Hospital Trust to get new teaching facilities for training future doctors

23 June 1999

The West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust has been chosen with the University of Cambridge to provide an innovative new course for an additional 20 graduate medical students as part of the national agreement to train 1,000 extra doctors each year.

At present there are on average 18 student doctors training in the West Suffolk Hospital each year. This is the largest number of medical students in one hospital in East Anglia outside of Addenbrooke's Hospital.

The trust will build high-tech, teaching and residential accommodation on the hospital site in Bury St Edmunds at an estimated cost of f1.7 million and will also receive f850,000 revenue to support the teaching and running costs. The additional funding will be used to increase the number of Consultants across the trust with extra appointments in medicine, surgery, radiology and pathology.

"This is excellent news for the Trust. One of our key objectives is to excel at teaching and training," said Johanna Finn Chief Executive of the Trust.

"Such a focus attracts high calibre applicants to the hospital. Patients benefit as Consultants are keen to keep well informed about current best practice and latest clinical developments to be able to answer medical students thirst for information."

The intensive four year course takes a new approach to teaching. It ensures students can follow patients seen in hospital into the community and their own homes. This patient-centred approach, which will be emphasised throughout the course, will be achieved by spreading the teaching responsibility across the hospital specialties and involving local General Practitioners. Students will choose special study modules covering key public health issues.

Students will be encouraged to use the latest in high-tech learning. The new residential accommodation will carry IT links which will allow students to study in their rooms. There will be the opportunity for distance learning through links with Addenbrooke's and access to international information via the Internet.

The teaching facilities will be available not only to the students but also to other disciplines working in the Trust.

The bid for extra medical students is part of the Government's drive to increase the number of doctors. The first students are planned to arrive in autumn 2001. The course will allow access to a high quality medical education for graduates who do not necessarily have a scientific degree (though candidates will have to meet the pre-medical requirements which might involve an Open University course for a year).