King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Encyclopedia
King's College London School of Medicine (informally KCLMS) is the medical school of King's College London
, and one of the United Hospitals
. The school has campuses at Guy's Hospital
(Southwark
), King's College Hospital
(Lambeth
) and St Thomas' Hospital
(Lambeth
) in London
.
The school in its current guise was formed when it joined with Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals (both on the south bank of the Thames in central London
), following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in August 1998.
The combined entity was originally referred to as the GKT School of Medicine between 1998 and 2005. However due to confusion over the official name of the institute, especially with regards to research emerging from the university, it was rebranded as the King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals. The medical school as a whole is the largest in Europe
. It has an annual intake of around 335 places on the standard MBBS
Programme, 50 places on the Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP) and 28 places on the Graduate Medical Program
. It receives more applications for medicine than any other UK medical school and as of 2007 applicants were required to sit the UKCAT
admission test.
, a governor of St Thomas', founded Guy's Hospital in 1721 as a place to treat 'incurables' discharged from St Thomas'.
St Thomas's Hospital Medical School was founded in 1550 and was sited across St Thomas' Hospital and Guy's Hospital. In 1769 it was decided that Guy's would teach mainly medical subjects, whereas St Thomas' would focus on surgery and the joint teaching institution was generally known as The Borough Hospitals. However, a dispute between the two hospitals regarding the successor to Sir Astley Cooper
resulted in Guy's Hospital establishing its own medical school in 1825. After this, students of surgeons attended operations at both hospitals until 1836. A riot between students of the two hospitals broke out in the operating theatre at St. Thomas's in 1836 which ended the arrangement. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School and Guy's Hospital Medical School were two of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK.
In 1982 the two medical schools decided to merge and formed the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, more commonly known as UMDS. It was enlarged in 1983 when the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surgery merged with Guy's Hospital Dental School, and again in 1985 with the addition of the Postgraduate Institute of Dermatology.
Initially students of UMDS were allocated to one of the two campuses, with most preclinical teaching and all clinical teaching being separate. With the intake of 1989, students ceased being allocated in this way, and teaching for all students was divided between the campuses and their peripheral hospitals.
Discussions between King's College London (which had trained medical students since it was established and founded its own hospital, King's College Hospital, in 1840) and UMDS regarding a further merger began in 1992. UMDS was subsequently absorbed into King's College London in 1998, forming the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, more commonly known as GKT. In 2005, the entity was rebranded King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals, also known as KCLMS. However it is still widely known as GKT amongst current students, graduates and consultants who consider themselves affiliated to the hospitals rather than the university.
Recently the dental school became the Dental Institute and the remainder was renamed the King's College School of Medicine. The dean, Robert Lechler, oversees the running of both the Medical and Dental schools, as well as the School of Biomedical Sciences (all three were formerly regarded as GKT before the rebranding). However each has its own dean; the Dean of School of Medicine is Anne Greenough while the Dean of the Dental Institute is Nairn Wilson.
Currently, the School hosts six MRC Centres, more than anywhere else in the world:
The two MRC Centres in Transplantation and the Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma in 2008 alone were awarded 'Centre of Excellence' status by the British Heart Foundation with funding of £9 million and a £4 million Breakthrough Breast Cancer Unit was opened in 2009.
The School is also host to its own 'Centre of Medical Law and Ethics', the first of its kind in the UK, and in March 2009, the school was accredited as an Academic health science centre
, one of only five in the UK.
Like other medical schools in the UK, KCLMS has its own sports teams which compete in various student sports leagues and tournaments. Despite officially being called 'KCLMS', the teams are still widely known as 'GKT'.
Like most other universities in London GKT sports teams take part in the BUCS leagues and cups and the ULU leagues and cups. The GKT teams also take part in the United Hospitals Cup
, which is a sporting competition played between the medical, dental and veterinary schools of London in all sports. The two most popular and biggest of the competitions include the United Hospitals Bumps (rowing) and the men's rugby. The GKT men's 1st VIII has held the bumps headship for the past 5 years running and, in 2009, the GKT men's, women's and alumni crews won 7 of the 8 bumps classes. In recent history the rugby final has often been contested between GKT and Imperial College School of Medicine
.
GKT has a fierce sporting rivalry with King's College London. This rivalry led to the founding of the Macadam Cup
in 2004, which pits GKT and KCL sports teams against each other and includes events ranging from hockey to darts. As of 2010, King's College London has yet to win the Macadam Cup, leading to chants of "You'll never win Macadam".
