University of St Andrews School of Medicine


The University of St Andrews School of Medicine is the school of medicine at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and the oldest medical school in Scotland.
The medical school teaches pre-clinical medicine with students completing clinical teaching at different medical schools in the UK.
The school is associated with 1 Nobel Prize and 2 Victoria Cross winners. Famous alumni include small pox vaccine pioneer Edward Jenner and inventor of beta blockers and H2 receptor antagonists, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner Sir James Black.

History

The early medical school

Medicine was the third subject to be taught at the University of St Andrews, at St Salvator's College and later the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard. Bishop Kennedy founded St Salvator's College in 1450, confirmed by a Papal Bull in 1458.
From the 17th to the 19th centuries, medical degrees from St Andrews were awarded by an early version of distance learning. The university awarded the degree of MD to individuals who were usually already established in medical practice, the first being conferred in 1696. This degree was awarded on the basis of a testimonial written by a supervisor, and a fee was paid to the university. The whole process was conducted through the post, and the candidate did not have to visit the university. Recipients of the MD at this time include the French Revolutionary, Jean-Paul Marat, who obtained his MD in 1775 for an essay on gonorrhea, and Edward Jenner, who developed the first smallpox vaccine, and was awarded the MD in 1792.
In 1721, whilst Chancellor of the University, James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos established the Chandos Chair of Medicine and Anatomy, to fund the appointment of a Professor of Medicine and Anatomy at the university, and Thomas Simson was appointed as the first Chandos Professor. The Chandos Chair still exists, although it has now become a chair of physiology.
In the early 19th century, examinations were introduced. Students had to visit St Andrews to sit them, but there was no teaching at the university.

The founding of the Bute Medical School

In 1897, as Rector of the University of St Andrews, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, in addition to his provident restorations of other university buildings, initiated the construction of the current Bute Medical Buildings, south of St Mary's College, completed in 1899. The buildings, much added to and modified, especially after a gift from Andrew Carnegie, built labs to the north. These provided for the establishment of a regular medical school, which both taught and examined medical students. The 3rd Marquess of Bute also provided for the establishment of a new chair of medicine—the Bute Chair of Medicine.

The St Andrews-Dundee course

In 1898, University College Dundee - which had been created in 1891 - became affiliated to the University of St Andrews,
and it was this that enabled a full undergraduate medical degree to be offered by St Andrews, as the City of Dundee had a large population and contained several hospitals where students could receive clinical teaching. Together, the Bute Medical School and clinical facilities at University College Dundee formed a conjoint medical school.
Medical students could either undertake their pre-clinical teaching at the Bute Medical School in St Andrews or go straight to Dundee for their pre-clinical years, and then the two groups combined to complete their clinical training in Dundee. Students were awarded the degree of MB ChB by the University of St Andrews.
In 1954, University College Dundee changed its name to Queen's College, but remained part of the University of St Andrews.
In August 1967, following recommendations by the Robbins Report, the Universities Act 1966 came into force. This separated Queen's College from the University of St Andrews, and granted independent university status to the new University of Dundee.
In a great many respects, the medical school at the University of Dundee is the direct inheritor of the medical traditions of St Andrews University. The same can be said of the Dundee dental school.
As the clinical part of the medical school had been completely based in Dundee, this left St Andrews with no clinical medical school or teaching hospital in which medical students could receive clinical training. The Universities Act 1966 also removed the University of St Andrews's right to award undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in medicine, including the MBChB and MD. However, in more recent times the right to award the MD has been restored.

The link with Manchester Medical School

In order to continue to be able to offer access to a medical degree, St Andrews established a new link with the English Victoria University of Manchester in 1970, which was at that time seeking to enlarge its medical school. Students completed a three-year BSc in medical science at St Andrews, and could optionally complete an extra intercalated year for the award of BSc Hons at St Andrews, before completing their clinical training at the University of Manchester, with the final MBChB awarded by Manchester.
For a brief period there was the option of completing clinical training at Keele University Medical School in Stoke-on-Trent, and around twenty St Andrews graduates each year between 2002–2006 went to Keele University. This option no longer exists.

Recent history

Major changes to the curriculum were made in 2000 with increased emphasis on psychology and cellular biology, with the introduction of a two-year course in cellular and molecular medicine and a three-year course in behavioural sciences. Further curriculum changes took place in 2004, with a reduction in the amount of teaching but the introduction of a research project into the final year, allowing for an honours degree to be attained after three years' study, and therefore since September 2005, the Bute Medical School has offered a Bachelor of Science with honours in Medicine.

Admissions

St Andrews is one of a few schools in the UK to use the multiple mini interview, an interview system first developed by McMaster University Medical School which exposes applicants to several interviews of shorter time, exposing the applicant to more interviewers and reducing the chance that one bad or good interview determines the applicants success at gaining admissions.

Course structure

Phase 1 — Pre-Clinical Years

Teaching methods include lectures and practical classes, utilising self-directed learning and case-based learning. Examination methods include multiple-choice questions, short answers, and essays in written exams and OSCEs. A research project is also required for completion of the honours degree—normally undertaken in third year of study. The University is noted as being one of the few medical schools in the UK to award an honours classification to its BSc Degree in Medicine.
A further three years' study is required to receive a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and requires training at a university that supports a clinical course—this extra training is known as phase 2. The course therefore takes an extra year in comparison to other Scottish universities.

