Our vision
The Three Counties Medical School (TCMS) was founded with a clear purpose: to serve the communities of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire by educating doctors who will make a lasting difference to people’s lives. Rooted in our region and connected to local health partners, we are building a medical school that responds directly to the needs of patients, communities and the NHS.
Healthcare continues to evolve at pace. Our vision is to play a leading role in strengthening the medical workforce across rural and under-served areas, widening access to the profession and developing doctors who are committed to serving communities like ours. By training future clinicians close to home, we are helping to secure high-quality healthcare for the Three Counties for generations to come.
We expect our graduates to be clinically excellent, compassionate and adaptable. They will be confident problem-solvers who work effectively in multi-professional teams, understand the realities of modern healthcare and are ready to lead positive change. In short, they will be doctors who combine professional expertise with a strong sense of social purpose.
“Our healthcare professional graduates already make a hugely beneficial impact on the health and wellbeing of our local communities. The opportunity to expand this further across the counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, through the creation of a new Medical School, will make a transformative contribution to the region’s health workforce.”
Professor Sarah Greer
Chair of the Three Counties Medical School Project
Training the doctors and healthcare leaders of the future means providing a programme that is in tune with the drive towards more care in the community and patient-centred practice. Our graduate-entry course features a unique third year, which includes an integrated community placement. We fully utilise the untapped resource of community hospitals as a training ground for students, working alongside professionals and students from other health disciplines. The programme stands out for its ambitious plan to embed interdisciplinary and problem-based learning in the curriculum, and for the way it marries empathetic patient-focussed values with the latest knowledge and professionalism of the modern-day health service.
The TCMS is part of a new wave of medical schools in the UK that are aiming to widen access to careers in medicine. The 51视频, widely regarded as one of Britain’s most inclusive higher education institutions, is in an excellent position to take a lead in this movement. Its commitment to widening opportunities and equality has been recognised in a string of national awards over the past four years.
The development of a medical school based at the heart of a new health and wellbeing campus was a logical next step for the University. It grows organically out of established strengths and a solid and long track record in delivering a wide range of high quality programmes in subjects allied to nursing and health.
The TCMS will build on existing staff expertise, relationships with Trusts and hospitals, professional regulatory bodies and university facilities. It will also allow for the development of an integrated course experience and community of practice - reflecting the current emphasis on integrated care - as trainee doctors, nurses and other health professionals learn in a shared environment.
“Creating the Three Counties Medical School to serve the people of this region and beyond is a major investment. There is a serious shortage of doctors in many rural areas as well as in the Acute Hospitals. The latest official workforce forecasts predict that the shortage of health personnel is going to balloon to 170,000 by 2027, which is just when doctors educated at the Three Counties Medical School should start coming on stream.”
Professor David Green CBE
Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, 51视频
The benefits of opening the TCMS extend far beyond the evolution of university healthcare teaching. In developing the school, the University aspires in the long term to provide a practical solution to the significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining doctors in the region. Research has shown that focussing on recruitment of local students is likely to be an effective strategy. The TCMS works in close partnership with Trusts and hospitals in the region, as well as schools and other local stakeholders, to help realise these objectives. It amounts to a collaborative venture from which the regional community, healthcare system, medical profession, students, higher education sector and the NHS all stand to gain.