UU’s Magee Campus in Derry
The post-graduate students will begin training as doctors, taking a four-year medical qualification.
The medical school in Derry has opened after a number of delays and funding problems.
It is hoped that the new school will eventually help to address a relative shortage of doctors in the North of Ireland.
A review previously commissioned by the Department of Health (DoH) said that North needed at least 100 more medical students a year to meet the increasing demand for doctors.
Written prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, that review found there was “a shortage of doctors working in permanent positions” as GPs, non-consultant doctors and consultants.
It also said that 1,000 more consultants would need to be in place in Northern Ireland by 2033.
Up until now, the only medical school in Northern Ireland has been at Queen’s University in Belfast (QUB).
It admits about 270 medical students each year, with the majority of places for students funded directly by the Department of Health.
The graduate medical school at Ulster University was originally planned to open for students in 2019.
However, that was delayed by two years due to disputes over how the school would be funded.
Agreement was finally reached by the executive on funding to allow the school to open to its first group of 70 students in 2021.
However, a long-term business case for the school is still being worked on.
That is according to a response by Economy Minister Gordon Lyons to an assembly question from Sinn Féin MLA Nicola Brogan in late June.
Mr Lyons said that a “phase one” business case would ensure “that all costs covering the six-year period are identified in relation to the first intake of 70 students becoming fully qualified as doctors”.
“The business case for further phases will be developed by UU building on the costs identified in phase one and would consider the longer-term requirements of the medical school including any potential phased increase in student numbers and construction requirements,” he added.
Ulster University is also moving its undergraduate healthcare degrees to its Magee campus in 2022.
The new graduate medical school in Derry offers a four-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree programme.
Students will also undertake clinical placements in general practice, and other medical and surgical specialities.
The 70 students who begin training on Monday have already completed undergraduate degrees in a range of subjects.
Some have previously graduated in medical courses but others have taken non-medical qualifications.
Professor Louise Dubras of Ulster University
“Medical schools are sometimes located in a hospital setting, but I want our students to learn near the city’s GPs and the population they will go on to care for,” she said.
“The School of Medicine will act as their home, a welcoming place, for the future doctors who are embarking on a challenging yet hugely rewarding journey with us.”
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