GKT School of Medical Education (abbreviated: GKT) is the medical school of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

), King's College Hospital (

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...

) and

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

(

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

) in London – with the initial of each hospital making up the acronymous name of the school. University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital are also teaching hospitals for GKT School of Medical Education. The school in its current guise was formed following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals on 1 August 1998. The medical school has an annual intake of around 400 places on the standard

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

Programme, 50 places on the Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP) and 23 places on the Graduate/Professional Entry Programme (GPEP), and an additional 2 places on the GPEP course for Maxillofacial (MaxFax) Entry. The intake numbers vary year to year. It receives more applications for medicine than any other UK medical school and as of 2016 applicants were required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test. The medical school is ranked 8th in the world, as adjudged by ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) in its World University Rankings 2015–2016 by subject (Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health Results), commenting that "...While the overall strength of these countries has dipped, some of their institutions have moved against the tide. One of these is

, which makes its debut in the top 10 (eighth)." As to ''QS'' World University Rankings (Medicine) 2021, the school is ranked 17th globally. It is ranked 12th in the world for medicine by Times Higher Education in 2022. It is ranked as the 5th best medical school in the UK for clinical medicine by the U.S. News & World Report.

Name

The School was named the ''GKT School of Medicine'' between 1998 and 2005. However, due to confusion over the official name of the institute, especially with regards to research emerging from the university, it was rebranded as the King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals. In 2015, to reflect the strong history of the multiple institutions that comprise the medical school, the School once again rebranded as the King's College London GKT School of Medical Education.

History

The hospitals associated with King's College London GKT School of Medical Education, ''i.e.'', Guy's Hospital, King's College Hospital and

(hence the GKT name and abbreviation), are: "amongst the oldest hospitals in the world, having endured the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

the plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

, the War of the Roses, the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

, the Blitz and over 60 years of NHS reforms.". University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, are also associated with King's College London GKT School of Medical Education. Of the GKT School of Medical Education teaching hospitals, St Thomas' Hospital is the oldest and was founded in 1173 but whose roots can be traced to the establishment of

St Mary Overie Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

Priory in 1106. Thomas Guy, a governor of St Thomas', founded Guy's Hospital in 1721 as a place to treat 'incurables' discharged from St Thomas'. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School was founded in 1550 and was sited across St Thomas' Hospital and Guy's Hospital. In 1769 it was decided that Guy's would teach mainly medical subjects, whereas St Thomas' would focus on surgery and the joint teaching institution was generally known as The Borough Hospitals. However, a dispute between the two hospitals regarding the successor to Sir Astley Cooper resulted in Guy's Hospital establishing its own medical school in 1825. After this, students of surgeons attended operations at both hospitals until 1836. A riot between students of the two hospitals broke out in the operating theatre at St. Thomas's in 1836 which ended the arrangement. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School and Guy's Hospital Medical School were two of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK. In 1982 the two medical schools decided to merge and formed the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, more commonly known as UMDS. It was enlarged in 1983 when the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surgery merged with Guy's Hospital Dental School, and again in 1985 with the addition of the Postgraduate Institute of Dermatology. Initially students of UMDS were allocated to one of the two campuses, with most preclinical teaching and all clinical teaching being separate. With the intake of 1989, students ceased being allocated in this way, and teaching for all students was divided between the campuses and their peripheral hospitals. Discussions between King's College London (which had trained medical students since it was established and founded its own hospital, King's College Hospital, in 1840) and UMDS regarding a further merger began in 1992. UMDS was subsequently absorbed into King's College London on 1 August 1998, forming the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, more commonly known as GKT. In 2005, the entity was rebranded King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals, also known as KCLMS. However it is still widely known as GKT amongst current students, graduates and consultants who consider themselves affiliated to the hospitals rather than the university. In 2005 the dental school became the Dental Institute and the remainder was renamed the King's College School of Medicine. The dean, Robert Lechler, oversees the running of both the Medical and Dental schools, as well as the School of Biomedical Sciences (all three were formerly regarded as GKT before the rebranding). Before the start of the 2010/11 academic year, Physiotherapy became a part of the School of Medicine, having previously been run by the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences.

