Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
Medical degrees differ from other undergraduate degrees in that they are professional qualifications that lead holders to enter a particular career upon receipt. This is not the case with most other undergraduate degrees, so whilst the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery are undergraduate or graduate degrees (depending on the institution), they are perhaps more accurately conceptualised as a so-called first professional degree. Other professions whose qualifications follow a similar pattern include:
Diploma of Higher Education
The Diploma certifies that a student has achieved a minimum standard for 2nd Year courses in science and liberal arts. If a student is undertaking a full Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma of Higher Education marks two-thirds of their undergraduate degree. Thus allowing the British Diploma to rank ahead of the American Associate of Arts (which in American parlance is a two-year undergraduate, or half of a BA/BS). That being said, American universities generally consider UK Diplomas equivalent to a college level Associate of Arts even though a British student typically holds more credit hours (and therefore more study time) in the arts, humanities and/or sciences.