Cumbrian medical school launches
An event is being held to mark the occasion
The Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, part of the University of Cumbria, is being launched today, as applications close for it's first cohort of pupils in 2025.
The plan for the school is to deliver doctors committed to serving the needs of Cumbria, and will focus on educating pupils on the challenges, and benefits, of medicine within the county.
The 4 year programme is set to align with local healthcare planning and infrastructure, ensure pupils are geared for practice within Cumbria.
Head of the school, Professor Mary Morrell, said: "It's been a long time coming. To open a medical school we had to get government approval and a collaboration agreement between Cumbria and Imperial College.
"We've designed a bespoke curriculum that will allow students to understand how healthcare is delivered in different parts of Cumbria. You've got remote regions, coastal regions and each of those areas need doctors to work in specific ways in order to respond to people's needs.
"What we're going to do is train doctors to understand the healthcare system in Cumbria and hopefully some will want to stay. We can't make them, but it would be great if they wanted to stay.
"This is a particularly under-doctored area particularly in primary and community care."