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, and one of the United Hospitals
United Hospitals
United Hospitals is the historical collective name of the medical schools of London. They are all part of the University of London with the exception of Imperial College School of Medicine which left in 2007. The original United Hospitals referred to Guy's Hospital and St Thomas's Hospital and...
. The school has campuses at Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
(Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
), King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is an acute care facility in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH"...
(Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
) and St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
(Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The school in its current guise was formed when it joined with Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals (both on the south bank of the Thames in central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in August 1998.
The combined entity was originally referred to as the GKT School of Medicine between 1998 and 2005. However due to confusion over the official name of the institute, especially with regards to research emerging from the university, it was rebranded as the King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals. The medical school as a whole is the largest in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It has an annual intake of around 335 places on the standard MBBS
MBBS
MBBS was a popular BBS system in the Nordic countries during the mid-1990s. It was created by a team of Oslo-based enthusiasts, led by Mike Robertson. As many BBS systems of that era, it was only available for the DOS platform. Since one process could only handle one node, multitaskers such as...
Programme, 50 places on the Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP) and 28 places on the Graduate Medical Program
Graduate Medical Program
Graduate Medical Program or sometimes also known as Graduate Entry Program or Graduate Entry Medicine are terms generally used outside of the United States to refer to medical programs usually of 4-years duration where applicants are university graduates who have taken aptitude tests such as the...
. It receives more applications for medicine than any other UK medical school and as of 2007 applicants were required to sit the UKCAT
UKCAT
The UK Clinical Aptitude Test is a test that is beginning to be used in the selection process by a consortium of UK university Medical and Dental Schools. It is run by the UKCAT Consortium in partnership with Pearson VUE...
admission test.
History
Of the three hospitals associated with King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry, St Thomas' Hospital is the oldest and was founded in 1173. Sir Thomas GuyThomas Guy
Thomas Guy was a British bookseller, speculator and de facto founder of Guy's Hospital, London-Early life:Thomas Guy was born a son of a lighterman, wharf owner and coal-dealer at Southwark. In 1668, after eight years as an apprentice of a bookseller, he began his own bookstore in Lombard Street...
, a governor of St Thomas', founded Guy's Hospital in 1721 as a place to treat 'incurables' discharged from St Thomas'.
St Thomas's Hospital Medical School was founded in 1550 and was sited across St Thomas' Hospital and Guy's Hospital. In 1769 it was decided that Guy's would teach mainly medical subjects, whereas St Thomas' would focus on surgery and the joint teaching institution was generally known as The Borough Hospitals. However, a dispute between the two hospitals regarding the successor to Sir Astley Cooper
Astley Cooper
Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet was an English surgeon and anatomist, who made historical contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology and surgery of hernia.-Life:Cooper was born at Brooke Hall in Brooke, Norfolk...
resulted in Guy's Hospital establishing its own medical school in 1825. After this, students of surgeons attended operations at both hospitals until 1836. A riot between students of the two hospitals broke out in the operating theatre at St. Thomas's in 1836 which ended the arrangement. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School and Guy's Hospital Medical School were two of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK.
In 1982 the two medical schools decided to merge and formed the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, more commonly known as UMDS. It was enlarged in 1983 when the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surgery merged with Guy's Hospital Dental School, and again in 1985 with the addition of the Postgraduate Institute of Dermatology.
Initially students of UMDS were allocated to one of the two campuses, with most preclinical teaching and all clinical teaching being separate. With the intake of 1989, students ceased being allocated in this way, and teaching for all students was divided between the campuses and their peripheral hospitals.
Discussions between King's College London (which had trained medical students since it was established and founded its own hospital, King's College Hospital, in 1840) and UMDS regarding a further merger began in 1992. UMDS was subsequently absorbed into King's College London in 1998, forming the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, more commonly known as GKT. In 2005, the entity was rebranded King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals, also known as KCLMS. However it is still widely known as GKT amongst current students, graduates and consultants who consider themselves affiliated to the hospitals rather than the university.
Recently the dental school became the Dental Institute and the remainder was renamed the King's College School of Medicine. The dean, Robert Lechler, oversees the running of both the Medical and Dental schools, as well as the School of Biomedical Sciences (all three were formerly regarded as GKT before the rebranding). However each has its own dean; the Dean of School of Medicine is Anne Greenough while the Dean of the Dental Institute is Nairn Wilson.