Phase 2 — Clinical Years

In 2004, Sir Kenneth Calman's report into medical education recommended that medical students based initially in St Andrews should be able to remain in Scotland to complete their clinical medical education. Arising out of this, discussions about new links with the University of Edinburgh have taken place.
The Board for Academic Medicine under Sir David Carter was established and tasked with, among other things, the implementation of these plans. Sir David Carter, Professor Hugh MacDougall and Professor Simon Guild surveyed the capacity of other medical schools to accept St Andrews medical students.
For the 2012 cohort it was expected that the students who were allocated a "Scottish Route" place would be divided as follows:
This began with a phased introduction of the students starting their St Andrews careers in 2007, with 55 progressing to the Scottish clinical medical schools.
A remainder of 80 students would continue to go to the University of Manchester or Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Students choosing Manchester would be allocated to one of its four teaching hospitals. Every student accepted to St Andrews is guaranteed a place for their clinical years at one of the 4 Scottish clinical schools, Manchester or Barts.
Each year, a group of students apply to complete their studies at the University of Cambridge. Spaces are limited and are allocated based on the student's academic and extracurricular achievements prior to application and an interview held in February. Students are free to apply to various other medical schools around the world to continue their medical studies after graduation. Students have gone on to complete their training at other UK medical schools as well as schools in Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Students with an interest in academic medicine sometimes choose to pursue an MRes or PhD prior to continuing to a clinical school.

Postgraduate

In 2002 the Scottish Parliament passed the University of St Andrews Act 2002 which re-instated the university's right to award the postgraduate research degree of Medicinae Doctor to students who have completed two years of full-time or up to 5 years of part-time research, which had been removed by the Universities Act 1966. The first MD since 1967 was awarded in 2004.

Facilities and buildings

The University of St Andrews’ new Medical and Biological Sciences Building brings together the medical school, biologists, physicists and chemists, while also linking to the School of Physics and Astronomy via a first-floor bridge—making it one of the first medical schools in the UK to fully integrate research facilities across the sciences.
The School, which has been built at a cost of £45m, contains research laboratory space, as well as teaching facilities and a lecture theatre.

Medical Societies

Over recent years, many medical societies have been developed, alongside the historical Bute Medical Society, to help incorporate the clinical aspects into the course—one which was traditionally science-based only. These societies include Surgical, Clinical and a Medsin group.

The Bute Medical Society

The Bute Medical Society was founded in 1915, by its first president Margaret Shirlaw, with the support of Miss Mildred Clark, Calum McCrimmon, Clive Mackie Whyte, Cecily Thistlewaite, Mary Ellison and W.G. Robertson. The initial aim of the society was to hold clinically oriented lectures that the students could attend voluntarily. This tradition still continues today with the society's bimonthly 'cheese and wine' evening. As an independent, non-profit organisation it is still run entirely by medical students, supported by some sponsorship. Fundraising events held throughout the year also enable the Society to contribute to charities.

Surgical Society

In 2009, a small group of students set up the University's first surgical interest society. Since then, a multitude of lectures, skills workshops and anatomy revision tutorials have been run by the society and it continues to grow in size. The Robert Walmsley Lecture was created in 2011 as a yearly event held in the old Bute Buildings to commemorate this previous setting of the teaching of medicine in St Andrews; the inaugural lecture was delivered by David Sinclair.

Research

Research at the school is grouped into three main areas: People and Populations, Molecular Medicine and Medical Photonics. Much of the research is interdisciplinary especially in medical photonics where close links with the School of Physics exist. There are groups involved in child health and development, cell signaling, cancer, neurobiology, infection, cell biology and molecular psychiatry.
Research Institutes:
St Andrews undergraduate medical students are members of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard, and as such wear the scarlet gown with burgundy velvet collar for official academic occasions. They graduate as a BSc or BSc and so wear a black gown with a fuchsia hood trimmed with white fur. On graduation from Manchester they are entitled to wear a black gown with scarlet hood trimmed with white fur, and black cap.
When postgraduate students graduate with the MD degree, they wear a black gown with a crimson hood with a white lining, alternatively they may wear a crimson gown.

Alumni

Medical students at the University of St Andrews have included:

Faculty

List includes faculty who were not also graduates of the medical school

The Bute Chair

The Bute Chair was established by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1898.
Holders of the Bute Chair are known as Bute Professors and include:
In 2010 the Bute Medical School of the University of St Andrews, where Black had studied his initial degree in medicine, unveiled that an honorary 'Sir James Black Chair of Medicine' would be created. This post remained unfilled for the remainder of the academic year 2009–2010. In September 2010 the first Chair of Medicine at the ancient University was given to Professor Stephen H Gillespie MD, DSc, FRCP, FRC Path, leaving his post as Professor of Medical Microbiology at UCL.

The John Reid Chair of Pathology

In 2012 the Bute Medical School of the University of St Andrews, appointed Prof. David Harrison to the John Reid Chair of Pathology, leaving his previous post as the Head of Division of Pathology in the University of Edinburgh. He remains an Honorary Consultant Pathologist in Lothian University Hospitals Division and Director of the Breakthrough Research Unit, Edinburgh.

Ann Gloag Chair of Global Health Implementation

The current holder of this chair appointed in 2013 is Prof. Will Stones