University of Edinburgh Medical School

University of Edinburgh Medical School

File:University of Edinburgh logo.svg
Type	Medical school
Established	1726
Dean	Prof Sir John Savill
Students	2,218 (2007/8)
Undergraduates	1,328 (2007/8)
Postgraduates	890 (2007/8)
Location	Edinburgh , Scotland
Campus	The Medical School, Teviot Place Chancellor's Building, RIE Western General Hospital Royal Hospital for Sick Children
Colours	Dark Red, Light Red and Pale Yellow (or "Liver, Blood and Pus" according to the history books)
Affiliations	University of Edinburgh
Website	http://www.mvm.ed.ac.uk/

The University of Edinburgh Medical School also known as Edinburgh Medical School or Edinburgh University Medical School is part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Established in 1726, during the Scottish Enlightenment, it is one of the oldest medical schools in the English-speaking world. It is widely regarded as one of the best medical schools in the UK and in 2013 and 2014, it ranked 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK by the Guardian University Guide, The Times Good University Guide. and the Complete University Guide. It ranked 1st in the UK in research according to the most recent RAE in 2008, 28th in the world and 6th in Europe according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-13 and 27th in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2013. According to the Saga Healthcare Survey, the medical school's main teaching hospital, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, is ranked as the best hospital in Scotland.

As of 2013 the school accepts 190 European Union medical students per year and an additional 17 students from outwith the EU. Admission is very competitive, with an acceptance rate of 11.5% for the 2012-13 admissions year. The yield rate, also known as the matriculation rate is 71% for the 2012-13 admissions year.

The medical school is associated with 6 Nobel Prize winners, 5 winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and 1 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The medical school is also associated with 3 Victoria Cross recipients.

History

Bust of Alexander Monro in Edinburgh's Old College

Although the University of Edinburgh's Faculty of Medicine was not formally organised until 1726, medicine had been taught at Edinburgh since the beginning of the sixteenth century. Its formation was dependent on the incorporation of the Surgeons and Barber Surgeons, in 1505 and the foundation of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1681.

The University was modelled on the University of Bologna, but medical teaching was based on that of the sixteenth century University of Padua, and later on the University of Leiden (where most of the founders of the faculty had studied) in an attempt to attract foreign students, and maintain potential Scottish students in Scotland.

Since the Renaissance the primary facet of medical teaching here was anatomy and therefore in 1720, Alexander Monro was appointed Professor of Anatomy. Later his son and grandson (both of the same name) would hold the position, a reign of Professor Alexander Monros lasting 128 years. In subsequent years four further chairs completed the faculty allowing it to grant the qualification of Doctor of Medicine (MD) without the assistance of the Royal College of Physicians.

Success in the teaching of medicine and surgery through the eighteenth century was achieved thanks to the first teaching hospital, town physicians and the town guild of Barber Surgeons (later to become the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh). By 1764 the number of medical students was so great that a new 200-seat Anatomy Theatre was built in the College Garden. Throughout the 18th century until the First World War the Edinburgh Medical School was widely considered the best medical school in the English speaking world. Students were attracted to the Edinburgh Medical School from Ireland, America and the Colonies by a succession of brilliant teachers, such as William Cullen, James Gregory and Joseph Black, the Medical Society and a flourishing Extra-Mural School. Graduates of the medical school went on to found the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Yale School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, University of Vermont College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

Plaque on the site of the first Royal Infirmary

The origins of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary began in a small house, opposite the head of Robertson's Close, in today's Infirmary Street. Only four beds were available from 6 August 1729 and medical students' visits were limited to two tickets only per student (to prevent crowding). This was clearly inadequate, and in 1741, shortly after the foundation of the college, a 228-bed purpose-built hospital was designed by William Adam. Due to overcrowding throughout this High School Yards site, David Bryce was commissioned to design a new hospital - the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Lauriston Place close to the university and next door to where the medical school buildings would be built in 1880.

In August 1998 a contract was signed to build a new Royal Infirmary at Little France, a replacement hospital on a mostly green field site in the south-east of the city. In May 2001 the original 20-acre (81,000 m²) Lauriston Place site was bought for £30 million by Southside Capital Ltd., a consortium comprising Taylor Woodrow, Kilmartin Property Group, and the Bank of Scotland. It is to be redeveloped as the Quartermile housing, shopping, leisure and hotel development.

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland.

The Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh

Former site of the University's Botanic Garden at Shrubhill

The Edinburgh Botanic Garden was created in 1670 for study of medicinal plants by Dr Robert Sibbald (later first Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University) and Dr Andrew Balfour. It gave a base for the development of study of Pharmacology (Materia Medica) and Chemistry. Originally at St Anne’s Yards adjacent to Holyrood Palace, the garden measured a meagre 40 square feet (3.7 m²). It moved subsequently to the ground now occupied by Waverley Station and in the 1760s was again relocated to Shrubhill between Edinburgh and Leith. It was not until after 1820 that the garden and its contents began the move to its present day location in Inverleith ('The Inverleith Garden') by Robert Graham (appointed Regius Keeper, 1820–45). It is currently recognised as the second oldest botanic garden in Britain after Oxford (OBG founded in 1620).

