| St George's, University of London | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1733 |
| Type | Public |
| Principal | Professor Peter Kopelman |
| Students | Approximately 3,000 [1] |
| Location | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colours | Blue and Blue (Institution) Green and Gold (Students' Union) |
| Affiliations | University of London St George's Hospital |
| Website | http://www.sgul.ac.uk/ http://m.sgul.ac.uk |
St George's, University of London (informally St George's or SGUL, formerly St George's Hospital Medical School) is a medical school located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London. St George's has its origins in 1733, and was the second institution in England to provide formal training courses for doctors (after the University of Oxford).[2] St George's affiliated with the University of London soon after the latter's establishment in 1836.[3] As of 2008 St George's medical school accepted around 100 graduates, 175 undergraduates and 10 students from overseas making it one of the largest medical schools in the UK.[4] St George's is closely affiliated to St George's Hospital and is one of the United Hospitals.
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Originally set up in 1733 next to Hyde Park Corner (now the site of The Lanesborough hotel), in central London, the college was transferred to its current site, Tooting in South London in 1980, where it shares a site with St George's Healthcare NHS Trust. Following Quality Assurance Agency inspections St George's gained a score of 23 out of 24 for its teaching of medicine [5] — the highest of any of the London medical schools and, by academic teaching standards, the best medical school in London. The inspections report was published in January 2000 and the course, curriculum and teaching methods at St George's have changed since then.
In recent years, St George's has expanded beyond its medical schools roots. Alongside its medical course it now runs a Biomedical Sciences course, which has expanded to meet demand in the last 5 years from an initial intake of 30, to 150 students. There are now more places for Undergraduate Biomedical Science students than 5-Year Medical students.
In partnership with Kingston University, The Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences has moved St George's into other areas. Amongst these are Nursing, Physiotherapy, Paramedic Science and Radiography. The Faculty has been congratulated for its high teaching standards, employment rates and cutting edge research in the social sciences.
St George's was also the first institution in the United Kingdom to offer a four year graduate entry medicine degree based on the program from Flinders University[6] with which it has an exchange program. The first intake was in 2000 with 35 students and the course has since been emulated by many other universities. Entry to the course is highly competitive with candidates being required to sit the GAMSAT as part of the application process.
Most recently St George's, along with other London medical schools, has been the setting for new television drama Vital Signs.
In 2008, St George's announced that it planned to merge with Royal Holloway to form a single institution within the University of London.[7][8] The merger was called off in a joint statement by the two colleges' principals on 25 September 2009.[9][10] St George's intends to keep working with Royal Holloway in the field of health and social care along with its well-established Joint Faculty with Kingston University.[11] St George's, Kingston University and Royal Holloway will continue to collaborate in the field of health and social care as part of the existing SWan (South West London Academic Network) healthcare alliance.[12]
As of 1 April 2008 Professor Peter Kopelman took up the position of Principal of St George's. He replaced Acting Principal Sean Hilton, who took over from Professor Michael Farthing, the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex.
The Students' Union (until recently, the School Club) organises various activities including fancy dress discos and a Rag Week, the annual series of fund-raising events, which in the year 2007-2008 raised around £80,000 for various charities including Cancer Research, Barnardos and Leonard Cheshire. Year on year St George's raises more money for charity per capita than any other London medical school. In recent years the Union has become more politically aware and shown greater interest in National Union of Students and British Medical Association activities.
St George's also has a number of sports clubs including swimming, rowing, volleyball, rugby, football, netball, hockey and many others. In 2007-2008 the Men's and Women's Hockey teams both managed to win their respective ULU Premier Divisions.
Each new student at St George's is assigned a 'mum' or 'dad' in the year above. These 'parents' act as mentors for the new students, giving them advice about the course, often tutoring them when needed, as well as buying them drinks during Freshers' Week and beyond. Over the years the family expands to include siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents etc., spanning all the years of the various courses.
The university owns one hall of residence, Horton Halls, a large modern site which first opened to new students in late September 2007, replacing St. George's Grove the old hall of residence.
St George's enters a team into the British quiz programme University Challenge each year.
Notable alumni of St George's include:
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