The University of Sunderland has been successful in its bid to open a new medical school.
Today (March 20), the government’s department of health and social care announced that the first cohort of students will join the university in September 2019.
Sunderland is one of only five new medical schools, established to address the regional imbalance of medical education places across England and to widen such access.
The university is set to focus on GP and psychiatric training. The new programme will complement existing medical provision in the region and add to the diversity of medical schools in the UK.
Vice-chancellor, Shirley Atkinson, said: “Our bid presented a compelling case for an innovative medical school for those with talent and who present the requisite medical school entry requirements, regardless of their background and social status.
“We will provide accessible medical education training for a new generation of doctors, recruited from the communities in which they live and where they will eventually practice.”
Sunderland’s new School of Medicine has been allocated 100 places. The first cohort of 50 medical students will join in 2019-20, rising to 100 the following year.
John Mowbray, chair of the university’s board of governors, added: “This is an exciting development for our university and the region.
“Recruiting local students who will eventually practice in their own neighbourhoods is good for improving health and wellbeing in hard to reach communities.
“I am immensely proud of the teams within the university who have brought this ambition to fruition, and very grateful to the many health commissioners, practitioners and clinicians across the region who supported our bid.”