The nineteenth century saw a growth of new sciences at Edinburgh, notably of Physiology and Pathology, and the development of Public Health and Psychiatry. Midwifery was finally admitted as an essential part of the compulsory medical curriculum.

Women and Medical School

In 1869 Sophia Jex-Blake was reluctantly accepted to attend a limited number of classes in the School of Medicine, enrolling Edinburgh in the heated international battle for women to enter medicine. Full equality between the sexes was not achieved at Edinburgh Medical School until 20 years later. British medical schools openly refused to accept women students at this time. Jex-Blake persuaded Edinburgh University to allow not only herself, but also her friend, Edith Pechy, to attend medical lectures.

The Medical School at Teviot Place

Edinburgh Medical School, Teviot Place

Arcade off the New Quad

Floor plan of the New Medical School in 1893

In the 1860s the medical school was constrained within the Old College and by 1880 the new Royal Infirmary had been built on Lauriston Place. The construction of new medical buildings began and they were completed by 1888, in Teviot Place, adjacent to the Royal Infirmary. Together they housed the Medical Faculty with proper facilities for teaching, scientific research and practical laboratories. This complex came to be known as the "New Quad," in contrast to the Old College (sometimes known as the "Old Quad") and New College, which was not originally part of the university.

The competition to design the University's new buildings was won by the architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in 1877 (who later designed the dome of the Robert Adam/William Henry Playfair Old College building). After extensive European travel, he decided upon a 'Cinquecento' Italian Renaissance style which he judged "more suitable than Greek or Palladian, where the interior would have been constrained by the formal exterior, or mediaeval, which would have been out of keeping with the spirit of scientific medical enquiry". Initially the design incorporated a new University Graduation Hall, but as this was seen as too ambitious. A separate building was constructed for the purpose, the McEwan Hall, also designed by Anderson, after funds were made available by the brewer Sir William McEwan in 1894. The final grand structure took three years to decorate including elaborate ceiling murals and organ.

The Medical School was designed around two courts, with a grand public quadrangle at the front and, for discreet delivery of cadavers to the dissection rooms, a second private yard entered from the lane behind. The Professor of Anatomy, Sir William Turner (Professor 1867 to 1903, Principal 1903 to 1917) was placed in charge of the project leading to the construction of a three-storey galleried Anatomy Museum with displays of everything from whales to apes as well as human anatomy, an associated library and a whole series of dissecting rooms, laboratories, and a grand anatomy lecture theatre (based on that at Padua) with steeply raked benches rising above the central dissecting table. The Anatomy Museum has since been plastered and its remnants are now a student study space, off-limits to the general public, although the grand elephant skeletons that were once the hallmark of the museums entrance still remain in the east wing.

Today the medical buildings at Teviot Place focus on the teaching of pre-clinical subjects such as biochemistry and anatomy. The building still holds the anatomy teaching laboratory (although prosection has replaced dissection) and anatomy resource centre (a scaled down version of the anatomy museum) and the original lecture theatre. The building also hosts the Biomedical Teaching Organisation, where subjects allied to medicine (such as physiology and forensic science) are taught to senior biology students and to medical students taking intercalated degrees.

There are also currently plans to hand the West Wing of the medical school to the History Department of Edinburgh University, as the previous occupants (the Department of Medical Microbiology) have moved to the new campus at Little France.

The Medical School at Little France

Chancellor's Building, Little France

The Chancellor's Building was opened on 12 August 2002 by The Duke of Edinburgh and houses the new £40 million Medical School at the New Royal Infirmary in Little France. It was a joint project between private finance, the local authorities and the University to create a large modern hospital, veterinary clinic and research institute and thus the University is currently (2003) in the process of moving its Veterinary and Medical Faculties there (and quite possibly also the School of Nursing). It has two large lecture theatres and a medical library. It is connected to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by a series of corridors.

The Polish School of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh

Polish School of Medicine plaque

The Polish School of Medicine was established in 1941 as a "a wartime testament to this spirit of enlightenment". Students were to be those drawn from the Polish army to Britain and were taught in Polish. Classes in pre-clinical subjects were held at the Medical School Clinical teaching was carried out mainly at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in Lauriston Place. A separate building, the Paderewski Hospital, was built in the grounds of the Western General to provided care for members of the Polish armed forces and civilians.

The project was initiated by Lt. Col. Professor Francis Crew, then Commanding Officer at the Military Hospital in Edinburgh Castle, and Lt. Col. Dr Antoni Jurasz, the School's organiser and first Dean.

