Kent and Medway Medical School

Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS)

Our shared vision is to create a new medical school for Kent and Medway that becomes a beacon for first-class medical education and research. The new teaching and research centre will attract the most talented aspiring doctors from within the local community and beyond, offering training and development opportunities that will help to keep that talent in Kent. It will be the first choice for medical students aiming to work within collaborative multi-professional teams to achieve excellence in person-centred medical care in the UK.

The new medical school will contribute to:

recruiting the best medical talent to Kent and Medway
retaining skilled medical professionals within the region’s healthcare system
seeking innovative solutions to improve healthcare in the region
collaborating with local education networks to inspire new entrants to the medical profession.

By harnessing the expertise within Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Kent, we will establish Kent and Medway’s first-ever medical school and help ease the current recruitment challenges faced by our region’s healthcare providers.

"We have been clear that Kent and Medway have a big problem staffing NHS posts, and this is causing significant strain on health services. Having a medical school locally is known to provide an essential boost to recruitment and retention and we know this is vital, particularly in our coastal areas. We want people in Kent and Medway to seriously consider health and care as a career, and the universities will now be offering an extensive range of courses – including medicine – within our region."

The universities' new medical school will offer:

a model that starts in the community and primary care with early clinical placements within Community Education Provider Networks – covering GP surgeries, pharmacies and local care centres – from year one
100 undergraduate places annually in a centre for first-class medical education and research to support future workforce planning in the region

collaborative teams that are embedded within local NHS providers and are committed to leading and transforming healthcare delivery
high-quality research to find evidence-based solutions to promote health, address local challenges and reduce inequalities in provision across the county.

The new medical school will bring together the two universities and local healthcare organisations to offer an innovative approach to teaching and research. Our partnership will provide a ‘new model’ medical school based on a holistic person-centred, integrated approach to health and care. The approach will centre on collaboration between the existing centres of excellence in medical teaching provided by the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

"This is a hugely important opportunity that is a game-changer for Kent’s NHS, boosting local recruitment by helping to ‘grow our own’ health professionals of the future. A medical school is also a magnet for attracting research and intellect to a health system. Having a medical school in Kent will change the nature of what we can offer to our local population and to the role we could play in the wider NHS."

The universities provide wide-ranging health and social care education, research and innovation, alongside strong established partnerships with the regional NHS. Combining excellent teaching and research facilities at key locations in Kent and Medway, the universities ensure graduates and professionals are trained to meet future healthcare workforce needs aimed at improving the quality of care provided for patients.

The new medical school is supported by Brighton and Sussex Medical School as ‘parent partner’ institution. It is the UK’s top-ranking undergraduate medical school for overall student satisfaction (achieving 99% in the most recent National Student Survey) and works extensively with NHS organisations throughout the South East. Experts from the School have advised on the bid process and on the proposed programmes the new medical school will offer.

Our Medical School will:

address workforce shortages in priority areas by developing doctors in specialities that are currently under-represented in Kent and Medway
offer five-year undergraduate programmes resulting in joint degrees from both institutions in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery

deliver teaching and research across both universities’ campuses, building on their existing knowledge and expertise
ensure students are fully part of both student communities, working closely with those in other health and social care programmes and taking up placements that embed them within community healthcare organisations across Kent and Medway

Our partnership will help to address the healthcare provision challenges in our region by meeting the urgent need to recruit and retain skilled medical professionals. It will offer exceptional training and development opportunities for aspiring doctors in Kent and Medway who wish to learn and apply their skills within the local area.

We will work extensively with local schools and colleges to inspire a new generation of medical professionals and source students from within our region, ensuring that the future medical workforce in Kent and Medway is truly representative of the community that it serves.

Kent and Medway’s population is expected to grow by almost a quarter by 2031. The medical school will help to address current and future challenges in staffing NHS roles in our front-line services. Its programmes will focus on addressing health inequalities in our region by plugging the current gaps in healthcare provision and, in the longer-term, transforming the patient experience within our local area.

Kent and Medway has:

249
GP practices

4
organisations providing community care

4
hospital trusts providing services in seven acute hospitals

13
community hospitals

3
organisations providing mental health care

1
ambulance trust

Our medical school will:

create a source of skilled future healthcare professionals to work in both primary and secondary healthcare in the region into the 2030s and beyond, helping to improve the quality of front-line care
align the expansion of provision of training in the region with local NHS workforce needs and provide skills to match priority training needs in key geographical areas
offer best-in-class training and clinical placements with an exceptional student experience

directly address challenges within the local health economy, including inequalities in provision, to help transform patient care
partner with local schools and colleges to widen participation, drawing on the universities’ existing outreach programmes to ensure we attract a diverse student body that is representative of the local community
work collaboratively with local authorities, health organisations and other education providers so that our programmes are aligned with local needs.

"Kent and Medway’s population is expected to grow by almost a quarter by 2031. The medical school will help to address current and future challenges in staffing NHS roles in our front-line services. A medical school will make all the difference to healthcare in our area. In recent years it’s been difficult to attract doctors to work in our local hospitals, especially A&Es. A medical school will draw in talented senior clinicians and a new generation of younger doctors to work in Kent. It will also be a big boost to the local bio-tech industry. "