. |
| Psychiatry and Behavioural Medicine | 15 cr. |
| Community and Family Medicine I | 15 cr. |
| Elective/Selective Clinical Attachment I | 10 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Internal Medicine II | 20 cr. |
| General Surgery II | 20 cr. |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology II | 15 cr. |
| Paediatrics II | 15 cr. |
| Orthopaedics and Trauma | 15 cr. |
| Community and Family Medicine II | 15 cr. |
| Elective Clinical Posting II | 10 cr. |
| Clinical Pharmacotherapeutics | 10 cr. |
| Module | Credits |
|---|---|
| Internal Medicine III | 15 cr. |
| General Surgery III | 15 cr. |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology III | 10 cr. |
| Paediatrics III | 10 cr. |
| Accident and Emergency Medicine | 15 cr. |
| Orthopaedics II | 10 cr. |
| Psychiatry II | 10 cr. |
| Family Medicine and Rural Health Practicum | 15 cr. |
| Research Project / Dissertation | 20 cr. |
Full Course Learning Outcomes, learning focus and reading lists for every module are available in LUE’s MBBS Detailed Course Outlines, available on request from the Admissions Office.
MBBS graduates are prepared for medical practice across Eswatini and the SADC region:
Applicants who do not yet hold the required A-Level qualifications may apply via LUE’s Certificate in Pre-Admission Health Sciences (Foundation) — a one-year bridging programme covering the Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics prerequisites shared by the MBBS and BDS/BCh.D programmes.
Mature learners with relevant health-science, clinical or health-technology experience may apply via LUE’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process, which may not constitute more than 10% of the annual intake.
Applications are considered by LUE’s Admissions Committee, and successful applicants receive a formal offer of a place, conditional upon final confirmation of qualifications, EQA equivalence (for international qualifications), and ESHEC accreditation and medical-regulatory-body endorsement status at the time of enrolment.
Every module is assessed through a combination of written examinations, OSCE/OSPE practical examinations and, in the clinical clerkship years, direct clinical (long/short case) examination, moderated internally and, for the Research Project/Dissertation, externally examined with an oral defence.
As the MBBS is awarded as a single integrated professional qualification rather than a classified (Pass/Merit/Distinction) Bachelor’s degree, progression is governed by a Pass Requirement at each level rather than a final degree classification — consistent with international practice for first professional medical degrees.
Awarded as a single integrated professional qualification (Pass/Fail progression per level), not a classified Pass/Merit/Distinction degree — consistent with international practice for first professional medical degrees.
The MBBS is a five-year (10-semester), full-time professional degree worth 600 credits at ESQF Level 8: a 2-year Foundation Sciences Phase followed by a 3-year Clinical Clerkship Phase, with campus learning and clinical placements.
Applicants who do not yet hold the required A-Level qualifications may apply via LUE’s Certificate in Pre-Admission Health Sciences (Foundation) — a one-year bridging programme covering the Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics prerequisites shared by the MBBS and BDS/BCh.D programmes.
Mature learners with relevant health-science, clinical or health-technology experience may apply via LUE’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process, which may not constitute more than 10% of the annual intake.
This programme has been developed by LUE in accordance with Eswatini Higher Education Council (ESHEC) Programme Approval Standards and is being submitted to ESHEC for accreditation. As a professional medical degree, the MBBS additionally requires endorsement by the relevant national medical regulatory body prior to final ESHEC accreditation. Prospective applicants should confirm the current accreditation and regulatory-endorsement status of this programme with LUE’s Admissions Office before enrolling.
Three full years of whole-year clinical clerkship rotations (Years 3, 4 and 5), including two Elective Clinical Attachments, a Family Medicine and Rural Health Practicum and a Year 5 Research Project/Dissertation.
MBBS graduates are prepared for medical practice across Eswatini and the SADC region:
Every module is assessed through a combination of written examinations, OSCE/OSPE practical examinations and, in the clinical clerkship years, direct clinical (long/short case) examination, moderated internally and, for the Research Project/Dissertation, externally examined with an oral defence.
As the MBBS is awarded as a single integrated professional qualification rather than a classified (Pass/Merit/Distinction) Bachelor’s degree, progression is governed by a Pass Requirement at each level rather than a final degree classification — consistent with international practice for first professional medical degrees.
Applications are considered by LUE’s Admissions Committee, and successful applicants receive a formal offer of a place, conditional upon final confirmation of qualifications, EQA equivalence (for international qualifications), and ESHEC accreditation and medical-regulatory-body endorsement status at the time of enrolment.
Have a question about this programme? Send us your details and the LUE Admissions Office will get back to you.
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Contact the LUE Admissions Office for the application form and to confirm the programme’s accreditation and regulatory-endorsement status before you apply.
