Module manager: Andrew Hill
Email: a.j.hill@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
Compulsory strand of MBChB programme- all students study Individuals & Populations on entry to the programme.
| MEDI1213 | Research, Evaluation and Special Studies 1 |
| MEDI1214 | Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Leadership and Safety 1 |
| MEDI1215 | Campus to Clinic 1 |
| MEDI1216 | Introduction to Medical Sciences |
| MEDI1218 | RESS 1 Special Studies Project |
| MEDI1220 | Body Systems |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Individuals and populations spans two years of the course to provide an understanding about health and illness within and across populations. It has a focus on human experience and behaviour in health and illness, and the ways in which people and societies organise themselves to deal with the consequences of illness. It aims to provide a broadening view of health and illness, including mental health: from individual and social views, acknowledging the structural features of society, to a public health perspective.
By the end of Year 1 students will be able to:
- show a basic knowledge of human psychological capacities and functioning;
- give examples of how psychological and sociological principles are used to understand medical problems;
- describe how social background and social structure influence health and illness in a community;
- relate aspects of patient's experiences to core course concepts;
- demonstrate maturity and sensitivity in presentations of the impact that illness has on people's lives.
By the end of the unit students will have basic knowledge of:
- human psychological capacities and functioning;
- how social background and social structure influence health and illness;
- how patient experience may be viewed within a wider theoretical context.
To equip students to demonstrate maturity and sensitivity in presentations of the impact that illness has on people's lives.
- Understanding psychological concepts: Human development - including attachment, gender, cognition, language, and parenting; perception; consciousness; sleep; memory; associative learning; stress and coping; understanding pain; self and social cognition; and social behaviour. Concurrent project work will be on HIV. This encompasses individual, community and public health issues, and includes health promotion.
- Psychological and social sciences in health and illness: Social inequalities and health; understanding disability; lay beliefs and lifestyles; health behaviours and treatment decisions; behaviour change; illness behaviours; doctor's behaviour and decisions; emotion and mental health; psychological disorder (with focus on mood disorder, dementia, self-harm and anxiety disorders). Concurrent project work will be on the experience of illness, quality of life and health care needs of people with a long-term condition such as a chronic illness or disability.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group learning | 18 | 2 | 34 |
| Lecture | 26 | 1 | 26 |
| Private study hours | 18 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 60 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 78 | ||
9 x 2 hours project work
Student progress will be monitored through attendance and contribution to sessions and through completion of the assessment for progression tasks which provide formative feedback from tutors and peers. Assessment for progression are the 2 group project presentations in Terms 1 and 2.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Project | HIV project presentation - non-graded pass | 50 |
| Project | LTHC project presentation – non-graded pass | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
All assessments are pass/fail. There is no compensation available between assessments. Resits will be bespoke essays with titles that reflect the project content.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 27/08/2025
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