The school was closed in September 1950. 336 students matriculated of which 227 students graduated with the equivalent of an MBChB. A total of 19 doctors obtained a docMarchtorate or MD. A bronze plaque commemorating the existence of the Polish School of Medicine is located in the Quadrangle of the Medical School in Teviot Place.

The Edinburgh Model

The Edinburgh Model was a model of medical teaching developed by the University of Edinburgh in the 18th century and widely emulated around the world including at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the McGill University Faculty of Medicine. It was a two-tiered education model, revolutionary and well suited to the medical system of the UK at the time. First, the model offered its students studies in all branches of science, not just medicine. According to Mary Hewson, "every branch of science was regularly taught, and drawn together so compactly from one to the other." Edinburgh offered the most extensive selection of courses in any university in Britain.

Furthermore, it had a two-tiered education model which allowed a great number of students to matriculate, but allowed few to graduate. The requirements for an MD were very stringent. Students had to attend all lectures with the exception of midwifery (although it was strongly encouraged nonetheless), they had to study for at minimum 3 years, had to write a series of oral and written examinations in Latin and had to compose a Latin thesis and defend it before the whole faculty. Consequently, the majority of students attended Edinburgh with the intention of learning medicine for 1 year before leaving due to the costs of a degree and the fact that a MD degree was not required to practice medicine. Between 1765 and 1825, only 20% of Edinburgh students graduated with an MD.

This pedagogical model allowed Edinburgh to train many physicians and have a large network of alumni. Under this model, Edinburgh flourished as the leading medical institution in the world throughout the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries.

Admission

Gaining admission to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh is quite difficult with around 90% of applicants not offered a place.

The minimum entry qualifications include:

SQA Highers: AAAAB. AAAAB at one sitting to include Chemistry and two of Biology, Maths or Physics. Students unable to take two of Biology, Maths, Physics in S5 may take the missing subject(s) in S6. Human Biology may replace Biology. Standard Grade Credit (or Intermediate 2) in Biology, Chemistry, English, Maths.

GCE A Levels: AAA. AAA plus grade B at AS-level. A levels must include Chemistry and one of Biology, Maths or Physics. Biology at AS level required as minimum. Only one of Maths or Further Maths will be considered. Human Biology may replace Biology. GCSE grade B in Biology, Chemistry, English, Maths. Double Award Combined Sciences at grade BB may replace GCSE grades in sciences.

International Baccalaureate: 37 points. Including 667 at Higher Level with Chemistry and at least one other science subject (Biology preferred). For the 2012 admissions year, no offer was given to a student who achieved below 41 IB points with 776 at Higher Level.

Additional requirements include the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is a mandatory requirement for all students applying to study Medicine at Edinburgh and applicants are required to sit the test during the summer prior to application. Registration for the test is via the UKCAT website.

Most applicants including overseas applicants are not interviewed prior to admission.

The 5 year MBChB course can extend a pre-entry year for applicants without adequate subject choice but with the right qualifications who otherwise would be admitted on to the 5 year programme, or an extra 'intercalated year' between years 2 and 3 to gain a BSc or BMedSci in a separate scientific discipline.

The Current Course and Curriculum

Degrees available for study: Medical Sciences (BSc), Medicine (5-year course) (MBChB) with optional intercalated Medical Sciences (BMedSci).

MBChB: Years 1 & 2

Students undertake the study of Biomedical Science and Health and Society, which provide an introduction to the scientific, sociological and behavioural principles for the practice of medicine. Practical clinical and resuscitation skills are also taught. Contact is made with patients and their families in Talking with Families and Health Needs of Older People and will have the opportunity to work in a clinical setting and investigate a chosen healthcare issue.

In year 2, students undertake basic history-taking and examination in teaching general practices.

Intercalated year

This optional year achieves the student an intercalated Bachelor of Medical Sciences honours degree. 18 fields of scientific study are available and covered in great depth.

Years 3 & 4

Clinical attachments are undertaken, and an understanding of clinical medicine is taught. Bedside teaching is enhanced with lectures and opportunities are made available to students within the Royal Infirmary.

Year 5

Recovers all the topics of year's 1-4 and includes an elective period of eight weeks, when many students broaden their clinical experience by studying overseas.

Facilities

Undergraduate teaching through year 1 and 2 center mainly in the Medical School buildings on Teviot Row in the university quarter of Edinburgh city centre. Clinical years, 3, 4 and 5 are spent spread across the three main teaching hospitals in Edinburgh, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) in Little France, in the city's southern Green Belt; the Western General Hospital just west of the city centre, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the centre of the city.

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the main clinical teaching environment of the Medical School. The Chancellor's Building at Little France, next to the new Royal Infirmary was opened on 12 August 2002 by HRH Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, Chancellor to the University.