Hospitals

King's College London GKT School of Medical Education is associated with the following hospitals: * Guy's Hospital *

* King's College Hospital * Maudsley Hospital * University Hospital Lewisham *

Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably '' Bedlam'', a 1946 film with ...

* Evelina London Children's Hospital It is also associated with several peripheral hospitals around the South East of the UK, including Medway Maritime Hospital, William Harvey Hospital and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital. Students are required to spend at least part of their training at these peripheral locations. File:Guy's Tower, Guy's Hospital - geograph.org.uk - 1623716.jpg, Guy's Hospital File:St Thomas Hospital from the Thames.jpg,

File:King's College Hospital.jpg, King's College Hospital File:Maudsley Hospital Main Building.jpg, Maudsley Hospital File:Bethlem Royal Hospital Main building view 1.jpg,

File:University Hospital Lewisham Riverside02.jpg, University Hospital Lewisham File:Evelina Children's Hospital at St Thomas's Hospital - geograph.org.uk - 571179.jpg, Evelina Children's Hospital

Campuses

Guy's Campus

Guy's Campus is situated close to

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

and the Shard on the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

of the River Thames. It holds New Hunt's House Library and building, Hodgkin Building and Wills' Library, Henriette Raphael House and Guy's Hospital.

St Thomas' Campus

The St Thomas' Campus in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

, facing the Houses of Parliament across the Thames, houses parts of the School of Medicine and the Dental Institute. The Florence Nightingale Museum is also located here. The museum is dedicated to Florence Nightingale, the founder of the Nightingale Training School of St Thomas' Hospital (now King's Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery). St Thomas' Hospital became part of King's College London School of Medicine in 1998. The St Thomas' Hospital and Campus were named after

St Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

. The Department of Twin Research ( TwinsUk), King's College London is located in St. Thomas' Hospital. The nearest Underground station is Westminster.

Denmark Hill Campus

Denmark Hill Campus is situated in south London near the borders of the

and the London Borough of Southwark in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

and is the only campus not situated on the River Thames. The campus consists of King's College Hospital, the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN). In addition to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, parts of the Dental Institute and School of Medicine, and a large hall of residence, King's College Hall, are situated here. Other buildings include the campus library known as the Weston Education Centre (WEC), the James Black Centre, the Rayne Institute (haemato-oncology) and the Cicely Saunders Institute ( palliative care), the world's first purpose-built institute for palliative care The Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute was opened by the Princess Royal in 2015 at the Denmark Hill Campus. It is named after British philanthropist

Maurice Wohl Maurice Wohl (4 January 1917 – 28 June 2007) was a British businessman and philanthropist. Biography Maurice Wohl was born in the East End of London to Eastern European parents. At a young age, Wohl became a property developer creating 'Uni ...

, who had a long association with King's and supported many medical projects. The nearest Overground station is

Admissions

King's College London, generally in 2005, is the sixth-most difficult UK university to gain admission to the, as ranked as ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. A freedom-of-information request in 2015 revealed that for every 1,764 applications that School of Medical Education received, only 39 offers were made thereby resulting in an offer rate of just 2.2%. For other subjects: Nursery & Midwifery, Physiotherapy and Clinical Dentistry also had one of the lowest offer rates of 14%, 16% and 17%, respectively.

