King’s College London (KCL) has agreed a partnership with The University of Portsmouth to deliver a medical degree through a branch campus.
Agreed upon on 13th December 2023, through this partnership, the institutions aim to educate more doctors, specifically general practitioners (GPs), in response to national shortages, which are especially prominent in the South of England.
This partnership entails the establishment of a new King’s branch campus in the University of Portsmouth Medical School.
Usually, KCL’s four-year Graduate Entry Medical programme has an acceptance rate of 23 students per year. By providing this degree, a further 54 students would be enrolled in the coming Autumn semester of 2024, more than doubling the course’s current intake.
According to a 2022 Nuffield Trust report, Portsmouth was highlighted as one of Britain’s most challenged cities for GP per capita, with only 39.5 GPs for every 100,000 patients.
Professor Graham Galbraith, the University of Portsmouth’s vice-chancellor commented on this development: “Our city does not have adequate numbers of GPs and the intention is that this development will contribute to reducing the waiting times local people experience in gaining access to services.”
“The launch of our new graduate entry medical school will enable us to play our part in supporting the health of our community and we are thrilled to be working in partnership with King’s College London to deliver medical education that is unquestionably one of the best not just in Britain, but globally.”
This branch campus is a step towards the University of Portsmouth’s vision for its own medical school, set to welcome its first intake of students by 2028/29.
King’s vice-chancellor and president, Professor Shitij Kapur, said: “This exciting new partnership is an unprecedented opportunity for both institutions, combining King’s prestigious and well-respected medical education with the University of Portsmouth’s expertise in rare diseases, genomics and neurology. This dynamic approach to education is part of our ambition to deliver service to society.”
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