• The Biological Sciences and Hospital-based Clinical Subjects both gained a 5 rating.
• Only two other UK undergraduate medical schools also achieved a 5 rating in Hospital-based Clinical Subjects
• Plan of the Chancellor's Building - Little France
• Location of major medical buildings

EEMeC

Edinburgh Electronic Medical Curriculum is an online virtual learning environment (VLE) which allows students securely protected access direct to any of the information on or for the MBChB course. It also encompasses announcements, discussions and the use the tools embedded in EEMeC to facilitate and manage students' progress through the course including exam results and computer aided learning programmes. Created in 1998 this was one of the first of its kind in the world and has since provided a model for other medical schools to follow. In 2005 The University of Edinburgh was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for EEMeC and The Virtual Hospital Online.

Research

Edinburgh University is a member of the Russell Group of universities, receiving a quanta of a third of British research funding. In the last UK-wide Research Assessment Exercise, three quarters of the College's research staff were in academic units rated 5 or 5 star (the maximum possible ratings). This was more noteworthy in view of the large size of the College's research groupings. The College has average research income in excess of £45 million/annum, and the figure has been steadily increasing each year.

Main sources of research funding include UK research councils, UK medical and veterinary medical charities, industry and commerce and European Union bodies.

Royal Medical Society

The Royal Medical Society, the medical society at the University of Edinburgh is the oldest Medical Society in the UK. Known originally as 'the Medical Society' from 1734 it became known as 'the Royal Medical Society' from 1777. It has its own premises and a fine library built up throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, unfortunately sold at 3 sales at Sotheby's London in 1969. Much of the collection was purchased by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Ties to the United States

The Edinburgh Medical School has very strong ties to the United States. Graduates of the medical school went on to found 5 out of the 7 Ivy League medical schools (Pennsylvania, Yale, Columbia, Harvard and Dartmouth). Graduates became senators, representatives and participated in the American Revolutionary War. A great number of the early presidential physicians and surgeon generals were trained at Edinburgh. Today, the medical school maintains the strong ties through an exchange program with the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Famous alumni

