Excellence in teaching and educational research

The School's excellence in teaching has been built on successful partnership working with its partner medical schools and four NHS Health Boards. The success of the School is recognised in NSS scores, in securing the competitive Scottish graduate entry medical programme and via the continued recommendations received by external regulators for the School's programmes. 

The School's main areas of teaching are:

The BSc (Hons) Medicine

A unique pathway in the UK, this degree gives greater grounding in basic science integrated with clinical teaching and full body dissection. The School will continue to ensure students transfer equipped and prepared for their partner Schools to complete their medical degree. The programme will continually adapt to ensure students have contemporary knowledge, skills and professionalism for the future medical environment.

ScotGEM graduate-entry MBChB

Scotland’s only graduate-entry MBChB is built round innovative community medical education hubs where teaching and research interacts with GPs and other community health professionals. The School will continue to develop this programme with partners to ensure the programme meets the demands of the NHS in Scotland, equipping students with the skills to be agents of change within the healthcare environment.

Continued innovation in new programmes

The School will utilise its strengths and collaborations to capitalise on renewed ability to award an MBChB to position the School for further Scottish medical student numbers.

A programme of Postgraduate Taught (PGT) and Short courses will allow continued expansion of the School's staff base.

Medical Learning Technology

The School's learning technology, embedded in the core of all taught programmes, is recognised as national leaders (NES support team of the year, 2020).

Developing, implementing and supporting a range of innovative technology will be a continued focus in taught programmes including within the PGT programme.

Pedagogical and staff excellence

The School will continue to enhance the academic culture with mechanisms which encourage Education focussed staff development. These include bespoke education journal clubs, talks, training workshops, internal networking and encouraging research funding applications and professional accreditation. 

Education research will be supported in the School through ongoing PhD studentship and intermediate fellowship programmes. 

Supporting our students and their diversity

A student base with a wide range of healthcare experiences and cultural backgrounds benefits all learners. The International Foundation for Medicine programme for overseas students and Gateway for home students provides a global and diverse route into Medicine for applicants from around 25 countries who would not normally enter Medicine.

The A990 collaboration with University of Alberta provides further diversity by adding a cohort of Canadian students.

The School will continue to build upon its widening participation and outreach activities to empower students from all backgrounds. The School is committed to the British Medical Association’s Racial Harassment Charter and decolonisation of its curriculum and will continue to ensure a breadth of opportunity and support for all students in a supported, nurturing environment.