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Issue 6 | February 2015
http://medvle.buckingham.ac.uk/
A resounding
success
Just over ten years ago, then
Vice-Chancellor Professor
Terence Kealey asked a
question that was to change
not only the University of
Buckingham but also the
way medical education will
be delivered in the UK.
He asked Professor Doug
McWhinnie, a consultant
surgeon at nearby Milton
Keynes Hospital, if it would
be possible to set up a
medical school in the area.
Doug’s answer was an
emphatic “Yes!” The rest, as
they say, is history.
On January 5, 2015, we
welcomed our first cohort of
66 medical students. They
are our founders. This
welcome is the culmination
of a ten-year journey which
has been both tough and
exhilarating.
in the history of the UK’s
first modern independent
medical school.
This edition of our
newsletter offers a glimpse
of their first week in the
newly refurbished Chandos
Road Building that houses
the University of
Buckingham Medical
It was immensely rewarding School. We hope that our
to finally meet these
innovative curriculum,
students on their first day at combined with our modern
Buckingham, to see them go facilities and tools to
through the exacting but
enhance the experience of
crucial induction week, and learning medicine, will
see them settle in as our
produce excellent doctors
pioneering cohort.
of the future.
It gives me great pride to be
associated with them as
they write the first chapter
Professor John Clapham
Chief Operating Officer,
Medical School
Meet our
students
On my first day, I was fairly
apprehensive as to what I
should expect. The staff,
however, were very helpful
and our induction week was
very informative. We were
put into groups and
constant interactions with
other medical students and
lecturers allowed us to build
a quick rapport.
need in order to become the
of treating individuals with
the care they deserve as well best possible medical
practitioners we can be.
as respecting their right to
self-determination.
Melisande Wingfield
I feel that this approach to
medicine is exactly what
new students such as myself
I initially chose Buckingham
because the course focuses
primarily on treating
patients as people. Our
lectures so far have
reinforced the importance
It has been an exciting start
to our career in medicine for
all of us here in this first
cohort at the University of
Buckingham Medical
School. Buckingham’s
approach to education
embraces all the innovations
in teaching modern
medicine. The patient is at
the forefront of everything
we do in lectures and
seminars, and the scientific
and clinical concepts we are
learning have been directly
linked to them from day
one. Although the approach
is new, the course
atmosphere feels like it has
been established for years
due to the enthusiasm of
the staff and the level of
interaction we have with
health-care professionals.
Although I’m not new to
university experience, being
a graduate, I am new to
Buckingham’s approach to
education. It is evident by
our small cohort that the
University believes that
small class sizes facilitate
quality learning. Not only
do they allow strong
relationships to form, but
there is also close
interaction with students
and staff. This gives us a
unique opportunity for
constant feedback, which
shapes the learning
experience.
I am excited to be involved
in a curriculum that
consciously avoids
stagnation, and in a
profession that must
continuously evolve in
order to succeed.
Justin Collis
Introducing
MedSoc
The very first University of
Buckingham Medical
Society has arrived, and we
have so much excitement
packaged and waiting. We,
the MedSoc, aim to facilitate
a gathering of individuals
from across all faculties to
peek into the world of
Medicine and Science and
we aim to do it all with a
social spin.
To start all of this off, we
have a very exciting
opportunity to follow and
get annual updates on a
pioneering international
project by Mr. Bates,
Neuroscience PhD student
at UCL, who is trying to
develop a hearing aid that
attends to the specific
sounds an individual is
visually focusing on.
We are also welcoming
speakers from Oxford and
Cambridge Science
Committees, along with a
range of doctors and
surgeons from across the
country as well as overseas.
On the social end of things,
we will have termly MedSoc
events including the odd
white lab coat lumo-party,
and a summer Medic-Ball,
which will not be something
you want to miss.
First week at
Medical
School
Induction week is crucial for
medical students because it
is a thorough introduction to
the educational and
professional structure, as
well as the medical
landscape, that they will be
part of until the day they
eventually retire from the
medical profession.
As daunting as this may
sound, it is also an incredibly
fun week where they forge
relationships that will last a
lifetime.
Here is a glimpse of our
students’ first days at
Buckingham.
Year One photograph
An introduction to the Anatomy Lab
Welcome speech in the new 100-seat lecture theatre
Team-building exercise
Thinking of
studying
Medicine?
Here are 8 questions
you should ask yourself
before applying
When it comes to studying
Medicine, whatever the
speciality you eventually
choose to go into, you will
be responsible for the lives
and livelihoods of many
people.
Because of this, I would urge
caution and suggest you
take time to consider these
eight questions before you
decide to embark on a
career in medicine:
1) Do you know what a
Doctor does?
Silly question really. A
surgeon does different
things to a physician and a
Trauma and Orthopaedics
surgeon does different
things to a Colorectal
surgeon.
But at every stage of their
career there are some things
that all doctors do, and that
is communicate with
patients, try and work out a
diagnosis by gathering
information, and discuss
that information with
colleagues before treating
the patients.
