King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (abbreviated: GKT) is the medical school of King's College London and one of the United Hospitals. It is the biggest healthcare training facility in Europe. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital (Lambeth) and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth) in London. The school in its current guise was formed following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals (GKT) on 1 August 1998.
The medical school as a whole is the largest in Europe. It has an annual intake of around 335 places on the standard MBBS Programme, 50 places on the Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP) and 28 places on the Graduate / Professional Entry Programme (GPEP). It receives more applications for medicine than any other UK medical school and as of 2007 applicants were required to sit the UKCAT admission test. The school is ranked 8th in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings (Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health) 2015-2016. The school is ranked 21st in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2016.
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. It is a large teaching hospital and is, with St Thomas' Hospital and King's College Hospital, the location of King's College London School of Medicine (formerly known as the GKT School of Medicine). The Tower Wing (formerly known as Guy's Tower) is the world's tallest hospital building, standing at 148.65 metres (487.7 ft) with 34 floors.
History
The hospital was founded in 1721 by Thomas Guy, a publisher of unlicensed Bibles who had made a fortune in the South Sea Bubble. It was originally established as a hospital to treat "incurables" discharged from St Thomas' Hospital. Guy had been a Governor and benefactor of St Thomas' and his fellow Governors supported his intention by granting the south-side of St Thomas' Street for a peppercorn rent for 999 years. Guy is interred in the crypt of the Chapel of his foundation.
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians and surgeons. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MBChB, BMBS), Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). Many medical schools offer additional degrees, such as a Doctor of Philosophy, Master's degree, a physician assistant program, or other post-secondary education.
Medical schools can also employ medical researchers and operate hospitals. Around the world, criteria, structure, teaching methodology, and nature of medical programs offered at medical schools vary considerably. Medical schools are often highly competitive, using standardized entrance examinations, as well as grade point average and leadership roles, to narrow the selection criteria for candidates. In most countries, the study of medicine is completed as an undergraduate degree not requiring prerequisite undergraduate coursework. However, an increasing number of places are emerging for graduate entrants who have completed an undergraduate degree including some required courses. In the United States and Canada, almost all medical degrees are second entry degrees, and require several years of previous study at the university level.
In the United Kingdom, medical school generally refers to a department within a university which is involved in the education of future medical practitioners. All leading British medical schools are state-funded and their core purpose is to train doctors on behalf of the National Health Service. Courses generally last five or six years: two years of pre-clinical training in an academic environment and three years clinical training at a teaching hospital and in community settings. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are closely integrated. The course of study is extended to six years if an intercalated degree is taken in a related subject.
Admissions
In the United Kingdom students generally begin medical school after secondary education. This contrasts with the US and Canadian (outside Quebec) systems, where a bachelor's degree is required for entry to medical school. Entry to British medical schools is very competitive.
Application
Applications for entry into medical school (in common with other university courses) are made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). UCAS allows four applications per applicant for medicine, as opposed to the usual five. The remaining one can either be left blank, or be used to apply for a non-medical course.