Keele University Medical School

Infobox University
name =Keele University Medical School


motto =
established =1978
type =Medical school
staff =80
dean =Richard Hays
students =400
undergrad =
postgrad =
city =Keele, Stoke-on-Trent & Shrewsbury
country =England
affiliations =Keele University
website =http://www.keele.ac.uk/medicine

Keele University Medical School is the medical school of Keele University, Staffordshire, England. The pre-clinical course is taught on the Keele University campus in Newcastle-under-Lyme and the clinical course is mainly taught within the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, and at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Shrewsbury. Medical students are also attached to District General hospitals in Stafford, Shrewsbury and Telford, as well as general practices in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area. The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shrewsbury became an associated teaching hospital in 2007. As of 2008 the school accepts 130 British medical students per year and an additional 10 students from overseas making Keele the smallest 5 year medical school in the UK in terms of student numbers cite web|url=http://www.study-medicine.co.uk/index.php?pageid=stats|title=www.study-medicine.co.uk British Medical School Statistics|publisher=Study-medicine.co.uk|accessdate=2008-09-08] .

History

The Royal Commission on Medical Education (1965-68) issued its report (popularly known as the "Todd Report") in 1968 on the state of medical education in the United Kingdom. The Commission estimated that by 1994 there would be a need to train more than 4500 doctors a year for the United Kingdom, and that this would need to be achieved by both increasing the numbers of medical students at existing medical schools, and by establishing a number of new medical schools. It recommended that new medical schools should be immediately established at the Universities of Nottingham, Southampton and Leicester, but that this would still not produce enough doctors. It considered the possibility of medical schools being established at Keele University, Hull University, Warwick University and University College, Swansea (now "University of Wales Swansea"). It was generally considered that North Staffordshire would be a very good site for a new medical school, having a large local population and several large hospitals. However, it was considered that a minimum intake of 150 students a year would be necessary to make the medical school economically and educationally viable, and it was considered that Keele University was at that time too small an institution to be able to support a medical school of this size. However, it was recommended that the hospital rebuilding programme, which was going on at that time, should take into account the possible future establishment of a medical school in North Staffordshire, and the Commission envisaged that a medical school would be established at Keele University sometime between 1975 and 1990.

In 1978, Keele Department of Postgraduate Medicine opened. This department conducted medical research, and played a part in postgraduate medical education, but did not teach undergraduate medical students.

In 2002, over 30 years after the publication of the Todd Report, the current medical school was founded, teaching clinical undergraduate medicine to clinical medical students who had completed their pre-clinical medical education at either Manchester Medical School (University of Manchester) or the Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews). These students followed the curriculum of the Manchester Medical School clinical course, and after three years of clinical study at Keele University Medical School, were awarded the degrees of M.B, Ch.B. by The University of Manchester.

In 2003, Keele University Medical School started teaching the "pre-clinical" part of the medical course (years 1 and 2), using the Manchester curriculum. Therefore, both pre-clinical and clinical medical education is now being undertaken in North Staffordshire, and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital joined Keele as an associated teaching hospital in 2007.

Keele is now in the process of forming its own undergraduate medical curriculum. Implementation of this (expected around 2007) will liberate the medical school from Manchester University. Graduates will then receive a medical degree from Keele University.

Keele University Medical School continued to take clinical students who had completed their pre-clinical medical education at Manchester Medical School (University of Manchester} or the Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews) until recently. The final group of students from mixed pre-clinical backgrounds started year 3 of the course in 2005.

The first cohort of students that completed their clinical studies at Keele did so in 2005. From 2006, applicants have been required to sit the UKCAT admission test. Information about the test and preparation can be found at the [http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/ UKCAT website] .

Keele University Medical School today

Pre-clinical teaching (years 1-2) takes place on Keele University campus, whilst clinical teaching (years 3-5) takes place in the University Hospital of North Staffordshire site, in Hartshill. Teaching at Keele also involves attachments at District General hospitals in Stafford, Shrewsbury and Telford, as well as attachments to General Practitioners (GP) in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area.

Keele medical students formed the Keele Medics Society (KMS) in 2005. This organisation aims to represent students and promote social inclusion.

External links

* [http://www.keelemedics.co.uk Keele Medics Society]
* [http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/ UKCAT website]

ee also

* Medical education in the United Kingdom

References