Welcome

The School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge marks its 50th anniversary this year. I am delighted to share this short history of our School, which summarises some key past achievements and our vision for the future.

I am proud of the impact that our School has already had over its short history. Our alumni and our talented staff are central to this – caring for patients, making discoveries and developing innovative treatments, and deploying their skills in the business world and other sectors.

It is remarkable to think that the Regius Professorship of Physic was created in 1540 to oversee medical education in Cambridge, but it has only been 50 years since the University welcomed its first cohort of clinical students to a modern medical course. We should all be grateful to the visionaries of the 1950s and 1960s for their perseverance in advocating for a School of Clinical Medicine in Cambridge.

Alongside educating medical students, the School has seen a terrific expansion in its remit over the last 50 years. The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is now the largest concentration of health and life sciences in Europe. The work undertaken by our academics encompasses research across the human lifespan from prenatal development to palliative care. Our researchers have made crucial contributions to understanding and addressing global challenges including cancer, obesity, mental health and neurodegeneration, to name just a few.

Philanthropy has played a key role in accelerating this work and I am grateful to our donors for their ongoing support which plays a vital role in supporting students, staff, research programmes and state-of-the-art facilities.

It is a huge privilege to lead the School, and I am thrilled to congratulate everyone concerned on a successful first half century in the service of patients and populations, locally and across the world.

With best wishes,

Patrick