The Westminster Hospital Medical School was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 th ...

almost from the hospital's foundation in 1719 (the traditional name at the Westminster was "cubs"). The hospital and medical school moved to larger buildings several times in the decades that followed, leading to conflict among the staff on several occasions. Guthrie's forceful urgings on retaining the location of the hospital and school on one occasion resulted in an argument climaxing in a pistol duel between two surgeons (though each missed each other). One early Westminster student was

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the ...

, later the founder of modern epidemiology. In 1905, the teaching of pre-clinical subjects ended at Westminster, and moved to King's College. The school was taken over by the army in 1914 to train pathologists for the war effort. Student numbers and the school suffered as a result, and it was only after 1920 that numbers improved. In 1984, Westminster Hospital Medical School merged with local rivals

Charing Cross Hospital Medical School Charing Cross Hospital Medical School (CXHMS) is the oldest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine. Charing Cross remains a hospital on the forefront of medicine; in recent times pioneering the clinical use of ...

to form

Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School existed as a legal entity for 13 years, as the midpoint of a series of mergers which strategically consolidated the many small medical schools in west London into one large institution under the aegis ...

. This move was part of a general series of mergers in the London medical schools in the early 1980s.

moved to the site of St Stephen's Hospital on Fulham Road in Chelsea in 1993, and changed its name to

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is a 430-bed teaching hospital located in Chelsea, London. Although the hospital has been at its present site since only 1993, the hospital has a rich history in that it serves as the new site for the Westminst ...

. In 1997, CXWMS merged with the National Heart and Lung Institute at the Royal Brompton Hospital, and

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, whose medical department was St Mary's Hospital Medical School. The new institution was called

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

, and was at the time the largest medical school in the UK.

Shrove Tuesday Final Year Dinner

The Shrove Tuesday Dinner started in 1940 during the Blitz at the old Westminster Hospital. Students and house staff decided to have dinner to alleviate the oppressive mood. A senior member of staff was invited to address the assembled doctors and whilst he was talking a caricature was sketched on the tablecloth by one of his audience. It was cut out, passed round, signed and mounted and started the unbroken tradition that has evolved into the Shrove Tuesday Final Year Dinner. Since 1997, the Shrove Tuesday Final Year Dinner has since been a fully student-led event run by the

Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union (ICSMSU) is the students' union of the Imperial College School of Medicine. It is charged with representing and advocating for the educational, pastoral, social and extracurricular needs of al ...

References

*https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/medic/stfyd/history/ {{United Hospitals Medical schools in London 1834 establishments in England History of Imperial College London United Hospitals Educational institutions established in 1834 Imperial College School of Medicine