Pioneers in Medicine

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
John Fothergill	MD 1736	Scottish physician, first identified and named trigeminal neuralgia
James Lind	MD 1748	Scottish military surgeon, pioneer of naval hygiene, conducted the first ever clinical trial, developed cure for scurvy and typhus, first proposed fresh water could be obtained from distilling sea water
Alexander Monro	MD 1755	Scottish physician and anatomist, described the lymphatic system, elucidated the musculo-skeletal system, described the foramen of Monro
William Withering	MD 1766	English botanist and physician, discovered Digoxin
Benjamin Bell	1767	Scottish surgeon, Father of Edinburgh's school of surgery, first to suggest syphilis and gonnorhea were not the same disease
John Cheyne	MD 1795	Scottish physician, discovered Cheyne-Stokes respiration, Physician General to the British Armed Forces in Ireland
Charles Bell	MD 1798	Scottish anatomist and neurologist, discovered Bell's palsy
John Collins Warren	MD 1801	American surgeon, performed the first surgery under ether anesthesia in 1846, first dean of Harvard Medical School, co-founder of Massachusetts General Hospital
James Blundell	MD 1813	English obstetrician, who performed the first successful human to human blood transfusion
Richard Bright	MD 1813	English physician, discovered Bright's disease, known as the "father of nephrology"
Thomas Addison	MD 1815	English physician, discovered Addison's disease, pernicious anemia and Addison-Schilder syndrome
Robert Liston	1815	Scottish surgeon, inventor of artery forceps and the Liston knife, known as "the fastest surgeon alive"
James Begbie	MD 1821	Scottish physician, first described Graves' Disease also known as Begbie's disease, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Thomas Hodgkin	MD 1823	English pathologist, described Hodgkin's lymphoma
Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy	MD 1829	Irish physician, introduced Cannabis, also known as medical marijuana, into Western medicine, inventor of IV therapy, pioneered work on telegraphy and installed 3500 miles of telegraph lines in India
Sir James Young Simpson	MD 1832	discovered chloroform anaesthesia in 1847, revolutionising obstetric and surgical practice
James Spence	1832, Prof. Systemic Surgery 1864-1882	Scottish surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, the tail of Spence is named after him
John Murray Carnochan	1834	American neurosurgeon, performed the world's first successful surgery for trigeminal neuralgia
John Hughes Bennett	MD 1837	English physician, first to describe aspergillosis and first identified leukaemia as a blood disorder
William Budd	MD 1838	Scottish physician, first recognized that infectious disease was contagious and could be spread through feces
Alexander Wood	MD 1839	Scottish physician, invented the first hypodermic syringe
John Struthers	MD 1845	Scottish anatomist, discovered and described the vestigial organ Ligament of Struthers which was used by Charles Darwin to argue the case for evolution
Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton	BSc 1867, MD 1768, DSc 1870	discovered organic nitrates had the ability to alleviate angina pectoris
Robert Marcus Gunn	MB 1873, CM 1873	Scottish ophthalmologist, discovered Gunn's Sign and the Marcus Gunn pupil
Sir George Beatson	MD 1878	surgical oncologist who pioneered oophorectomy, the removal of the ovaries in the treatment of breast cancer
David Bruce	MB 1881, CM 1881	Scottish pathologist, identified the cause of sleeping sickness and discovered Malta fever and brucellosis
John Scott Haldane	MB 1884, CM 1884	Scottish physiologist, invented the the decompression chamber, first proposed placing a "canary in the coal mine" to warn of dangerous carbon monoxide levels, international authority on ether and respiration, discovered the Haldane effect on hemoglobin
Harold Stiles	MB 1885, CM 1885, FRCS(Edin) 1889	British surgeon, known for research in tuberculosis and breast cancer, performed first pyloromyotomy
Percy Theodore Herring	MB 1896, CM 1896, MD 1899	English physician, discovered herring bodies
Samuel Wilson	MB 1902, BSc 1903, MD 1912	British neurologist, described Wilson's disease
Thomas Addis	MB 1905, MD 1908	Scottish-American physician, described the pathogenesis of haemophilia, demonstrated that normal blood plasma could correct the defect in haemophilia
Cuthbert Dukes	MD 1914	English pathologist, devised the Dukes classification system for colorectal cancer
Robert Edwards	PhD 1955	British physiologist, developed in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Randy Schekman	1970	American cell biologist, discovered cell membrane trafficking, discovered machinery regulating vesicle traffic, awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Peter C. Doherty	PhD 1970	Australian veterinary surgeon, discovered how T cells recognize antigens in combination with major histocompatibility complex proteins, awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Adrian Peter Bird	PhD 1970, Buchanan Prof. of Genetics 1990-Present	British geneticist, discovered the protein MeCP2 involved in DNA methylation, awarded the 2011 Gairdner Foundation International Award for discoveries in DNA methylation and gene expression
Valentin Fuster	PhD 1971, Research Fellow 1968-1971	Prominent Spanish cardiologist, only cardiologist to receive the 2 highest gold medals and all 4 major research awards from the world's four major cardiovascular organizations, named as "one of the best doctors in America and New York" since 1992, leader of the CNIC-Ferrer polypill project, demonstrated platelets role in CABG occlusion
Ian Frazer	BSc 1974, MB 1977, ChB 1977	Scottish-Australian physician, discovered the link between HPV and cervical cancer, co-invented the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, CEO and Director of Research at the Translational Institute of Research, University of Queensland
David Baulcombe	PhD 1977	British plant scientist, discovered small interfering RNA, awarded the 2008 Lasker Award and the 2010 Wolf Prize in Agriculture.
Richard Eastell	MB 1977, ChB 1977, MD 1984	British physician, pioneered treatments in osteoporosis
Nanshan Zhong	MD 1981	Chinese pulmonologist, discovered the SARS virus in 2003, President of the Chinese Medical Association
Gordon Wishart	MB 1983, ChB 1983, MD 1992	British breast surgeon, identified P-glycoprotein in breast cancer, introduced early patient discharge following breast surgery, pioneered minimally invasive parathyroid surgery, pioneered pre-operative axillary lymph node breast cancer staging

Founders of Medical Schools

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
John Morgan	MD 1763	Founder of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, founder of the American Philosophical Society, served as Chief Physician and Director General of the Continental Army
Samuel Bard	MD 1765	Founder and President of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, described diphtheria, presidential physician to George Washington
Benjamin Waterhouse	1778	Co-founder of Harvard Medical School
Nathan Smith	1797	New England physician and founder of the Yale School of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, University of Vermont College of Medicine and the medical school at Bowdoin College
Andrew Fernando Holmes	MD 1819	Co-founder and dean of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine
Francis Badgley	MD 1829	Co-founder and professor of the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine
Sophia Jex-Blake	1873	Founder of two medical schools for women in London and Edinburgh
Dugald Christie	MB 1882, CM 1882	Founder of Mukden Medical College in China, now known as the China Medical University

