Imperial College School of Medicine

The Imperial College School of Medicine stands on five campuses across central and west London. Its oldest site, Charing Cross, opened in 1823 beside the hospital of the same name near the Thames. St Mary’s in Paddington dates from the 19th century, while Chelsea and Westminster, Hammersmith and the former Royal Postgraduate Medical School add further buildings. Each campus specialises in different aspects of teaching and research, linked by Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine. The school is worth the journey because it brings together more than two centuries of medical education. It was formed in 1997 from the merger of St Mary’s, Charing Cross and Westminster schools with the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and the National Heart and Lung Institute. In 2019 it launched a new curriculum that mixes early clinical experience with team-based learning and social science. Graduates receive both the MBBS degree and the Associateship of Imperial College School of Medicine. A visitor finds modern lecture theatres alongside anatomy laboratories where students work with prosected specimens. In Phase 1c, students spend eight weeks on placements in general practice, hospital medicine and surgery, including hands-on anaesthetics. The BSc year offers modules such as Global Health, Cancer Frontiers and Remote Medicine, followed by clinical attachments in obstetrics, paediatrics and psychiatry. Outside study, the ICSM Students’ Union runs 65 clubs and societies, independent of the main college union.