University of Edinburgh Medical School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Edinburgh School of Medicine | |
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| Established: | 1726 |
| Type: | Medical school |
| Dean: | Prof Sir John Savill |
| Staff: | 1244 (2007/8; includes Support Staff) |
| Students: | 2,218 (2007/8) |
| Undergraduates: | 1,328 (2007/8) |
| Postgraduates: | 890 (2007/8) |
| Location: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Campus: | The Medical School, Teviot Place; The Royal Infirmary Chancellors Building, Little France, The Western General; Royal Hospital for Sick Children |
| Colours: | Dark Red, Light Red and Pale Yellow (or "Liver, Blood and Pus" according to the history books) |
| Affiliations: | University of Edinburgh |
| Website: | http://www.mvm.ed.ac.uk/ |
The University of Edinburgh Medical School is part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Edinburgh.
Contents |
[edit] History
Although the University of Edinburgh's Faculty of Medicine was not formally organised until 1726, medicine had been taught at Edinburgh since the beginning of the sixteenth century. Its formation was dependent on the incorporation of the Surgeons and Barber Surgeons, in 1505 and the foundation of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1681.
The University was modelled on the University of Bologna, but medical teaching was based on that of the sixteenth century University of Padua, and later on the University of Leiden (where most of the founders of the faculty had studied) in an attempt to attract foreign students, and maintain potential Scottish students in Scotland.
Since the Renaissance the primary facet of medical teaching here was anatomy and therefore in 1720, Alexander Monro was appointed Professor of Anatomy. Later his son and grandson (both of the same name) would hold the position, a reign of Professor Alexander Monros lasting 128 years. In subsequent years four further chairs completed the faculty allowing it to grant the qualification of Doctor of Medicine (MD) without the assistance of the Royal College of Physicians.
Success in the teaching of medicine and surgery through the eighteenth century was achieved thanks to the first teaching hospital, town physicians and the town guild of Barber Surgeons (later to become the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh). By 1764 the numbers of medical students were so great that a new 200-seat Anatomy Theatre was built in the College Garden. Students were attracted to Edinburgh Medical School from Ireland, America and the Colonies by a succession of brilliant teachers, such as William Cullen, James Gregory and Joseph Black, the Medical Society and a flourishing Extra-Mural School.
[edit] The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
The origins of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary began in Robertson's Close, near Old College in Newington (around Infirmary Street and High School Yards). Only four beds were available from 6 August 1729 and medical students' visits were limited to two tickets only per student (to prevent crowding). This was clearly inadequate, and in 1741, shortly after the foundation of the college, a 228-bed purpose-built hospital was designed by William Adam. Due to overcrowding throughout this High School Yards site, David Bryce was commissioned to design a new hospital - the splendid Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Lauriston Place close to the university and next door to where the medical school buildings would be built in 1880.
In August 1998 a contract was signed to build a new Royal Infirmary at Little France, a replacement hospital on a mostly green field site in the south-east of the city. In May 2001 the original 20 acre Lauriston Place site was bought for £30 million by Southside Capital Ltd., a consortium comprising Taylor Woodrow, Kilmartin Property Group, and the Bank of Scotland. It is to be redeveloped as the Quartermile housing, shopping, leisure and hotel development.
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland.
[edit] The Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh
The Edinburgh Botanic Garden was created in 1670 for study of medicinal plants by Dr Robert Sibbald (later first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University) and Dr Andrew Balfour. It gave a base for the development of study of Pharmacology (Materia Medica) and Chemistry. Originally at St Anne’s Yards adjacent to Holyrood Palace, the garden measured a meagre 40 square feet. It wasn't until 1820 that the garden and its contents began the move to its present day location in Inverleith ('The Inverleith Garden') by Robert Graham (appointed Regius Keeper, 1820–45). It is currently recognised as the second oldest botanic garden in Britain after Oxford (OBG founded in 1620).
The nineteenth century saw a growth of new sciences at Edinburgh, notably of Physiology and Pathology, and the development of Public Health and Psychiatry. Midwifery was finally admitted as an essential part of the compulsory medical curriculum.
[edit] Women and Medical School
In 1869 Sophia Jex-Blake was reluctantly accepted to attend a limited number of classes in the School of Medicine, enrolling Edinburgh in the heated international battle for women to enter medicine. Full equality between the sexes was not achieved at Edinburgh Medical School until 20 years later. British medical schools openly refused to accept women students at this time. Jex-Blake persuaded Edinburgh University to allow not only herself, but also her friend, Edith Pechy, to attend medical lectures.
[edit] The Medical School at Teviot Place
In the 1860s the medical school was constrained within Old College and by 1880 the new Royal Infirmary had been built on Lauriston Place. The construction of new medical buildings began and they were complete by 1884, on Teviot Row, adjacent to the Royal Infirmary. Together they housed the Medical Faculty with proper facilities teaching, scientific research and practical laboratories.