This is one of the
cornerstones of the medical
profession and you should
have very good
communication skills as well
as feel comfortable working
with an array of different
personalities to truly
succeed in the field.
2) Have you read the GMC
duties of a Doctor?
These will help you
understand what will be
expected of you and work
out a framework of how to
sell yourself on application
forms and at interview.
3) Which speciality will you
work in?
Some people know this at
an early stage and this helps
focus their extra-curricular
activities. A budding
Paediatrician, for example,
might volunteer with
children’s charities.
It’s absolutely fine, however,
if you don’t know what
might interest you at that
early a stage. Sometimes
you like everything and you
will only work out where
your preferences lie after
doing a few foundation year
rotations.
4) Can you survive 5 years
(4.5 years if you’re studying
at Buckingham Medical
School) at university on a
vocational course?
Your pre-clinical (Science)
and clinical (Hands- on,
usually visiting hospitals)
years require grit and
determination.
You should be resilient and
be ready to face a lot of
different challenges.
It can be a stressful career at
times, and you’ll never know
if you can handle it until you
actually face it, but it’s worth
knowing at an early stage
that you can cope in
stressful situations and that
you have a good support
network of family and
friends.
5) Do you know what it’s like
to work in a hospital?
Some work experience
would be ideal to see what
you’re getting yourself into.
Health care assistants, for
example, will know a lot
about what it’s like to work
in a hospital and get to
know how to communicate
with patients.
6) Do you have a
Professional Development
Plan?
A PDP is a plan that
demonstrates what you are
hoping to achieve in the
next year or so and can
include areas such as
leadership, clinical work,
management &
organisation, research,
teaching and relevant
extra-curricular activities.
They are very popular these
days for specialist training
interviews. It would be good
to think about these as you
plan your career.
7) Do you understand what
evidence-based practice is?
Medicine revolves around
evidence-based practice, so
if you don’t know what it is I
would strongly suggest that
you find out!
Have a look at some
research papers/articles/
reviews and think about
how you can critique them.
This will be an invaluable
skill to have during your
degree.
8) Have you thought about
improving clinical care and
have you read the Francis
report?
Improving clinical care is a
big part of being a doctor
and you’ll be involved in it
throughout your career.
There are a lot of ethical
dilemmas that you will be
involved with, and it is a
good idea to know where
you stand on issues such as
abortion, euthanasia and
confidentiality (to name
only a few).
The Francis report was
produced after complaints
about substandard clinical
care in NHS hospitals.
I would strongly
recommend that you read a
summary of it before you
apply to medical school.
I hope that these questions
help you get started on a
path to medical practice. I
wish you all the best with
your application and future
careers.
Dr Luke Durant
Foundation Training Doctor
& Clinical Educator at
University of Buckingham
Medical School
Postgraduate
Medicine at
Buckingham
Six years ago, the University
was approached by two
entrepreneurial doctors
from Ealing Hospital in West
London with an idea for a
post-graduate training
course. They had noted the
difficulty that many overseas
doctors had in getting
further training and
experience in the UK and
suggested there was a
market, particularly in India,
for a clinical training course
in General Internal Medicine.
They developed a bedside
teaching course together
with formal lectures, clinical
skills training on
mannequins, clinical audit
and a research dissertation.
The clinical modules in the
2-year programme are
Respiratory Medicine and
Radiology; Gastroenterology
and Nephrology; Infectious
Diseases, Rheumatology
and Dermatology;
Emergency Medicine;
Diabetes and Endocrinology,
Critical Care, Haematology
and Oncology; Cardiology
and Neurology.
The Clinical MD programme
started with 8 students in
2009 and now has over 90
students.
In addition to Ealing
Hospital, the students may
spend time at the Lister
Hospital in Stevenage,
Blackpool NHS Hospital and
Newport or Abergavenny
hospitals in Wales.
Additional information on
the postgraduate medical
course can be found on
http://www.buckingham.ac.
uk/science/md/
Honorary
Degree
Ceremony
The University will be
holding a special honorary
degree ceremony on March
19 to mark the opening of
the Medical School.
The honorary graduands will
be Sir Roger Bannister, Sir
Magdi Yacoub and Sir
Graeme Catto.
Sir Roger is famous as the
first person to run a mile in
under 4 minutes as well as
being a distinguished
neurologist who was
knighted for his services to
Medicine.
Sir Magdi established heart
transplantation in the UK
and developed several
pioneering surgical
procedures including the
first heart and lung
transplant in the UK.
Sir Graeme is a nephrologist
particularly interested in
renal related bone disease.
He has held many positions
including Chief Scientist for
the NHS in Scotland,
Chairman of the GMC
education committee and
President of the General
Medical Council.
For admissions enquiries please contact
Stephen Maden on medicine-admissions@buckingham.ac.uk
Newsletter Editor: Ash Dawotal