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This year’s graduates see total number of graduates from the Peninsula Medical School pass 500 since 2007

The fourth cohort of doctors to graduate from the Peninsula Medical School will do so today, Friday 23rd July, at the Minster in Plymouth with yet more doctors achieving distinctions and merits, and deciding to remain in the South West to practise medicine. The 2010 graduating cohort brings the total number of graduates produced by the Peninsula Medical School to over 500 since 2007, when the first students graduated from the School.

This year, 130 student doctors will graduate with 12 passing with distinction and 15 with merit.  73 will stay in the South West to continue their training, two are allocated to the Ministry of Defence, one has secured an academic post outside of national recruitment and the rest will continue their training at NHS hospital trusts across the UK.

Of the 73 graduating doctors choosing to stay in Devon and Cornwall for the Foundation Year 1 stage of their studies, 24 will go to Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, 13 to Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, 13 to Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, 16 to South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust and seven to Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.

The fourth cohort of medical students began their studies in 2005 and have followed and helped to refine a new curriculum that embraces groundbreaking approaches to the teaching of medicine.

Initial recruitment to Foundation Year 1, the first year for Peninsula Medical School graduates after graduation, has been successful for the School’s fourth cohort of doctors, with 70 per cent of them securing their a post in one of their top 10 choices.

In addition to the Peninsula Medical School graduates, who will receive a Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery, the Peninsula Postgraduate School will award a number of postgraduate degrees including seven Masters of Science, 15 Post Graduate Diplomas and 27 Post Graduate Certificates across a wide range of topics addressing complex research questions that reflect the research interests of the Peninsula Medical School.

The Peninsula Medical School will also confer an honorary graduateship to Professor Sir John Tooke, the inaugural Dean of the School and now University College London Vice Provost (Health), Head of the UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences and Head of the UCL Medical School.

Professor Sir John Tooke graduated in Medicine from St John's College, Oxford, in 1974, and went on to become a Wellcome Trust Senior Lecturer in Medicine and Physiology,  and Honorary Consultant Physician at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, before moving to the Postgraduate Medical School of the University of Exeter in 1987. 

Sir John was Consultant Physician with interests in diabetes, endocrinology and vascular medicine at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital NHS Trust, and Professor of Vascular Medicine at Exeter University. In 1998, he led the bid to develop the Peninsula Medical School and was appointed Inaugural Dean in 2000.  John also successfully led the bid for a new Dental School, resulting in the creation of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, of which he was the inaugural Executive Dean.

Sir John joined University College London as Vice-Provost (Health), Head of the UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences and Head of the UCL Medical School, in 2010.   He continues to Chair the UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee, and the HEFCE New Blood Clinical Senior Lecturer Scheme. Sir John was knighted in the 2007 New Year’s Honours List for Services to Medicine and Higher Education.

As well as educating the doctors of tomorrow, the Peninsula Medical School also contributes to national and international medical research at the highest level. Key thematic strengths include diabetes and vascular risk, health sciences, childhood obesity, chronic neurodegenerative diseases, mental health and clinical education research.  The European Centre for the Environment and Human is being developed with a focal point at the Peninsula Medical School in Cornwall involving collaboration with University and NHS partners and many external collaborators both in the UK and across the world.

Other key achievements at the Peninsula Medical School this year include the renaming of the Diabetes Centre in Exeter to the MacLeod Diabetes and Endocrine Centre in memory of Dr. Ken MacLeod, who was Associate Dean and Director of Clinical Studies at the Peninsula Medical School and a respected clinician and researcher in the area of diabetes; and the announcement of funding for the development of a new international Centre for Translational Medicine in Exeter.

Acting Dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Professor Liz Kay, commented: “My congratulations go to this year’s graduating cohort who have continued to maintain the highest standards of academic and clinical achievement set by previous graduates. This year’s graduates bring us to a total of 504 graduates since our first graduation in 2007, 337 of whom have chosen to remain in the South West to continue their training and careers. As a consequence we are realising our commitment to contributing to the health and wealth of the region.”

The new Dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry Professor Steve Thornton, who officially joins the organisation in September, said: “The quality of this year’s graduating students is just one of the reasons why I am looking forward to coming here. I was attracted to the post by the reputation of the Peninsula Medical School’s course and the quality of its graduates. We are able to make a real difference to health in the South West, and that is very exciting.”

Professor Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, added: "It fills me with great pride to see a fourth cohort of graduates from the Peninsula Medical School, which in such a short time has built a superb reputation and continues to go from strength to strength. As a result, these graduates are going into their future careers with the best possible start. The success of these graduates marks the culmination of their hard work and commitment. I wish them heartfelt congratulations and every success for the future."

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth, Professor Wendy Purcell, said: “We are extremely proud of our graduates and are delighted that so many have chosen to stay and build their careers in the South West, and make a genuine difference to society. And this year, we have the opportunity to express our respect and admiration for Professor Sir John Tooke for the leading role he played in helping to establish the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.”

Sue Brownlow, Combined Universities in Cornwall Director, said: “The outstanding achievements of these graduates demonstrate that Cornwall offers world class opportunities in higher education. That so many graduates from the Peninsula Medical School choose to remain working in the South West is testament to the continuing benefits to Cornwall of investment in our universities