University of Exeter: Exeter partners with Surrey to support set-up of new medical school
The University of Exeter is supporting the University of Surrey in setting up a medical school for the first time.
Surrey will be offering a four-year, graduate-entry bachelor’s degree medical programme and expects to welcome the first cohort of 40 students in 2024.
The University of Exeter has been selected to support the development of the curriculum and the complex accreditation process, in a move that recognises Exeter’s outstanding educational expertise in medicine.
Professor Lisa Roberts, Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the University of Surrey in this new venture; their choice of Exeter is testament to the quality of our medical programme and the expertise we have in training outstanding doctors. The pandemic has highlighted the crucial importance of training more health professionals in the future and we’re excited to be supporting this objective.”
As an independent medical school, the majority of Surrey’s places will be for applicants from overseas initially. However, there will be a small number of places available for home students from underrepresented groups enabling access to a career in medicine. The University’s aspiration in the longer term is to have a greater number of funded places available for home students and to build on existing strengths in widening participation in higher education.
Professor G Q Max Lu, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey, said the new programme would building on Surrey’s multidisciplinary strengths in education, research and innovation across many disciplines, augmented by the their state-of-the-art clinical simulation facilities: “We are delighted to be partnering with University of Exeter, which will support the development of this new and innovative curriculum. With a highly-respected medical programme of their own and a patient-centred and forward-thinking ethos, the University of Exeter is the perfect partner for us.”