Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry

The London Hospital Medical College on a wood engraving of 1877

The medical college at the London Hospital, now known as the Royal London Hospital, opened in 1785. It was England's first purpose-built medical school, pioneering a new kind of medical education, with an emphasis on theoretical and clinical teaching. The teaching premises were expanded in 1854, when buildings in Turner Street were built and opened, which are still in use today. For many years it functioned as an unincorporated general medical school of the University of London, until it was incorporated as the London Hospital Medical College on 30 March 1949.[5] A dental school also opened at the London Hospital in 1911, acquiring the new dental institute and expanding student numbers during the 1960s. Dental education developed during the 1970s, increasing collaboration between dentists and other professionals.

Records of students at St Bartholomew's Hospital date back to at least 1662, although a purpose-built lecture theatre at the hospital was not built until 1791, and it wasn't until that 1822 the governors formally approved the provision of medical education within the hospital.[6][7] Later a residential college was established, which moved to premises at Charterhouse Square in the 1930s. The medical college was formally established in 1843, and was incorporated as St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College on 26 July 1921.[8]

Both colleges were admitted to the University of London in 1900, and a close association between the two was developed following the Royal Commission on Medical Education in 1968, with new links with the then Queen Mary College being established at the same time. In 1989 the pre-clinical teaching at the two colleges was merged and sited in the Basic Medical Sciences Building at Queen Mary (where it stayed until 2005, when it was moved to the Blizard Building at the Whitechapel campus). The two colleges officially merged in 1995, along with Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, now known as Queen Mary University of London, forming the combined entity known as Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

In 2016, the school reached an agreement with the government of Malta to open a satellite campus on the island of Gozo, with a purpose-built medical school and anatomy centre to be built on the Gozo General Hospital campus. The first students were admitted in 2017, and the buildings are due to be completed in 2019.[9]

In 2019, Queen Mary University of London changed the logo of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, to much resistance from staff and students of the medical and dental school.[10] A petition was sent to the principal of the university, Colin Bailey. The petition was largely ignored and the logo changed anyway, leading to substantial drops in the student satisfaction scores for Medicine and Dentistry at QMUL that year. This became a political issue, with Barts and The London Student's Association condoning the way BL had been treated.[11] Current students at Barts and The London, as well as alumni, are concerned that this line of change will lead to a complete eradication of the tradition and heritage of Barts and The London.

Medical students undertake clinical placements in the following hospitals, the majority of which are located in the City of London and East London, with a few in neighbouring Essex:[15][16]

• Goodmayes Hospital
• Homerton University Hospital
• King George Hospital
• Mile End Hospital
• Moorfields Eye Hospital
• Newham University Hospital
• Queen's Hospital
• Royal London Hospital
• St Bartholomew's Hospital
• Whipps Cross University Hospital

• Broomfield Hospital
• Colchester Hospital
• Princess Alexandra Hospital
• Southend University Hospital

A unique aspect of the Barts curriculum is the use of problem-based learning, which was first developed at McMaster University Medical School in the 1960s. Barts uses this method as part of an integrated curriculum as opposed to one that is solely or predominately based on problem based learning. Students work in groups with a tutor on a clinical case or problem, and use problem based learning to supplement the knowledge they acquire during their lectures.

The standard undergraduate Medicine course is a 5-year course, which results in the award of an MBBS degree. Students also have the option of extending their studies by a further year in order to study for an intercalated BSc in a range of related subjects. This is usually done after the 2nd, 3rd or 4th year.[17]

Students who already have a science or health-related degree and who wish to study Medicine can also choose to apply to the Graduate Entry Programme (GEP). This is a 4-year course, with the first two years of the standard undergraduate course being condensed into one. The remaining years of the course are identical to the undergraduate course.[18]

The medical school has scored highly in a number of independent rankings in recent years, placing it in the top 10 of medical schools in the United Kingdom:

• ranked 2nd by The Guardian (2017)[19]
• ranked 3rd by The Times and The Sunday Times (2017)
• ranked 7th by The Complete University Guide (2017)[20]
• ranked 9th (51st–100th in the world) by the QS World University Rankings (2016–17)
• ranked 10th (65th in the world) by the Times Higher Education (2016–17)
• ranked 7th (28th in the world) by CWTS Leiden Ranking (2016) based on the percentage of publications belonging to the top 10% of their field (PP top 10%)

The dental school has also been ranked highly:

• ranked 3rd by The Complete University Guide (2017)[20]
• ranked 3rd by The Guardian (2017)
• ranked 4th by The Times and The Sunday Times (2017)

Admission to both the medical and dental schools is highly competitive.[21] Over 2,500 applications to study medicine are received by the school each year.[22] Of these, 800 candidates are interviewed and approximately 440 offers are made.[22] For dentistry, over 700 applications are received, of which 250 candidates are interviewed and approximately 150 offers are made.[23]

The school accepts A-levels, the International Baccalaureate Diploma, Irish Leaving Certificate, Scottish Highers, Cambridge Pre-U and the European Baccalaureate as entry qualifications. Both the medical and dental degrees are open to graduate students, with a minimum of a 2:1 required.[22][23] Applicants must sit the UK Clinical Aptitude Test which is used alongside the UCAS application to determine selection for interview.[22][23] The school also accepts medical students from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, the International Medical University Malaysia and St Andrews aiming to complete a 3-year direct clinical entry programme. Students applying to this scheme do not need to apply by 15 October deadline and are not required to take the UKCAT.[24]

• Harold Legg – Doctor in the British soap opera EastEnders from 1985 to 1997, making guest appearances in 2000 and 2004.
• Dr. Watson – Sherlock Holmes's companion and "biographer": not only did the two first meet in the pathology laboratories in 1881, but Watson studied and met his friend Stamford (who was Watson's "dresser" – the equivalent nowadays of the surgical houseman) at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in the mid/late 1870s.