Medical school a centre of excellence
PLANS to open a medical school at Edge Hill university will address local healthcare challenges, according to West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper.
The Ormskirk-based university is set to offer an access to medicine course from 2019 and train doctors from 2020.
This was confirmed in an announcement by the Secretary of State for Health, which stated plans to establish a medical school at the university.
The new facility will open within the faculty of health and social care, after gaining funding in a highly competitive process to allocate 1,500 additional places to train doctors in England.
The medical school is set to be one of only three new freestanding medical schools in the country and the only one in the North West.
Ms Cooper said that she fully endorsed the application by writing in to support it at the time of submission.
She said: “I am delighted for Edge Hill University that their success is being recognised by the General Medical Council and will now open a medical school here in West Lancashire.
“Having supported the bid, I believe it will help to address local healthcare challenges and workforce shortages in the health sector.
“The provision of medical education in West Lancashire will allow young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented groups, to study medicine which will benefit our local hospitals. “Edge Hill University already has an excellent track record in delivering healthcare education and I fully support their plans to expand in this area and their commitment to making a positive contribution in meeting the health needs of local communities.” The Ormskirk university first trained nurses over 50 years ago, and was one of the first to offer large-scale nursing at undergraduate degree level leading to professional registration.
The faculty’s suite of professional programmes includes all disciplines of nursing, midwifery, paramedic practice, operating department practice and social work at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
It is hoped the expansion will open the door for many more students to gain high quality medical education and training.
Undergraduate medical courses are currently heavily oversubscribed, and this new facility will open up new opportunities for many aspiring doctors and medical professionals.
Seth Crofts, pro vice-chancellor and dean of the faculty of health and social care, said: “The faculty of health and social care has an established reputation for providing an excellent student experience with high level tutorial support.
“We are determined that our medical school will follow this tradition enabling our students to be resilient and flexible doctors who are able to respond to the current challenges in the NHS.
“We are keen to recruit students from a wide range of backgrounds who have a real commitment to the populations that we serve across the North West.”
“Our programme will strongly endorse multi-professional learning and will draw on a wide expertise from doctors who are clinical experts at our hospital and community partners across the North West.”