The competition to design the University's new buildings was won by architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in 1877 (who later designed the dome of the Robert Adam/William Henry Playfair Old College building). After extensive European travel, he decided upon a 'Cinquecento' Italian Renaissance style which he judged "more suitable than Greek or Palladian, where the interior would have been constrained by the formal exterior, or mediaeval, which would have been out of keeping with the spirit of scientific medical enquiry".[citation needed] Initially the design incorporated a new University Graduation Hall, but as this was seen as too ambitious. A separate building was constructed for the purpose, McEwan Hall, also designed by Anderson, after funds were made available by Sir William McEwan in 1894. The final grand structure took three years to decorate including elaborate ceiling murals and organ.
The Medical School was designed around two courts, with a grand public quadrangle at the front and, for discreet delivery of cadavers to the dissection rooms, a second private yard entered from the lane behind. Professor of Anatomy, Sir William Turner (Professor 1867 to 1903, Principle 1903 to 1917) was placed in charge of the building project lead to the construction of a three-storey galleried Anatomy Museum with displays of everything from whales to apes as well as human anatomy, an associated library and a whole series of dissecting rooms, laboratories, and grand anatomy lecture theatres with steeply raked benches rising above the central dissecting table. The Anatomy Museum has since been plastered and its remnants are now a student study space, off-limits to the general public.
Today, the Teviot Place buildings house the School of Biomedical Sciences, which is responsible for certain pre-clinical medical courses (including Anatomy) as well as medicine-related courses for students of Biological Sciences. Otherwise, the Medical School has largely relocated to Little France.
[edit] The Medical School at Little France
The Chancellor's Building was opened on 12th August 2002 by The Duke of Edinburgh and houses the new £40 million Medical School at the New Royal Infirmary in Little France. It was a joint project between private finance, the local authorities and the University to create a large modern hospital, veterinary clinic and research institute and thus the University is currently (2003) in the process of moving its Veterinary and Medical Faculties there (and quite possibly also the School of Nursing). It has two large lecture theatres and a medical library. It is connected to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by a series of corridors.
[edit] The Polish School of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh
The Polish School of Medicine was established in 1941 as a "a wartime testament to this spirit of enlightenment". Students were to be those drawn from the Polish army to Britain and were taught in Polish. Classes in pre-clinical subjects were held at the Medical School Clinical teaching was carried out mainly at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in Lauriston Place. A separate building, the Paderewski Hospital, was built in the grounds of the Western General to provided care for members of the Polish armed forces and civilians.
The project was initiated by Lt. Col. Professor Francis Crew, then Commanding Officer at the Military Hospital in Edinburgh Castle, and Lt. Col. Dr Antoni Jurasz, the School's organiser and first Dean.
The school was closed in March 1949. 336 students matriculated of which 227 students graduated with the equivalent of an MB ChB. A total of 19 doctors obtained a doctorate or MD. A bronze plaque commemorating the existence of the Polish School of Medicine is located in the Quadrangle of the Medical School in Teviot Place.
[edit] The Current Course and Curriculum
Degrees available for study: Medical Sciences (BSc), Medicine (5-year course) (MBChB), Medicine (6-year course) (MBChB), Nursing Studies (BN).
Entry qualifications include: SQA Highers: AAAAB. AAAAB at one sitting to include Chemistry and two of Biology, Maths or Physics. Students unable to take two of Biology, Maths, Physics in S5 may take the missing subject(s) in S6. Human Biology may replace Biology. Standard Grade Credit (or Intermediate 2) in Biology, Chemistry, English, Maths.
GCE A Levels: AAA. AAA plus grade B at AS-level. A levels must include Chemistry and one of Biology, Maths or Physics. Biology at AS level required as minimum. Only one of Maths or Further Maths will be considered. Human Biology may replace Biology. GCSE grade B in Biology, Chemistry, English, Maths. Double Award Combined Sciences at grade BB may replace GCSE grades in sciences.
Additional requirements include the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is a mandatory requirement for all students applying to study Medicine at Edinburgh and you will be required to sit the test during the summer prior to application. Please visit the UKCAT website to register for the test.
The 5 year MBChB course can extend a pre-entry year for applicants without adequate subject choice but with the right qualifications who otherwise would be admitted on to the 5 year programme, or an extra 'intercalated year' between years 2 and 3 to gain a BSc in a separate scientific discipline.
[edit] Years 1 & 2
Students undertake the study of Biomedical Science and Health and Society, which provide an introduction to the scientific, sociological and behavioural principles for the practice of medicine. Practical clinical and resuscitation skills are also taught. Contact is made with patients and their families in Talking with Families and Health Needs of Older People and will have the opportunity to work in a clinical setting and investigate a chosen healthcare issue.