Graduation

''Also see Graduation Dress of King's College London'' Graduation ceremonies for School of Medical Education are normally held in June or July (summer). During summer graduation, the graduation ceremonies are held in Southwark Cathedral; this is owing to St Thomas's Medical School roots that could be traced to

Priory. For those who happen to finish during January (winter), graduands could opt for attending the graduation ceremonies held in the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

Research

The School's research excellence is recognised worldwide and the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise confirmed King's as one of the top two universities in the UK for health research strength. Around 70 percent of health science submissions from King's were ranked in the top six within the UK. Currently, the School hosts six MRC Centres, * MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma * MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology * MRC Centre for Neurodegenerative Research * MRC Centre for Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry * MRC Centre for Transplantation * MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health (awarded in 2009 in collaboration with Imperial College London) * MRC National Institute for Medical Research (MRC NIMR) including the MRC Biomedical NMR Centre (planned to move to the new

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...

in 2015, a partnership between the MRC, Cancer Research UK, Imperial College London,

, the Wellcome Trust and University College London) The two MRC Centres in Transplantation and the Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma in 2008 alone were awarded 'Centre of Excellence' status by the British Heart Foundation with funding of £9 million and a £4 million Breakthrough Breast Cancer Unit was opened in 2009. The School is also host to its own 'Centre of Medical Law and Ethics', the first of its kind in the UK, and in March 2009, the school was accredited as an

Academic health science centre An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profess ...

, one of only five in the UK.KCL Medical Prospectus 2010

Sports teams

Like other medical schools in the UK, GKT has its own sports teams which compete in various student sports leagues and tournaments. Like most other universities in London GKT sports teams take part in the BUCS leagues and cups and the University of London Union leagues and cups. The GKT teams also take part in the United Hospitals Cup, which is a sporting competition played between the medical, dental and veterinary schools of London in all sports. The two most popular and biggest of the competitions include the United Hospitals Bumps (rowing) and the men's rugby. GKT has a fierce sporting rivalry with

. This rivalry led to the founding of the Macadam Cup in 2004, which pits GKT and KCL sports teams against each other. The championship is named in honour of Sir Ivison Macadam, an alumnus of King's. So far in Macadam Cup's history, the GKT Team has the most wins.

Notable alumni, academics and staff

File:Thomas Armitage.jpg, Thomas Armitage File:Richard Bright physician.jpg, Richard Bright File:Astley Paston Cooper 4.jpg, Astley Cooper File:Richard Doll.jpg, Richard Doll File:Havelock Ellis cph.3b08675.jpg, Havelock Ellis File:Abraham_Gesner_Photo.png, Abraham Pineo Gesner File:John Hilton (surgeon).jpg, John Hilton File:Thomas Hodgkin photo.jpg, Thomas Hodgkin File:Frederick Gowland Hopkins nobel.jpg, Frederick Gowland Hopkins File:Takaki Kanehiro.jpg, Takaki Kanehiro File:John Keats by William Hilton.jpg,

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

File:Lister Joseph.jpg, Joseph Lister File:Maugham_retouched.jpg, W. Somerset Maugham File:Max Theiler nobel.jpg, Max Theiler File:Robert Bentley Todd2.jpg, Robert Bentley Todd * Recep Akdağ, Turkish Health Minister *

Eric Anson Eric Anson (22 November 1892 – 5 June 1969) was New Zealand's first specialist anaesthetist. He was the first President of the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists (NZSA) and a member of the NZ Committee of the Faculty of Anaesthetists. Early ...

, New Zealand's first specialist anaesthetist * Thomas Armitage, British physician and founder of the Royal National Institute of Blind People *

William Bowman William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Bowman may refer to: Sportspeople * Bill Bowman (baseball) (1867–1944), American baseball player for the Chicago Colts * William Bowman (fencer) (1881–1947), American Olympic fencer * Bill Bowman (American ...

, ophthalmic surgeon, helped found Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom * Sir James Black, Nobel Prize laureate for Medicine in 1988 for work leading to the development of propranolol and cimetidine *

, ophthalmic surgeon, helped found Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom * Richard Bright, discoverer of Bright's disease *

Russell Brock, Baron Brock Russell Claude Brock, Baron Brock (24 October 1903 – 3 September 1980) was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open-heart surgery. His achievements were recognised by a Knighthood in 1954, a Life Peera ...

, pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon * Sir Astley Cooper, discoverer of the Cooper's ligaments of the breasts *

John Leonard Dawson John Leonard Dawson (30 September 1932 – 16 May 1999) was an English surgeon particularly known for his work in the field of liver disease. He pioneered several surgical techniques, including radical tumour resection, injection sclerotherapy a ...

Serjeant Surgeon The Serjeant Surgeon is the senior surgeon in the Medical Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The origin of the post dates back to 1253. Early serjeant surgeons were military surgeons who followed their king ...

to the Royal Household of the United Kingdom * Richard Doll, epidemiologist and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

; established link between

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

and cancer * Havelock Ellis, physician, sexual psychologist and social reformer * Reita Faria, Indian model and

Miss World 1966 Miss World 1966, the 16th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 17 November 1966 at the Lyceum Theatre, London, Lyceum Ballroom in London, UK. The winner was Reita Faria of India, first Asian delegate to win Miss World title. She was c ...

William Fergusson Sir William Fergusson, 1st Baronet FRCS FRS FRSE (20 March 180810 February 1877) was a Scottish surgeon. Biography William Fergusson son of James Fergusson of Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, was born at Prestonpans, East Lothian on 20 March 1808 ...

, surgeon who introduced the practice of conservative amputation * David Ferrier, pioneering experimental neurologist * Abraham Pineo Gesner, surgeon and inventor of kerosene refining * John Hilton, great anatomist and surgeon * Thomas Hodgkin, discoverer of Hodgkin's lymphoma * Sir

Frederick Hopkins Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (20 June 1861 – 16 May 1947) was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins, even though Casimir Funk, a Po ...

, discoverer of vitamins * Takaki Kanehiro, Japanese naval doctor, first person to discover the link between beriberi and diet *

, writer * Joseph Lister, pioneer of aseptic surgery * W. Somerset Maugham, playwright, novelist, short story writer *

Alex Mowat Alexander Parker Mowat (5 April 1935 – 11 November 1995) was a Scottish paediatric hepatologist. He established the paediatric hepatology unit at King's College Hospital, London, which became a referral centre for children across Britain with li ...

, professor of paediatric hepatology * Humphry Osmond, psychiatrist who worked with psychedelic drugs and coined the term *

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

, Labour

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

and founder of the Social Democratic Party * Sir Alfred Poland, the first to describe Poland syndrome * Sir Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator on the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine * Dame Cecily Saunders, nurse, physician and social worker who developed the concept of the hospice and was a pioneer of palliative care * Audrey Smith, cryobiologist who discovered the use of glycerol to protect human red blood cells during freezing * Jeffrey Tate, conductor * Max Theiler, virologist, awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing a vaccine for yellow fever *

Sheo Bhagwan Tibrewal Sheo Bhagwan Tibrewal is an Indian born UK-based orthopedic surgeon. He is a Research Fellow at University of Oxford and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King's College London GKT School of Medical Education. Born to Mohan Tibrewal, he graduated i ...

, Orthopedic surgeon and Padma Shri awardee * Robert Bentley Todd, known for discovering and describing the condition postictal paralysis now known as

Todd's palsy Todd's paresis (or postictal paresis/paralysis, "after seizure") is focal weakness in a part or all of the body after a seizure. This weakness typically affects appendages and is localized to either the left or right side of the body. It usually s ...

* Gerard Folliott Vaughan, UK

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, who became a politician and

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

of state during Margaret Thatcher's government * Sir Samuel Wilks, pathologist * Claire Windsor, wife of the Earl of Ulster and physician by profession * Fiona Wood AM, plastic surgeon, Australian of the Year 2005

References

External links

King's College London School of MedicineGKT Medical Students' Association (MSA)King's College London School of Medicine student listsKing's College London School of Medicine military personnel,1914–1918
{{Coord missing, London Medicine and Dentistry Dental schools in England Medical schools in London United Hospitals 1998 establishments in England