Disclaimer:

Applicable to all MLA exams and assessments taken from September 2026 onwards. 

Updated MLA content map (applies from September 2026)

Domain 1: Areas of clinical practice

This domain focuses on the context of care delivery, encompassing a range of specialties, body systems and patient types. It reflects the complexity of medical practice and the diverse care settings and patient scenarios that doctors are likely to encounter during the UK Foundation Programme.

Holistic patient care requires collaborative, multiprofessional and multidisciplinary management. Rather than serving as a rigid categorisation of specialties, this domain provides a guide to understanding the broader landscape of medical care.

Some areas in this domain include descriptors to offer additional context about what each heading covers. These descriptors are intended to guide understanding and should not be viewed as exhaustive or limiting in scope.

Areas of clinical practice

Acute and emergency

  • Includes clinical toxicology and intensive care medicine

Cancer

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Cardiovascular

  • Includes cardiac and vascular surgery

Child health

  • Includes infants, children, young people and transition into adult care

Clinical haematology

  • Includes blood and blood product transfusion

Clinical imaging

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Dermatology

  • Includes burns

Ear, nose and throat

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Endocrine, diabetes and metabolic

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Gastrointestinal (GI)

  • Includes hepatology, upper and lower GI tract surgery, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery

General practice and primary healthcare

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Infection

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Medicine of the older adult

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Mental health

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Musculoskeletal

  • Includes trauma, orthopaedics and rheumatology

Neurosciences

  • Includes neurosurgery

Obstetrics and gynaecology

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Ophthalmology

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Palliative and end of life care

  • Includes pain management

Perioperative medicine and anaesthesia

  • Includes pain management

Renal and urology

Recognised area of clinical practice.

Respiratory

  • Includes thoracic surgery

Sexual health

  • Includes reproductive health, infection prevention and treatment, and sexual well-being

Surgery

  • Includes general, plastic, breast, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and transplantation