St Andrews medical school best in UK

The Bute Medical School at the University of St Andrews has been voted the best in the country, according to the results of the 2006 National Student Survey.

The Fife medical school secured top marks in the nationwide poll of student satisfaction in which students were asked to rank the quality of their course, staff and teaching facilities.

Detailed NSS findings released this week revealed that medical students at St Andrews praised the Bute for the commitment and enthusiasm of its staff, the intellectual stimulus of its courses and the good organisation of the curriculum.

In the headline findings from the National Student Survey published last week, the University of St Andrews as a whole came top in Scotland and third in the UK for student satisfaction across all courses.

Professor Hugh MacDougall, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and head of the Bute Medical School, commented:

“The University of St Andrews has one of the smallest medical schools in the United Kingdom yet it has been rated number one in this important national survey of students’ appreciation of the quality of teaching and training.

“The survey results suggest that as well as issues such as course organisation and personal development, the key issues are accessibility, commitment and enthusiasm of staff and the intellectual stimulus of our courses.

“This is a remarkable achievement. The University of St Andrews recreated its Faculty of Medicine only four years ago and this accolade demonstrates the high quality and enthusiasm of my teaching staff.

“Applications to study medicine at St Andrews have tripled in the last four years.

“The combination of a period of three years study of the basic and clinical medical sciences in the interesting and stimulating environment in St Andrews followed by three years’ clinical work is extremely popular and has produced over the years very high quality doctors.”

Issued by the University of St Andrews. Contact : Niall Scott, tel 01334 462244, mobile 07711 223062