On 6 June 1831 six physicians and surgeons set up the Leeds Medical School with the aim: The Medical School admitted its first students in October of that year. It was one of ten provincial medical schools founded in the ten years between 1824–1834. The founders were:
The first premises were the Leeds Public Dispensary on North Street in the town but in 1834 the school was moved to new premises at 1 East Parade. The current premises, the Worsley Building, was designed by the Building Design Partnership and officially opened by the Duke of Kent in March 1979.
Teaching
The medical training in Leeds lasts five years. An optional intercalated degree can be taken either at Leeds or another institution, making the course six years. The MBChB degree is divided into three phases. Phase I encompasses Years One to Three, Phase II encompasses Year Four and Phase III encompasses Year Five and Foundation Year One. Leeds was ranked 19th in the Guardian medicine league table 2017 and 3rd for student experience in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018.
Institutes within the School of Medicine
The School of Medicine is split up into five institutes::
LIME – Leeds Institute of Medical Education – Responsible for the administration and delivery of the School of Medicine's MBChB programme.
LICAMM – Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine
LIMR – Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's – based at St James's University Hospital
LIRMM – Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine – based at Chapel Allerton Hospital
Intercalating
Every year around half of all Leeds students take a year out to study another related degree in a process called intercalating. Many medical/veterinary/dental students from other universities also come to Leeds to study. The intercalated degrees on offer include: Primary care, International Health, Medical Physics, Human Physiology, Sports Science, Neuroscience, Zoology, Pharmacology, Medical Ethics, Clinical Science, Psychology, Microbiology and Anatomy.
Notable alumni
Kamran Abbasi – Executive editor of the British Medical Journal.
Henry Bendelack Hewetson - Surgeon and naturalist.
Dr Rubina Gillani – Medical doctor and public health specialist.
Professor Gillian Leng – British health administrator and academic.
David Henry Lewis – Adventurer, sailor and doctor. Graduated from University of Leeds in 1942 and as a GP supported the establishment of the NHS.
Berkeley Moynihan – Noted British abdominal surgeon.
