Faculty of Science and Technology

Professor Colin Ockleford and Dr Gill Vince

Two new members of staff have joined Lancaster University's medical school in preparation for the first intake of students later this month.

Fifty medical students will study at Lancaster's new Centre for Medical Education as part of an expansion of medical training announced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.The aim is to boost the number of doctors in North Lancashire and Cumbria because evidence shows that medical students are more likely to stay in the area where they studied.

Professor Colin Ockleford will be teaching anatomy at the new £1.6m Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre on campus.He previously helped set up a medical school first at Leicester University and then at Warwick University and he says this is what attracted him to Lancaster.

"It's a challenge and it's going to be great fun setting this up. I love the enthusiasm of the students and there's great enthusiasm among the medics in the area too who want to get involved and help."

The students will carry out all their clinical training at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and primary care centres in North Lancashire and Cumbria.

"It's traditional to stay in the area where you did your training. Also, I have a feeling that doctors will be more likely to stay on if there's a teaching hospital which gives a reference point for quality in the area and we've got that with the University Hospitals at Lancaster, Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal."

Joining him is Dr Gill Vince from the University of Liverpool, who has been appointed Director of Medical Studies at Lancaster.

Although the medical students will spend the full five years of their undergraduate degree at Lancaster, they will study the University of Liverpool curriculum and graduate with a Liverpool degree.

Dr Vince said: ""I like the challenge of setting up a new course from scratch and I've a lot of experience with the Liverpool curriculum.

"Ultimately the aim is to develop students who stay on in Lancashire and Cumbria."

These are the latest in a series of appointments - Professor Anne Garden has already been appointed Director of the Centre for Medical Education.

This expansion of medical teaching is the result of collaboration between Lancaster University, the University of Liverpool, UCLAN, St Martin's College and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust.

Lancaster University will be leading medical education delivery in Lancashire and Cumbria and aims to expand the number of places on the course in the future.The students will follow Liverpool's highly regarded curriculum, which received the maximum grade when assessed by the Quality Assurance Agency in 1999.

The closing date for UCAS applications for next year is October 15. Applicants should apply to the University of Liverpool and then use the course code A105 which is reserved for studying the whole degree at Lancaster.

Fri 15 September 2006

Associated Links

• Centre for Medical Education