Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Coordinates: 50°51′54″N 0°05′06″W / 50.865°N 0.085°W
| Brighton and Sussex Medical School | |
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| Established | 2002 |
| Type | Medical school |
| Dean | Prof Jonathan Cohen |
| Undergraduates | 686 (as of Oct 07) |
| Location | Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom |
| Campus | Falmer |
| Typical Offer | AAA |
| Affiliations | University of Sussex and University of Brighton |
| Website | http://www.bsms.ac.uk |
Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) is a medical school formed as a partnership of the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. Like other UK medical schools it is based on the principles and standards of 'Tomorrow's Doctor', an initiative by the General Medical Council outlining the role of British practitioners. As of 2008 the school accepts some 138 British medical students and an additional 10 from overseas, at 16 applications per place it is one of the most popular courses in the UK.[1]
[edit] History
The school is one of a number of new medical schools formed in the UK following the Labour Governments 1997 election victory. Students are technically full members of both universities with access to both sets of facilities. The school gained its license in 2002, its initial course being a heavily modified version of the University of Southampton course. It admits approximately 136 students per year with all of them being based for the first two years on the split campus at Falmer.
[edit] Introduction
The first intake of students began their five-year medical degree programmes in September 2003. The school was opened as a part of the British Government's attempts to train more doctors, which also saw Peninsula Medical School, University of East Anglia Medical School, Hull York Medical School and Keele University Medical School open their doors. Since then, it has become one of the most popular medical schools in the country. According to UCAS statistics, 2005 saw BSMS as the most competitive medical school to gain a place at, largely due to the low number of places offered.
[edit] Falmer
The University of Sussex is situated in Falmer, just out of Brighton and has direct pedestrian access into the South Downs National Park. Falmer is roughly 9 minutes away from Brighton City Centre. The campus is situated across the A27 and South Coast railway line from the Sussex Falmer site. Both the Brighton and Sussex Falmer sites have accommodation, shopping facilities and other ancillary services.
[edit] Teaching
The curriculum is a blend of both progressive and traditional teaching methods, based around lectures, practicals and small group based learning. BSMS does not use Problem Based Learning.
The University of Brighton provides the professional aspects of the course through its faculties of health, sciences and engineering using experience from other healthcare courses such as nursing and midwifery. In contrast Sussex provides primarily biological science and anatomy teaching for which it is better suited due to the close proximity of the Sussex portion of the medical school to the University of Sussex school of life sciences 'John Maynard Smith' building. Also located close by are the medical research building and the genome damage stability and control centre (an MRC research facilitiy).
The medical school requires dissection of human cadavers as a compulsory part of the course. This means the course is far more anatomically based than that of most other modern UK medical schools. As well as the emphasis on anatomy, BSMS also gives early clinical exposure, with students from preclinical years occasionally going on placements.
BSMS is notable for giving advice on PDAs and offers discounted software for students.
[edit] The intercalated degree
Although BSMS does not offer an accelerated graduate entry programme, subject to performance students may be offered the opportunity to study subjects of their choice in greater depth by taking an intercalated BSc degree in Medical Science (resulting in an extended 6 year course). This is taken between the third and fourth years of the BM BS studies and provides the necessary academic background for those who wish to embark on a career combining medical practice with medical research. It is possible to transfer to undertake the degree and then return to complete the medical course at BSMS.
[edit] Teaching hospitals and clinical placements
Students will undertake a range of clinical placements, mainly at the Royal Sussex but extending into other trust and primary care settings. The University Hospitals NHS Trust provides a full range of clinical specialties with major centres in cardiology/cardiovascular surgery, cancer, renal dialysis, neurosurgery and HIV medicine.
The clinical placements are served in the teaching hospitals throughout the south-east, including many in Kent, and all Sussex hospitals, such as the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
[edit] The Royal Sussex County Hospital
The hospital provides general hospital services and specialist services, including cancer Services (Sussex Cancer Centre Fund, Cardiac (heart) Surgery, Maternity Services, Renal (kidney) Services, Intensive Care for Adult and Intensive Care for newborn babies. It also houses the new Audrey Emerton Building, a medical education centre and library where 3rd and 4th years are based. It was opened by Baroness Audrey Emerton in 2005.
[edit] The Brighton General Hospital
Brighton General Hospital is the headquarters of South Downs Health NHS Trust.
[edit] The Princess Royal Hospital
The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, is part of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust. It is situated in the heart of Mid Sussex and the hospital enjoys far reaching views over the South Downs.
[edit] Regional attachment
In Year 5 students undertake clinical attachments in two different regional locations allocated from: Chichester, Eastbourne, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Redhill, Worthing and Brighton. Attachments will be available throughout the range of departments in an acute district general hospital, as well as community placements in mental health and general practice.
[edit] Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the country providing general and specialist acute hospital care for more than a million people.
