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Warwick Medical School celebrates ten years of training doctors

Niall MacDougallCelebrations are underway at the University of Warwick this month to mark the 10th anniversary of Warwick Medical School.

The School is the only all-graduate entry medical school in the UK and it has grown rapidly since it was first officially opened in 2000 as part of a Government initiative to train more doctors in Britain.

The MB ChB programme is a four year fast-track programme for graduates in biological, health, natural or physical sciences.

Dr Niall MacDougall was one of the first cohort of doctors to graduate from the MB ChB course at Warwick Medical School in 2004. After graduation, he went on to work at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.

He then moved to work at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow where he passed his MRCP exams in March 2007. He is currently a Clinical Research Fellow in Acute Stroke and Neurology at the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the University of Glasgow and he will be returning to his clinical Neurology registrar post in a few months time.

Dr MacDougall said: “During my neuroscience degree at the University of Glasgow I became interested in patients with neurological disorders which motivated me to become a doctor. The new 4-year graduate entry course offered by Warwick was very attractive as it allowed me to consolidate my basic biomedical science knowledge with a very clinically focused course. The self-directed learning skills that I gained at Warwick Medical School gave me an advantage when I was studying for my Royal College of Physicians exams and continue to be useful as I work towards my research MD. I also benefited from excellent clinical teaching from consultants at the George Eliot, the Walsgrave and Warwick Hospital.  I now aim to reach the standards of the Warwickshire consultants when I teach medical students in Glasgow.”

“Looking back, Warwick prepared me well for my life as a doctor. I learnt a lot during my clinical attachments and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to be one of the guinea pigs at the new Medical School. If I had taken up the place that I was offered at a more established institution my life would have been a lot less interesting. I love Neurology and my current job and Warwick has helped me get here. I can’t believe that I’ve done so much in just 10 years”

Warwick Medical School has taken on around 1,400 students since it first opened its doors, and about 50% of them go on to work in the local NHS in Coventry and Warwickshire. It was originally developed in partnership with the University of Leicester.

The first Dean of Warwick Medical School, Professor Yvonne Carter, was appointed in 2004 and was responsible for its rapid development until she retired due to ill health in 2009. Under Professor Carter’s guidance Warwick Medical School formally dissolved its partnership with the University of Leicester and was granted independent degree-awarding status in 2007.

It also became the first new Medical School to join a Strategic Partnership with the Medical Research Council and is now ranked in the top ten UK medical schools for its health services research.

Professor Peter Winstanley – formally Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Liverpool - took over as the new Dean of Warwick Medical School in 2010.

He said: “So much has been achieved in such a short space of time and we look forward to building on that success in the future. It is an exciting time to be Dean at Warwick Medical School.”

Notes to editors

For more information please contact Kelly Parkes-Harrison, Communications Manager, University of Warwick, k.e.parkes@warwick.ac.uk, +44 (0)2476 150483, +44 (0)7824 540863