Leaders in Medicine

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Robert Whytt	1734	President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, First physician to the King in Scotland, wrote book on diseases of the nervous system
William Cullen	1736, Prof. Physiology 1756-89	President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (1746-7), President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1773-75), first physician to the King in Scotland
Francis Home	MD 1750, Prof. Materia Medica 1768-1798	President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, co-founder of the Royal Medical Society, made the first attempt to vaccinate against measles
James Craik	MD 1750	Physician General of the Continental Army, Personal Physician and close friend of George Washington
William Shippen Jr.	MD 1761	Surgeon General of the Continental Army, co-founder and president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Andrew Duncan Sr.	1768, Prof. Medicine 1773-1824	President of the Royal Medical Society and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, First physician to the King in Scotland, founder of the Harveian Society, founder of the first lunatic asylum in Edinburgh
John Coakley Lettsom	1768	Philanthropist, Founder of the Medical Society of London
Benjamin Rush	MD 1768	Founding Father of the United States, Surgeon General of the Continental Army, founder of Dickinson College
Sir Gilbert Blane	1773	Physician to the King (George IV and William IV) and the Prince of Wales, instituted health reform in the Royal Navy
Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet	1788	Founder of the Royal Army Medical Corps
James Gregory	MD 1774	President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and author
Andrew Duncan Jr.	MA 1793, MD 1794, Prof. Med Jurisprudence 1807-1832	Creator of the journal Edinburgh New Dispensatory, Chief Editor of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal
David Maclagan	MD 1805	Physician to the Forces, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
William Alison	MD 1811, Prof. Medicine and Physic 1822-1856	Scottish physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, advocate of preventative social medicine
Robert Christison	MD 1819, Prof. Medical Jurisprudence 1822-1832, Prof. Materia Medica and Therapeutics 1832-1877	Scottish physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the British Medical Association, Physician in Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland, expert in toxicology and key witness in the Burke and Hare trial.
Thomas Graham Balfour	MD 1834	Scottish physician, President of the Royal Statistical Society, Staff Surgeon at the Royal Military Asylum
William Tennant Gairdner	MD 1845	President of the British Medical Association
John Smith	MD 1847	Founder of the Edinburgh school of dentistry, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the British Dental Association, co-founder of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
Huang Kuan	MD 1855, PhD 1857	First Chinese student to study medicine in the west, Deputy-Chief of Boji Hospital
Joseph Bell	MD 1859	Scottish surgeon, lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and personal surgeon to Queen Victoria, served as the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes
Frederick Montizambert	MD 1865	Canadian physician, first Director-General of Public Health in Canada, President of the Canadian Medical Association, President of the American Public Health Association, inductee to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Robert Muir	MA 1884, MB 1888, CM 1888, MD 1890	Scottish pathologist, author of Muir's Textbook of Pathology
Lim Boon Keng	MB 1892, CM 1892	Singaporean physician, co-founder of the Singapore Chinese Girl's School, recipient of the Order of the British Empire as an officer, President of Xiamen University
Andrew Balfour	MB 1894, CM 1894, MD 1898, BSc 1900	Scottish physician, Medical Officer of Health in Khartoum, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
George Newman	MD 1895	English physician, Chief Medical Officer of England
J.C. Boileau Grant	MB 1908, ChB 1908	Anatomist, author of Grant's Atlas of Anatomy
Alexander Biggam	MB 1911, ChB 1911, MD 1942	Scottish physician, Major General in the British Army, Honorary physician to King George VI
Stanley Davidson	MB 1919, ChB 1919	British physician, author of Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine
Robert Lim	MB 1919, ChB 1919, PhD 1920, DSc 1924	Singaporean physician, Lieutenant General and Surgeon General of the Army of the Republic of China
Charles Illingworth	MB 1922, ChB 1922, MD 1929, ChM 1939	President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Surgeon to the Queen in Scotland
John George Macleod	MB 1938, ChB 1938	Scottish physician, author of Macleod's Clinical Examination
Ekkehard von Kuenssberg	MB 1939, ChB 1939	Founder and President of the Royal College of General Practitioners
Yao Zhen	PhD 1949	Co-founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Cell Research, first president of the Asian-Pacific Organization for Cell Biology
Sydney Selwyn	BSc, MB, ChB, MD	Authority on the history of medicine, designed the Florence Nightingale 10 pound note, pioneer in bone marrow transplantation
Sheila Sherlock	MB 1941, ChB 1941, MD 1945	First woman in the UK to be appointed professor of medicine, published over 600 papers, founded the liver unit at London's Royal Free Hospital
Yao Zhen	PhD 1949	Co-founder and editor in chief of the journal Cell Research, first president of the Asia-Pacific Organization for Cell Biology
Seneka Bibile	PhD 1952	Founder of the Sri Lanka National Pharmaceuticals Policy
Philip Raffaelli	MB 1979, ChB 1979	Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces, Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, Governor of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Pioneers in Science and Humanities