Services are located on two main sites, the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, which work in partnership with other local community hospitals, GP practices and clinics.
The Trust provides district general hospital services to the local population of some 460,000. It also provides a range of specialist services including cancer services, neurosciences, cardiac surgery, renal services and intensive care for adults, children and newborn babies. The Trust is a very large public sector employer, employing some 5,500 staff with an annual budget of over £300 million. The Trust manages around 1,140 beds and provides the majority of its services from two main sites:
- The Royal Sussex County Hospital campus (including the Sussex Eye Hospital) in Brighton
- The Princess Royal Hospital campus (including the Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre) in Haywards Heath.
[edit] CIRU
The Brighton and Sussex Clinical Investigation and Research Unit (CIRU) is a £4 million state-of-the-art facility which offers a range of specialised equipment and resources to carry out clinical investigations, patient-centred research and research training. It is available for use by researchers from the regional health and academic sectors. It is a partnership between Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. The unit opened in September 2006 and has been developed to underpin the development of the medical school and Trust's research strategy.
[edit] CISC
The Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre (CISC) is located on the University campus at Falmer. It is due to open in summer 2007. It houses an integrated Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) imaging system and a 1.5T Magnetic Resonance (MR) imager. It provides an important resource for the School's research, particularly in oncology and neuroscience.
[edit] Institute of Postgraduate Medicine
The Institute of Postgraduate Medicine (IPGM) was founded in 2000 with Professor Richard Vincent as the Head of School. In 2006 it became one of the four academic divisions of Brighton and Sussex Medical School. The department contributes to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and also to the research output of the School.
With 80 modules up to Masters level, IPGM provides three main programmes of study including:
Clinical Specialties - Cardiology, Diabetes, Nephrology, Trauma & Orthopaedics.
Public Health - Child Health, Epidemiology, Research Methods and Critical Appraisal, Women's Health and Psychiatry.
Institute of Post Graduate Medicine, BSMS runs PG courses in Public Health and Management to meet the needs of doctors and other senior health and environmental colleagues in delivering and managing the public health and/or environmental agenda. Participants gain an understanding of public health and management issues and the various roles of all the professionals involved in both the statutory and non-statutory sectors.
Professional development - Primary Care, Personal Development, Leadership, Medical Education, Quality & Clinical Governance, Evidence-based Practice, and Knowledge & Management.
Staff research projects in the department include the preparation and support of medical teachers involved in inter-professional education; complexity theory in medical education, leadership and management; experience of non-graduates studying Masters courses; and the development of clinical reasoning in medical undergraduates.
[edit] School media
The BSMS Newsletter is published every term. The new BSMS student newspaper, The Murmur, is printed termly. The school also offers a large range of SSCs (student selected components), of which some include media and art related topics into the teaching.
[edit] Extra-curricular activities
[edit] BSMS Theatre Company
The First ever BSMS Medic Revue took place on Saturday 10 November 2007 in front of a sell-out audience in the Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton. The cast took the sell-out show to the Brighton Fringe Festival on 13 May 2008, being one of the fastest-selling shows in the fringe that year, earning a 4 star review from Three Weeks, the official Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe Festival Magazine.
The cast made a much anticipated return to the fringe with a brand new show on the 23rd and 24 May 2009, again being one of the fastest selling shows in the Fringe that year. On the back of this success, the company recently performed a short set at Komedia, a comedy club in Brighton.
The BSMS theatre company returned to the Brighton Fringe in 2010 and performed at the Brighton Dome as part of the Brighton and Sussex hospital awards ceremony hosted by local comedian, Stephen Grant.
This year the cast performed their latest show at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton, to a sell-out crowd. The following week, the company performed a 15 minute set at Komedia. The cast were also asked to perform in the comedy tent at the 'Playgroup' festival in Kent. The company will return to the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2012, where it is rumoured that they shall perform for an extra night.
Further information about the company can be found at http://www.bsmstheatre.co.uk.
[edit] BSMS Surgical Society
Since the beginning of the medical school in 2003, there has been a highly successful society for students interested in surgery. The current president of the society is a fourth year medical student at BSMS, Joseph Norris (2011/12). Under his leadership the society has hosted many successful events, including a hugely popular evening with Professor Harold Ellis. More details can be found at http://www.bsms-surgsoc.com/
[edit] BSMS Art and Medicine
[edit] Sports
[edit] Football
The BSMS Men's Football Team won the first intramural league, based at the University of Brighton, and finished sixth at the National Association of Medics' Sports tournament in Dublin.
[edit] References
- ^ "www.ukmedicalschools.com British Medical School Statistics". ukmedicalschools.com. http://www.ukmedicalschools.com/index.php?pageid=stats. Retrieved 2008-09-08.[dead link]
[edit] External links
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School Website
- South Downs Health NHS
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School Forum
- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Website
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