Plans to establish a medical school for Kent & Medway continue to progress with the submission on 23 November of an ambitious joint bid for Government funding for 100 medical student places.
The bid, submitted by Canterbury Christ Church University and Kent, is part of a collective ambition to establish a Kent & Medway Medical School (KMMS) to improve health provision for patients by addressing the significant challenges in developing and maintaining a clinical workforce across the region.
The universities have joined forces to develop a vision for the School which draws on the complementary strengths of both institutions. If it is successful, the bid will be an essential cornerstone for the ongoing development of the School with the first students planned for 2020.
Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Canterbury Christ Church University, and Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President of Kent said: ‘We would like to thank all those who have worked with us to develop this highly ambitious and innovative bid, developed in partnership with the Kent & Medway NHS Trusts. If it succeeds, it will kick-start the process of transforming medical provision in the region.’
The bid has received significant support from the region’s MPs, local councillors, NHS Trust chief executives and medical directors, as well as other health and education related organisations, all of whom have expressed their backing for the bid.
This bid is a response to the Government’s commitment to fund an additional 1500 medical places by 2020 and will be the subject of a highly competitive process.
The outcome will be announced in March 2018.