Course summary

From September 2024, Bangor University will be launching its first medicine programme where students will be able to complete their entire medical degree programme in North Wales. Working in close collaboration with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Primary Care providers across North Wales, our new programme will replace the current Cardiff University School of Medicine C21 North Wales curriculum. Innovative changes were introduced into the C21 North Wales curriculum to maximise the opportunities from our diverse clinical settings, rural and urban. The Welsh language and cultural context of North Wales Communities have been embraced and considered to help to prepare you for your future medical practice. Whilst our independent medical school is newly formed, we have a successful track record of training medical students. Since 2018 we have been successfully delivering the Cardiff University C21 North Wales Medicine programme for Year 3 students, from 2019 for Year 2 to 5 graduate entry students, and from 2020 with Cardiff Year 1 students transferring to Bangor to complete their programme in North Wales. On 17 July 2023 at Cardiff University, the first cohort of medical students who studied in North Wales graduated. Based on this strong foundation, our newly established medical school will build on the success of the C21 North Wales programme in delivering first-class medical education. The North Wales Medical School curriculum has been academically validated by the Quality and Validation unit of Bangor University through a process involving external medical educational expertise. All UK medical schools are regularly reviewed by the General Medical Council (GMC), the professional regulator for Medicine responsible for ensuring high standards for medical education detailed in their document “Promoting excellence: standards for medical education and training”. In addition, all new medical schools are subject to rigorous scrutiny by the GMC. The North Wales Medical School is progressing through the GMC approval process to award a Primary Medical Qualification. GMC accreditation is only completed when the first intake of students is due to graduate. To protect students, new medical schools must work with a ‘contingency’ partner, an established medical school able to provide support and willing, if GMC quality standards are not met for any reason, for students to transfer and graduate from the contingency school. The contingency partner school for the North Wales Medical School is Cardiff University School of Medicine. The 2024 commencement date for the North Wales Medical School Medicine programme has been agreed with the GMC. You will experience a rich learning environment with greater emphasis on learning in Primary Care and at the heart of local communities, in keeping with the Welsh Government’s plan “A Healthier Wales.” The curriculum focuses on community medicine through a range of clinical placements in varied environments including: a full year at a GP Surgery; large teaching hospitals; mountain medicine; rural environments. We will train you to be an excellent doctor for Wales and beyond by providing high quality teaching, and an inspiring learning experience based around increased clinical contact and award-winning clinical teaching at the University Health Board. You will graduate as a skilled clinician who understands people and the environment in which we live. As your placements will be based in a range of locations across North Wales, your home campus of study may change from your second year onwards to facilitate easier travel to your place of study. This will be communicated to you in line with your placement allocation.