Prospective Medical Students Visit The University Of Buckingham For Medical School Open Day

22 January 2014

16 January 2014

Visitors from all over the world attended the first ever Open Day of the pioneering University of Buckingham Medical School.

More than 50 people came to hear about the ground-breaking medical course, the first of its kind in the country, at the event on January 15.

The Open Day included short talks from Professor Mike Cawthorne (Head of the Medical School) and Professor Stewart Petersen (Director of Medical Education) on the preparation underway at the University for first intake of undergraduate medics in January 2015. Professor Doug McWhinnie (Phase II lead), then introduced three foundation doctors from Milton Keynes Hospital, who spoke about their experience and daily life as a junior doctor.

At lunch prospective students spoke with the 10 members of teaching staff who were available for conversations and questions, followed by a tour of the campus. Finally prospective applicants had the option of attending a lecture by Mr Oliver Pearce, a surgeon at Milton Keynes Hospital. He gave three short talks on “‘Titanium in ceramic hip replacements”, “Chondromalacia in the knee” and “Psychopathy in doctors”. Mr Pearce will lead the Musculo-skeletal care module on the new MB ChB course at Buckingham.

In exactly one year’s time The University of Buckingham will be welcoming its first undergraduate students. It is the first independent, not-for-profit university in the UK, and as a result has had the unique opportunity of setting up a medical school with no cap on international students using a condensed four and a half year programme, but with the same teaching time as other UK medical schools. In short, students will get less holiday.

The curriculum at Buckingham is derived from the well-established teaching programme at Leicester University Medical School and designed so students will reach the ‘Outcomes for Graduates’ prescribed by the General Medical Council. Primary care will features strongly in the teaching programme.

“We are delighted to have received so much positive feedback from the aspiring doctors who joined us for the Open Day. With the first intake in a year away it was extremely encouraging to see so many well qualified applicants visiting the campus to find out more about the UK’s newest medical school and what can be expected of the pre-clinical and clinical phases”, commented Lucinda Roberts-Holmes, Head of Development and Recruitment for The University of Buckingham Medical School.


For more details contact Helena Kealey on helena.kealey@buckingham.ac.uk. Alternatively contact the University’s Press Officer, Diana Blamires, on diana.blamires@buckingham.ac.uk or +44 (0)1280 820213.