Talk:Imperial College School of Medicine

Untitled

As much as Dr Alisdair Scott might be notable amongst his peers, I don't think writing a revision guide qualifies him to be amongst the ranks of Sir Alexander Fleming, Lord Sir Ara Darzi and the inventor of the ECG. Let's wait until he upgrades his gold medal to a Nobel medal... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.6.146.5 (talk) 08:41, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Recent edits

The previous edits are not unexplained.

They have updated the article to not only reflect 2009 rankings for ICSM, but the curriculum review that has now been implemented as well as correcting the grammar error fest that was the opening section. An example would be that not all of those hospitals does not have 'the' in their title. That information is duplicated anyway in much clearer format below.

In addition, I have corrected errors in the BSc section, updated admissions requirements for 2010 as well as referring to the recent Thames Valley entry option (referenced). Please do not blanket remove new material.

Matt641 (talk) 01:19, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Retained history section

For years, the schools that constitute ICSM have been renowned for producing a special breed of student (and eventually doctor): friendly, enthusiastic, fun.

Here’s a taste of the ICSM history and tradition. ICSM is a fairly young institution, founded in 1997, from the medical schools of St Mary’s, Charing Cross and Westminster. However, despite the name change, the ideals and traditions of the old institutions have been upheld, and built upon, by the new school.

Charing Cross

Charing Cross, or CX, is the oldest of the schools, founded in 1818 by Dr Ben Golding, to meet the needs of the poor who flocked to the cities in search of work in the new factories. This was a revolutionary notion at a time when doctors mainly practised privately. The hospital was, unsurprisingly, well patronised, and soon had to move to larger premises off Strand, where it first became Charing Cross.

In the 1960s, the hospital again needed to grow and moved to its present site on Fulham Palace Road. The hospital elders elected to retain the name Charing Cross, despite now being a good distance from this area, a decision that continues to have ramifications decades later, as freshers rock up in Trafalgar Square, expecting to find a medical school there. (Getting lost appears to be something of a feature of CX students, as one of their most famous alumni is Dr Livingstone, of “…I presume” fame, who went missing in Africa for five years).

Charing Cross remains a hospital on the forefront of medicine; in recent times pioneering the use of CT scanning, reflective of its position as one of the most important neurological centres in London, and chemotherapy, with oncology another of the foremost departments at Charing Cross. In 1976, the Reynolds Building was completed. The CX students’ union building, it saw the start of the annual Invasion of London, perpetuated under the auspices of ICSM (ask the RAG crew), houses a mysterious elephant/dinosaur skull (investigations are ongoing) in the Reynolds Bar (the only medic bar in Imperial College, following the closure of Gladys’ at St Mary’s); and is now the epicentre of ICSM’s social activities.

Westminster

The Westminster Hospital opened in 1719, following a meeting in a coffee house, where four men met to discuss a "charitable proposal for relieving the sick and needy and other distressed persons”. I had similar discussion myself in Starbucks the other day, but unfortunately it degenerated into a spirited debate on mango frappuccinos, blighting the hopes of the sick and needy (and other distressed persons) of Hammersmith.

The medical school was founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon, whose forceful urgings on retaining the location of the hospital and school resulted in ructions between staff that climaxed in a pistol duel between two surgeons, who steady-as-a-rock, promptly missed each other. Seriously. (In a nod to tradition, pistol duelling remains the preferred method of settling disputes with consultants over firm grades). The winning majority remained in central London, but the losers went to St. George’s Hospital (some things never change). A student at Westminster at this time was John Snow, not a name that may mean much to you at the moment, but who became the founder of modern epidemiology. His greatest accomplishment, however, was to achieve every medical student’s dream, and get a pub named after him (The John Snow on Broadwick St, if you’re interested).

In 1984, in a move that no doubt brought out the pistols again, the medical school merged with rivals Charing Cross. This was a trend-setting move, heralding a flurry of mergers between the London medical schools in the following years. The two medical schools combined their resources, and together focused their rivalry on their Auld Enemy, St. Mary’s. Oh, wait a minute…

St Mary's

St Mary’s is the youngest of the schools, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. [St] Mary’s was traditionally the refuge of sons of Welsh farmers and miners, stumbling off the train at Paddington to study medicine in the big smoke; and consequently became renowned for its prowess on the sporting field, with the rugby club actually predating the Rugby Football Union. The sporting traditions of Mary’s have been a constant theme throughout its history, and the school can count amongst its alumni the Welsh rugby captain JPR Williams (commemorated in the annual ICSM vs. Imperial Varsity match, the JPR Williams Cup); and Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, and after whom the new lecture theatre is named (I still think I’d prefer a pub). Unfortunately, the Boxing Club has been disbanded, and so no longer holds its bouts in the Outpatients department (seriously, you just can’t make this stuff up).

Mary’s has an equally rich history in the arts. Despite a faltering music society (which has nevertheless taken off in recent years, following the influx of talent from Charing Cross and Westminster), the dramatic society staged performances of operettas, which on occasion were graced with a royal visit. This royal association continued until recent times with the Queen Mother being the patron of the soirée – the post opera comedy night – until her death in 2002 (the post has remained unfilled following its failure to be won in the post-soirée raffle of the same year). If there is one thing for which Mary’s will always be remembered, however, it is the work of Alexander Fleming; the father of antibiotics, following his discovery of penicillin at the hospital in 1928. The room in which the discovery took place can be seen from the road outside the medical school.

Mary’s continued comparatively unmoved by the other nomadic medical schools in the area, until its merger with Imperial College in 1988, and the foundation of ICSM in 1997.

Imperial College

The foundation of medicine at Imperial College resulted in the largest medical school in Europe. Imperial College was established in 1907, following the cultural and scientific revolution instigated in Kensington by Prince Albert (which also spawned the local museums and the Royal Albert Hall). It has a world-class scientific reputation, having turned out fourteen Nobel Prize winners, owns it own nuclear reactor, supplies wind tunnel facilities to top F1 teams, masterminds cutting-edge medical research, encompassing the National Heart and Lung Institute and Hammersmith hospital and more importantly, counts Brian May of Queen amongst its past students.

Academically, ICSM students are part of an institution that brought the world the valuable field of public health medicine, and spearheaded the attack on infectious disease, saving, without hyperbole, millions of lives. You’ll have the chance to be taught by, and work alongside, the foremost research groups in the world. Socially, you’ll be a part of traditions stretching across three centuries, in a vibrant college with the best students on the best course. Everywhere you go from now on, when people see you are from Imperial College School of Medicine, they’ll know that they’re dealing with someone special. Be proud of it.

Oh, and hate GKT.

History lesson courtesty of Dr. Richard Hutchinson

^ I deleted the above as it's obviously POV-ridden and informal. Someone can rewrite it if they want.

There is not a School of Medicine at Imperial College London

I don't know the history but Imperial College London has a Faculty of Medicine which includes a Department of Mmedicine. The sidebox link goes to the Faculty of Medicine webpage. Professor Gavin Screaton is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. I think the School of Medicine became the Faculty of Medicine in 2001. DavidCh0 (talk) 14:50, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Hi, I was wondering the same as well. Has medicine now been reorganised under the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial? Maybe its worth restarting a page on the faculty and keeping the information about undergraduate medicine here? Aloneinthewild (talk) 13:44, 26 December 2017 (UTC)