Multidisciplinary groups manage all modules and the Chairs of these report to the Educational committee. We have student representation on all the major educational committees. Due to the large size of the school, Years 3-5 are delivered in three teaching hospital sectors with affiliated district general hospitals. These sectors are managed by hospital deans and their supporting departments. The feature of our curriculum which has attracted most attention is 'problem-based learning'.
Students work in small groups to study written descriptions of clinical situations.
By using a specific set of study skills, they use those scenarios to guide them towards relevant theoretical and practical learning. This process starts at entry to the medical school and lasts to Year 4. Thus the 'spine' of the curriculum consists of approximately 100 carefully designed scenarios. Each teaching hospital has a clinical skills laboratory, allowing students to develop many clinical skills in the relative 'safety' of simulation. However, students are guided to apply their problem-solving skills to real patients from the start of Year 3 and to move rapidly towards gaining wide clinical experience and using real clinical situations as their stimulus to learn.