UCLan’s School of Medicine has received some positive news as they have been added to the General Medical Council’s list of bodies approved to award UK medical degrees.

Following the completion of a rigorous quality assurance process lasting five years the school finally got what they have worked so hard for.

The announcement marks an important milestone in the development of UCLan’s School of Medicine which opened in 2015 with a small cohort of full fee-paying international students. Since those early days the school has grown dramatically with now more than 1,000 UK and international students studying on a range of programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The landmark decision was confirmed by the GMC at its meeting on 27 February with UCLan’s School of Medicine being added to the GMC’s website listing of institutions approved to award a primary medical qualification.

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In July 2020, the first 27 students from the Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme are hoping to graduate with all 27 planning to live and work in the UK.

The UCLan MBBS programme builds upon UCLan’s heritage in dentistry, nursing and pharmacy courses, representing a crucial part of the overall solution to fill the urgent skills gap that currently exists in areas such as East Lancashire and West Cumbria. 

Commenting on the success, Head of UCLan’s School of Medicine, Professor Cathy Jackson, said: “Receiving the seal of approval from the GMC for our MBBS programme is fantastic news. Colleagues in the School have worked incredibly hard to make this happen while the support we’ve received from partner organisations such as North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been crucial.

“We have achieved something truly unique by developing the first brand new medical curriculum in many years where our students benefit from patient contact within the second week of the programme. Over 70 percent of our UK student doctors are from widening access background and we have trained them not only to be knowledgeable, empathetic and reflective but to accurately represent the populations they will serve.

“We’ve gone from an intake of 35 students a year to 150, developed a comprehensive postgraduate portfolio, opened the very successful National Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine and we’ve done it all in five years.”

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An amazing achievement by UCLan. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.