Resources on Medical Schools in London

Medical Schools in London

Medical Schools

A medical school, or faculty of medicine, is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, which is involved in the education of future medical practitioners (medical doctors) as well as their accreditation to legally practice medicine. Medical schools teach subjects such as human anatomy, clinical practice, as well as many basic sciences.

The entry criteria, structure, teaching methodology and nature of medical programs offered at medical schools vary considerably around the world. Medical schools are often highly competitive, with medical schools accepting only a few number of applicants based primarily on test scores such as the MCAT or other standardized entrance examinations.
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Medical students
A person accepted into a medical school and enrolled in an educational program in medicine, with the goal of becoming a medical doctor, is referred to as a medical student. Medical students are generally considered to be at the earliest stage of the medical career pathway.

Medical students typically engage in both basic science and practical clinical coursework during their tenure in medical school. Generally, the first one to two years of training are devoted to the study of the basic sciences as they pertain to healthcare, including molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, human anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, and pathology. The remainder of a medical student's training is typically devoted to gaining direct clinical experience by participating in the care of patients in a hospital or clinic setting.

Excerpt from "Medical school." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Oct 2006, 20:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medical_school&oldid=84115305

Medical Education in the United Kingdom (UK)

In the United Kingdom, medical school generally refers to a department within a university which is involved in the education of future medical practitioners. All leading British medical schools are in the government sector and their core purpose is to train doctors on behalf of the National Health Service.

Admissions
In the United Kingdom students generally commence their medical studies without any preliminary higher education, typically at the age of eighteen or nineteen. This contrasts with the U.S. system, where a preliminary bachelor's degree is required for entry to medical school. Entry to British medical schools is very competitive. Courses last five or six years. The medical education itself takes five years, consisting of an aggregate of 2 years of preclinical training in an academic environment and three years of clinical training at a teaching hospital; the way these two elements are integrated varies between medical schools and is currently in a state of flux. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are closely integrated. The overall course of study is extended to six years if an intercalated degree is taken [....]

After successful completion of clinical training a student graduates as a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, usually abbreviated as 'MBChB' (at the universities of Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Keele, Manchester, Sheffield, and Warwick). It is also abbreviated as 'MBBS' for the universities of UEA, HYMS, London, and Newcastle; 'MBBCh' for Cardiff and Swansea; 'BMBCh' for Oxford, 'BMBS' for University of Nottingham, Peninsular Medical School and Brighton-Sussex, 'BM' for Southampton, and 'MBBChir' for Cambridge. Queen's University of Belfast gives the degree of 'MBBChBAO' (BAO is Bachelor of Obstetrics). The Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews) offers a pre-clinical BSc or BSc(Hons) with subsequent entry to Manchester or Keele for Clinical Teaching, and a Manchester MBChB (it is sometimes possible for entrants to negotiate transfer to another medical school for clinical training, such as Glasgow or Dundee).

Applications for entry into medical school (in common with other university courses) are made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. UCAS generally allows students to apply for up to six places at different universities, however applicants for medical school may use only four of these places for medical courses, the remaining two must be left blank or be used to apply for non-medical courses, with many students applying for courses in biomedical science, medical genetics etc. as insurance options. Many UK medical schools now also require applicants to sit additional entrance tests such as the UKCAT which is a computerised test taken in special test centres. More information can be found about UKCAT at UKCAT

Other primary medical qualifications registrable with the General Medical Council exist in the UK, some of which have only recently become defunct, and many people in the UK still practising medicine have these qualifications. These include the 'LMSSA' (the licentiate in Medicine and Surgery of the Society of Apothecaries), the 'LRCP, MRCS' (conjoint diploma of the London Royal Colleges) and the 'LRCPE, LRCSE, LRCPSG' (the 'Scottish Triple Diploma', given by the Royal Colleges in Glasgow and Edinburgh). Course structure
Traditionally the delivery of medical education has been divided into two distinct styles. Problem-based learning (PBL) aims to develop a mature and self-sufficient style of learning by encouraging students to work in groups on solving clinical scenarios with little factual input from tutors in the form of lectures. Some people have criticised PBL courses (whether rightly or wrongly) for providing too little support for students, the lack of interaction between teacher and student meaning problems (academic or pastoral) can go unnoticed for a long time [1], however, others suggest that PBL courses offer greater support as problems can be picked up earlier on as the tutor listens to what the student has understood in tutorials, as opposed to lecture-based courses where the lecturer may only listen to what the student has understood during examinations, by which time it is too late to rectify the situation. The balance of truth in each of these viewpoints depends in part on the quality of the individual course. It is worth bearing in mind there is, in fact, a lot of variation in the way that both PBL and lecture-based teaching methods are applied at different institutions. Traditional courses are classically lecture-intensive with a much more time devoted to didactic teaching. These courses have been criticised for "spoon-feeding" students and failing to develop in their graduates the ability to cope in the real world.

Most people agree though for a need for balance. This is quite hard to achieve with financial and time constraints for all involved.

Another division of medical curricula is on the basis of whether they belong to the traditional pre-clinical/clinical type, where theoretical teaching (pre-clinical, i.e. microbiology, physiology etc.) is delivered completely separately from the clinical teaching (i.e. communication, diagnosis), or whether they conform to an integrated model, where patient interaction begins much earlier and emphasis is placed on relating the learned physiology to clinical scenarios from the very beginning.

Excerpt from "Medical school (United Kingdom)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Oct 2006, 05:52 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medical_school_%28United_Kingdom%29&oldid=82768479

London

London [..] is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. An important settlement for around two millennia, London is today one of the world's most important business and financial centres, [1] and its involvement in politics, culture, education, entertainment, media, fashion, sport and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the key global cities .

London is the most populous city in the European Union. Its population is very cosmopolitan, drawing from a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, speaking over 300 different languages. Residents of London are referred to as Londoners.

London is an international transport hub, with five international airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the world, and its principal airport, Heathrow, carries more international passengers than any other.

London is a major tourist destination - counting iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye amongst its many attractions, along with famous institutions such as the British Museum and the National Gallery.

Samuel Johnson remarked that "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life".

Geography and climate
Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²), making it one of the world's largest cities by area. Its primary geographical feature is the Thames, a navigable river which crosses the city from the southwest to the east. The Thames Valley is a floodplain surrounded by gently rolling hills such as Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill. These hills presented no significant obstacle to the growth of London from its origins as a port on the north side of the river, and therefore London is roughly circular.

The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensive marshlands. It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. In 1974, a decade of work began on the construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat, but a more substantial barrier further downstream may be necessary in the near future.

London has a temperate climate with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range at Greenwich of 13.6 °C to 22.8 °C (56.5 to 73.0 °F). The coolest month is January, averaging 2.4 °C to 7.9 °C (35.6 to 46.2 °F). Average annual precipitation is 583.6 mm(22.98 in), with February on average the driest month.[6] Snow is uncommon, particularly because heat from the urban area can make London 5 °C (9 °F) hotter than the surrounding areas in winter. London is in USDA Hardiness zone 9, and AHS Heat Zone 2.

Excerpt from "London." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Oct 2006, 23:54 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=London&oldid=84326581