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
James Hutton	1747	Scottish physician, geologist, known for theories on Deep time and Gaia Hypothesis
Joseph Black	MD 1754	Scottish physician and chemist, discoverer of carbon dioxide, latent heat and specific heat
Erasmus Darwin	1755	physician, poet, author and evolutionary biologist.
Daniel Rutherford	MD 1772, Prof. Medicine and Botany 1786-1819	Scottish physician, chemist and botanist, first to isolate nitrogen in 1772
Thomas Charles Hope	MD 1787, Prof. Medicine and Chemistry 1799-1843	Scottish physician, chemist, discovered the element strontium, demonstrated that water reached its maximum density at 4C in an experiment called Hope's experiment, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Robert Brown	1793	Scottish botanist, named and described the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming, discovered Brownian motion, discovered the difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms
Thomas Brown	MD 1803	Scottish metaphysician
William Prout	MD 1811	English physician and chemist, known for Prout's hypothesis, discovered hydrochloric acid in the stomach and improved the barometer
James Braid	1814	Scottish surgeon, pioneer of hypnotism and hypnotherapy
Robert Edmond Grant	MD 1814	Scottish physician, biologist, mentor of Charles Darwin
Richard Owen	1825	English biologist, coined the word Dinosauria, opponent of the theory of evolution
Charles Darwin	1827	English naturalist, published the theory of evolution, author of On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man
David Boswell Reid	MD 1830	Scottish physician, inventor, expert on ventilation, President of the Royal Medical Society
Charles Wyville Thomson	MD 1845	Chief scientist of the Challenger expedition, discovered animal life at depths of 1200m
John Kirk	MD 1854	Scottish physician, botanist, companion of David Livingstone, identified the Zanzibar Red Colobus, British Consul in Zanzibar
Alexander Crum Brown	MA 1858, MD 1861, Prof. Chemistry 1869-1908	Scottish physician and chemist, discovered the double bond of ethylene, introduced the name kerogen for insoluble organic matter in oil shale.
John Anderson	MD 1862	Scottish zoologist, first curator of the Indian Museum in Calcutta
Neil Gordon Munro	MB 1888, CM 1888, MD 1909	Scottish physician, anthropologist, one of the first people to study the Ainu people of Hokkaido

Non-Medical Accomplishments

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Samuel Seabury	1753	first American Episcopal bishop, first bishop of Connecticut
Oliver Goldsmith	1754	Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, author of the novel The Vicar of Wakefield and the children's tale of The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes
William Buchan	MD 1761	Author of the book "Domestic Medicine"
Gustavus Richard Brown	MD 1768	United States Representative from Maryland, physician at George Washington's deathbed.
Thomas Tudor Tucker	MD 1770	United States Representative from South Carolina, longest serving Treasurer of the United States, presidential physician to James Madison
Henry Latimer	MD 1775	United States Senator from Delaware
George Logan	MD 1779	United States Senator from Pennsylvania
William Crawford	MD 1781	United States Representative from Pennsylvania's 5th and 6th Congressional districts
Samuel L. Mitchill	MD 1786	United States Senator from New York
James Jones	MD 1796	United States Representative from Virginia
William Jardine	MD 1802	Co-founder of Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company, Whig MP for Ashburton
John Crawfurd	MD 1803	Scottish physician, Governor of Singapore
James C. Crow	MD 1822	Scottish inventor of the sour mash proceess for creating Bourbon whiskey, creator of the Old Crow brand of Bourbon whiskey
John Rae	MD 1833	Scottish explorer, discovered the fate of the Franklin Expedition, discovered Rae Straight, showed that King William Land was an island
David Monro	MD 1835	Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, MP representing Waimea
William Johnston Almon	1836	Nova Scotian physician, Canadian Senator from Nova Scotia, Canadian MP for Halifax
Logan Campbell	MD 1839	New Zealand physician, Mayor of Auckland, co-founder of Auckland Savings Bank, Superintendent of Auckland, known as the "Father of Auckland"
Sir Charles Tupper	MD 1843	6th Prime Minister of Canada and father of confederation
Valentine Munbee McMaster	MD 1853	British army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, for the intrepidity with which he exposed himself to the fire of the enemy, in bringing in, and attending to, the wounded, on the 25th of September, at Lucknow
William Henry Thomas Sylvester	LRCS(Edin) 1853	British army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, for coming to the aid of an officer who was mortally wounded and remained with him, dressing his wounds, in a most dangerous and exposed situation on the 8th of September, and again on the 18th of September.
Campbell Mellis Douglas	MD 1861	Canadian army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, for risking their lives in manning a boat and proceeding through dangerous surf to rescue some of their comrades who had been sent to the island to find out the fate of the commander and seven of the crew.
Henry Halcro Johnston	MB 1880, CM 1880, MD 1893, BSc 1893, DSc 1894	Scottish botanist, represented Scotland internationally in rugby union, Colonel in the British Army
William Babtie	LRCP(Edin) 1880, LRCS(Edin) 1880	Scottish surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, he exposed himself to heavy fire to tend to the wounded including going with Captain Walter Norris Congreve to bring in Lieutenant Frederick Hugh Sherston (The Hon.) Roberts who was lying wounded on the veldt during the Second Boer War, Lieutenant General in the British Army
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle	MB 1881, CM 1881, MD 1885	novelist, creator of the character Sherlock Holmes
John Batty Tuke	MB 1881, CM 1881, MD 1890	Scottish psychiatrist, Conservative MP for the University of Edinburgh and St Andrews
Robert Stirton Thornton	MB 1884, CM 1884	Minister of Education for Manitoba, President of the Medical Council of Canada
George Ernest Morrison	MD 1895	Australian adventurer, The Times correspondent in Peking during Boxer Rebellion	{{Alum	name=Henry Edward Manning Douglas	year= LRCP(Edin) 1898, LRCS(Edin) 1898	nota=Scottish surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, he showed great gallantry and devotion under a very severe fire in advancing in the open and attending to Captain Gordon, Gordon Highlanders, who was wounded, and also attending to Major Robinson and other wounded men under a fearful fire. Many similar acts of devotion and gallantry were performed by Lieutenant Douglas on the same day, Major General in the British Army.
Bernard Friedman	MB 1921, ChB 1921	South African surgeon, co-founder of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party
Robert McIntyre	MB 1938, ChB 1938	Scottish politician, leader of the Scottish National Party from 1947-56, first SNP MP for Motherwell
Lim Chong Eu	MB 1944, ChB 1944	Malaysian politician, served as Chief Minister of Penang for a record 21 years, co-founder and president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
Kerry Lang	MB 1998, ChB 1998	British triathelete, British Triathlon Vice Champion of the Year 2009

