Swansea University Medical School is ranked as the 3rd best medical school in the UK by the Complete University Guide. Swansea University is the top university in Wales in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017 league table – and has also won the inaugural Welsh University of the Year title.
The Medical School leads a four-year graduate entry medicine degree (MB BCh) alongside BSc degrees in Applied Medical Sciences, Genetics, and Biochemistry. The school also teaches higher degree programmes, including PhD, MD, MCh and master's degrees. In 2017, the Graduate Entry Medicine degree was featured in the QS World University Rankings for the first time.[1]
Swansea University Medical School employs four core activities; Learning and Teaching, Research, Enterprise and Innovation and collaboration with the NHS.[2]
In January 2017, the British Heart Foundation relocated to Swansea University Medical School and housed itself in the Institute of Life Science.[3]
In March, the Medical School announced a new partnership with Pfizer which involves the pharmaceutical company locating itself at the university's Bay Campus.[4]
History
Swansea University first attempted to establish a medical school in the 1960s but initially missed out on other schools. The university did succeed in introducing Genetics and Biochemistry departments, laying the foundations for future expansion into medicine.
Following Welsh political devolution in the 1990s, fresh calls were made to establish a medical school to serve the people of southwest Wales. In 2001, the Welsh Government established a medical school at the university's Singleton Park campus. By 2004, the clinical school had developed into the School of Medicine, welcoming its first students onto the Graduate Entry Medicine course – a 4-year fast-track graduate entry programme in 2004 in collaboration with Cardiff University.[5]
Swansea University Medical School – Data Science building
The Medical School has undergone considerable expansion, with the opening of the Institute of Life Science 1 (ILS1) in 2007, and the Institute of Life Science 2 in 2012.[6]
A Centre for NanoHealth, the first of its kind in Europe opened in 2011 for research into NanoHealth technologies.[7]
In 2012 ILS2 became home to one of 4 UK centres for eHealth Research (HeRCs) funded by a Medical Research Council-led consortium of funders.[8] The college also hosts the EPSRC National Mass Spectrometry Service.[9]
The 2014 Research Excellence Framework gave the Medical School a glowing report, ranking it joint 1st as the best research environment in the UK and 2nd in the UK for overall research quality.[10]
The new Data Science building was opened in 2015.[citation needed]
In 2016, Swansea University Medical School was awarded the Athena SWAN Silver award, making it the first department in the university to achieve the prize, dedicated to promoting equality in the workforce.[11]
In March 2017, a number of new developments were announced as part of the ARCH project, including two new Institutes of Life Science, and the Llanelli Wellness & Life Science Village[12]
Research
The Institute of Life Science (ILS) is the research and innovation arm of the Medical School. It comprises two purpose built research facilities (ILS1 and ILS2) which represent an £80 million investment at Swansea University's Singleton Park campus in Swansea, equipped with an IBM Blue-C supercomputer.[citation needed]
Swansea University Medical School – Institute of Life Science 2
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 87% of staff in the school were assessed as producing research of international quality or above.[13]
The school currently employs 4 main research themes Biomarkers & Genes, Devices, Microbes & Immunity Patient & Population Healthy. These themes are centred around the main research facilities, including Biomedical Laboratories, Informatics, the Institute of Mass Spectrometry, the Centre for NanoHealth, Commercial Incubators and the Joint Clinical Research Facility.[citation needed]
Swansea University Medical School provides one of a small number of Graduate Entry Medicine programmes currently available in the UK. The course is also unique for being open to graduates of any discipline who meet the entry requirements of the school, which includes the GAMSAT exam (UK/EU and international students) or the MCAT exam (international students only[14]). Traditionally restricted to UK and EU applicants, the course is now open to candidates from around the world.[citation needed]
Institute of life sciences
The 4-year programme, which combines learning weeks and clinical placements, doesn't adhere to the traditional 'body systems' approach but attempts to imitate clinical practice methods regarding how clinicians approach patients and vice versa. To allow students to hone their skills, it provides early and continued exposure clinical practice through learning opportunities in the clinical setting (LOCS), community-based learning, clinical apprenticeships and speciality attachments.[15]
As part of a commitment to widening access, many of these courses include a Pathway to Medicine, feeder modules for access to {MBBCh]] Graduate Entry Medicine as well as Foundation Year programmes.[19]
Postgraduate Courses
View of Mumbles from ILS2, Swansea University Medical School
Swansea University Medical School has a range of Postgraduate taught programmes,[20] including:
Diabetes Practise
Genomic Medicine
Health Data Science
Health Informatics
Leadership for the Health Professions (with distance learning option)
The medical school also offers researsch degrees including D.Prof, MRes, Masters by Research, MPhil, MD and PhD.[20]
Societies
Swansea University Medical School has a number of student-led societies, including the Medical Society (the society for the Graduate Entry Medicine programme[21]), the Medical Life Science Society (aimed at all undergraduate and postgraduate degrees) and others including GP Society, Surgical Society, and the Swansea Gambia Link.[22]
ARCH
Swansea University Medical School is a central part of ARCH, A Regional Collaboration for Health. The medical school has ambitious plans to work closely with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Hywel Dda to transform home and hospital care across the region, including the continued investment in Singleton and Morriston Hospitals, and the development of a multi-million pound Medi-Park[23]
Notable academics
Keith Lloyd, Dean & Head of Medical School. Chair of Welsh Psychiatric society.
Julian Hopkin CBE, Founder of Medical School. Awarded CBE in 2011 for service to medicine.
Professor Catherine Thornton Head of Medical School. Member of Management and Executive Boards of the Life Sciences Research Network for Wales.
Ronan Lyons Clinical Professor of Public Health. Director of the National Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research. Director of the Farr Institute Centre for the Improvement of Population Health.