Research
The School' s research excellence is recognised worldwide and the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise confirmed King's as one of the top two universities in the UK for health research strength. Around 70 percent of health science submissions from King's were ranked in the top six within the UK.Currently, the School hosts six MRC Centres, more than anywhere else in the world:
- MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma
- MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology
- MRC Centre for Neurodegenerative Research
- MRC Centre for Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry
- MRC Centre for Transplantation
- MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health (awarded in 2009 in collaboration with Imperial College LondonImperial College LondonImperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
)
The two MRC Centres in Transplantation and the Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma in 2008 alone were awarded 'Centre of Excellence' status by the British Heart Foundation with funding of £9 million and a £4 million Breakthrough Breast Cancer Unit was opened in 2009.
The School is also host to its own 'Centre of Medical Law and Ethics', the first of its kind in the UK, and in March 2009, the school was accredited as an Academic health science centre
Academic health science centre
An academic health science centre is a partnership between one or more universities and healthcare providers focusing on research, clinical services, education and training...
, one of only five in the UK.
Sports teams
Like most other universities in London GKT sports teams take part in the BUCS leagues and cups and the ULU leagues and cups. The GKT teams also take part in the United Hospitals Cup
United Hospitals Cup
The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world.-History:...
, which is a sporting competition played between the medical, dental and veterinary schools of London in all sports. The two most popular and biggest of the competitions include the United Hospitals Bumps (rowing) and the men's rugby. The GKT men's 1st VIII has held the bumps headship for the past 5 years running and, in 2009, the GKT men's, women's and alumni crews won 7 of the 8 bumps classes. In recent history the rugby final has often been contested between GKT and Imperial College School of Medicine
Imperial College School of Medicine
The Imperial College School of Medicine is the medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals....
.
GKT has a fierce sporting rivalry with King's College London. This rivalry led to the founding of the Macadam Cup
Macadam Cup
The Macadam Cup is a varsity match played between the sports teams of King's College London proper and King's College London Medical School .The championship is named in honor of Sir Ivison Macadam, graduate of King's...
in 2004, which pits GKT and KCL sports teams against each other and includes events ranging from hockey to darts. As of 2010, King's College London has yet to win the Macadam Cup, leading to chants of "You'll never win Macadam".
Famous alumni
- Thomas AddisonThomas AddisonThomas Addison was a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London....
, Physician who discovered Addison's disease amongst other pathologies. - Eric AnsonEric AnsonDr Eric Anson was New Zealand's first specialist anaesthetist.He was the first President of the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists and a member of the NZ Committee of the Faculty of Anaesthetists....
, New Zealand's first specialist anaesthetist - William Bowman, ophthalmic surgeon, helped found Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom
- Richard BrightRichard Bright (physician)Richard Bright was an English physician and early pioneer in the research of kidney disease.He was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, the third son of Sarah and Richard Bright Sr., a wealthy merchant and banker. Bright Sr. shared his interest in science with his son,encouraging him to consider it...
, discoverer of Bright's diseaseBright's diseaseBright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes.... - Russell Brock, Baron BrockRussell Brock, Baron BrockRussell Claude Brock, Baron Brock of Wimbledon was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open-heart surgery...
, pioneering cardiothoraic surgeon - Sir Astley CooperAstley CooperSir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet was an English surgeon and anatomist, who made historical contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology and surgery of hernia.-Life:Cooper was born at Brooke Hall in Brooke, Norfolk...
, discoverer of the Cooper's ligamentsCooper's ligamentsCooper's ligaments are connective tissue in the breast that help maintain structural integrity.Transmission diffraction tomography can reveal the anatomy....
of the breastBreastThe breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s - John Leonard DawsonJohn Leonard DawsonJohn Leonard Dawson CVO, FRCS was the Serjeant Surgeon to the Royal Household of the United Kingdom.Born in Leicester, in 1932. He graduated from King's College London in 1955 and after training at St James's Hospital, Balham, and at Harvard he was appointed as a consultant surgeon at King's...
, Serjeant SurgeonSerjeant SurgeonThe Serjeant Surgeon is an officer of the Medical Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, dating from 1253.-Pre-twentieth century :*Robert Keate FRCS 1841*Sir William Lawrence, Bt FRCS FRS...
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refining - John Hilton, great anatomist and surgeon
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