Newcastle School of Medicine and Surgery celebrates 175th year

Oct 2 2009 by Helen Rae, The Journal

A MEDICAL school that was the beginnings of Newcastle University has celebrated its 175th anniversary.

Newcastle School of Medicine and Surgery – the forerunner of the modern-day medical school at Newcastle University – opened on October 1, 1834.

The institution has been at the forefront of medical science and teaching for decades, and launched its birthday celebrations yesterday with a party for past and present students, academics and NHS partners.

Prof Chris Day, pro-vice chancellor for the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the university, said: “Newcastle University is unique as the only English university to have begun life as a medical school.

“The modern university that we see today can trace its history to those very simple beginnings 175 years ago. We have great pride in the fact that the School of 1834 was effectively the founding school of Newcastle University.

“We acknowledge the shared history we have with our regional partners Durham University – the College of Medicine was a Durham University College from 1870 until 1963 – and the regional hospitals that continue to provide the practical training ground for our trainee medical students.”

Formal medical teaching began on October 1 in 1834 in a small building at Bell's Court in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, and has moved seven times since, before finding its current home in Framlington Place in the city centre.

It opened with 26 students and since then more than 10,000 students have successfully passed through its doors and it has grown consistently to emerge as an acknowledged leader in medical education and biomedical research.