In year 2, students undertake basic history-taking and examination in teaching general practices.
[edit] Intercalated year
This optional year achieves the student an intercalated Bachelor of Medical Sciences honours degree. 18 fields of scientific study are available and covered in great depth.
[edit] Years 3 & 4
Clinical attachments are undertaken, and an understanding of clinical medicine is taught. Bedside teaching is enhanced with lectures and opportunities are made available to students within the Royal Infirmary.
[edit] Year 5
Recovers all the topics of year's 1-4 and includes an elective period of eight weeks, when many students broaden their clinical experience by studying overseas.
Most applicants including overseas applicants are not interviewed prior to admission.
Admission FAQ's
[edit] Facilities
Undergraduate teaching through year 1 and 2 center mainly in the Medical School buildings on Teviot Row in the university quarter of Edinburgh city centre. Clinical years, 3, 4 and 5 are spent spread across the three main teaching hospitals in Edinburgh, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) in Little France, in the cities southern Green Belt; the Western General Hospital just west of the city centre, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the centre of the city.
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the main clinical teaching environment of the Medical School. The Chancellor's Building at Little France, next to the new Royal Infirmary was opened on 12th August 2002 by HRH Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, Chancellor to the University.
- The Biological Sciences and Hospital-based Clinical Subjects both gained a 5 rating.
- Only two other UK undergraduate medical schools also achieved a 5 rating in Hospital-based Clinical Subjects
- Plan of the Chancellor's Building - Little France
- Location of major medical buildings
[edit] EEMeC
Edinburgh Electronic Medical Curriculum is an online facility which allows students securely protected access direct to any of the information on or for the MBChB course. It also encompasses announcements, discussions and the use the tools embedded in EEMeC to facilitate and manage your progress through the course including exam results and computer aided learning programmes. Created in 1999 this was one of the first of its kind in the world and has since provided a model for other medical schools to follow (notable The University of St Andrews 'GALEN').
[edit] Research
Edinburgh University is a member of the Russell Group of universities, receiving a quanta of a third of British research funding. In the last UK-wide Research Assessment Exercise, three quarters of the College's research staff were in academic units rated 5 or 5 star (the maximum possible ratings). This was more noteworthy in view of the large size of the College's research groupings. The College has average research income in excess of £45 million/annum, and the figure has been steadily increasing each year.
Main sources of research funding include UK research councils, UK medical and veterinary medical charities, industry and commerce and European Union bodies.
[edit] Royal Medical Society
The Royal Medical Society, the medical society at the University of Edinburgh is the oldest Medical Society in the UK. Known originally as 'the Medical Society' from 1734 it became known as 'the Royal Medical Society' from 1777. It has its own premises and a fine library built up throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, unfortunately sold at 3 sales at Sotheby's London in 1969. Much of the collection was purchased by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
[edit] Famous Alumni
- Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st Baronet FRS - discovered organic nitrates had the ability to alleviate angina pectoris.
- Joseph Black - discoverer of carbon dioxide and of latent heat.
- William Cullen - First Physician to the King in Scotland.
- Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle - novelist.
- Charles Darwin - briefly studied medicine at Edinburgh.
- John Fothergill (1712 – 1780), English physician, plant collector, philanthropist
- James Gregory - President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and author.
- Sophia Jex-Blake - the first woman to study medicine at Edinburgh.
- Joseph Lister - the first to practise antiseptic surgery in the 1870s ("the father of modern antisepsis"), Professor of Surgery 1870-77.
- Robert Liston - pioneering Scottish surgeon.
- Sir James Young Simpson - discovered chloroform anaesthesia in 1847, revolutionising obstetric and surgical practice.
- James Syme - pioneering Scottish surgeon.
- William Withering - botanist and physician, discovered Digoxin.
[edit] Doctors Pub
Situated directly across the road from the medical school buildings and the old Royal Infirmary, "Doctors" has been the refuge since the 1970s of many Edinburgh Medical School graduates and students. History drapes the walls in the forms of plaques and photographs. Live bands are featured on Saturday.
[edit] Contact
e-Mail: College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine The University of Edinburgh The Chancellor's Building 49 Little France Crescent Edinburgh, EH16 4SB
MBChB undergraduate admissions medug@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 242 6407 Fax: 0131 242 6791
Elective Attachments Electives@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 242 6543 Fax: 0131 242 6479
BVMS undergraduate admissions vetug@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 650 6130 Fax: 0131 650 6585
BSc Medical Sciences undergraduate admissions bmto@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 650 3717 Fax: 0131 650 4193
Postgraduate enquiries: Email (general enquiries): mvmpg@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 242 6461 Fax: 0131 242 6479
[edit] Links
- The Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh: http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/
- The Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh: http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/
- Sophia Jex-Blake: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wjex.htm
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