Faculty

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

Name	Department	Notability	Reference
Robert Sibbald	Prof. of Medicine 1685-1722,	Scottish physician, first described the blue whale, founder of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
William Cullen	Prof. of Chemistry and Medicine 1755-1766, Prof. of Institutes of Medicine 1766-1773, Prof. of Medicine 1773-1790	Scottish physician, first demonstrated artificial refrigeration
James Syme	Prof. Clinical Surgery 1833-1848, FRCS(Edin) 1823,	Scottish surgeon, invented Mackintosh
Joseph Lister	Prof. Clinical Surgery 1869-1877, FRCS(Edin) 1855,	Scottish surgeon, introduced carbolic acid to sterilize surgical instruments
Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer	Chair of Physiology 1883-1933	English physiologist, regarded as the founder of endocrinology, discovered adrenaline, coined the terms endocrine and insulin
George Barger	Prof. Chemistry in Relation to Medicine 1919-1937,	British chemist, identified tyramine, contributed to the synthesis of thyroxine and Vitamin B1
Vincent du Vigneaud	National Research Council Fellow 1928-1929,	American biochemist, discovered oxytocin, awarded the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Hermann Joseph Muller	Post-doctoral researcher 1937-1940,	American geneticist, discovered that mutations could be caused by X-rays, awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
John Crofton	Prof. Respiratory Disease and Tuberculosis 1952-1977,	British physician, pioneered the treatment of tuberculosis, which was known as the Edinburgh method.
Michael Woodruff	Chair of Surgical Science 1957-1976,	British transplant surgeon, performed the first ever kidney transplant in the UK
Kenneth Murray	Head of Molecular Biology 1967-84, Biogen Professor of Molecular Biology 1984-1998, FRSE 2000	Developed recombinant DNA technology, developed the vaccine for Hepatitis B, co-founder of biotechnology company Biogen
Paul Nurse	Post-doctoral researcher 1973-1979	Discovered the proteins cyclin and cdk as well as the genes cdc2 and cdk1 that are involved in the cell cycle, awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Andrew H. Wyllie	Prof. Experimental Pathology 1992-1998, FRS 1995,	Scottish pathologist, discovered the importance of programmed cell death and coined the term apoptosis
Matthew Kaufman	Prof. Anatomy 1985-2007, FRS(Edin) 2008	First to derive embryonic stem cells from mouse embryos
Sir Ian Wilmut	Prof. Emeritus 2006-Present, FRS(Edin) 2000	Scottish embryologist, first to clone a mammal, a Finn Dorset lamb named Dolly

In popular culture

• In the television show NCIS, the chief medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard studied medicine at Edinburgh.
• In the BBC soap opera Doctors, Dr. Emma Reid studied medicine at Edinburgh
• The character Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself a graduate of Edinburgh, was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, a graduate and lecturer at Edinburgh.

Doctors Pub

Situated directly across the road from the medical school buildings and the old Royal Infirmary, "Doctors" has been the refuge since the 1970s of many Edinburgh Medical School graduates and students. History drapes the walls in the forms of plaques and photographs.

Further reading

Matthew Kaufman, Medical Teaching in Edinburgh during the 18th and 19th Centuries (Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2003), ISBN 0-9503620-8-5 [2]

Tara Womersley, Dorothy H Crawford, Bodysnatchers to Lifesavers: Three Centuries of Medicine in Edinburgh (Luath Press Ltd, Edinburgh, 2010), ISBN 978-1-906817-58-9

External links

• The Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh
• The Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
• Sophia Jex-Blake
• Admission FAQ's