St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

was one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK. The school was absorbed to form part of King's College London.

History

It was part of one of the oldest hospitals in London, St Thomas' Hospital established in 1173 but whose roots can be traced to the establishment of St Mary Overie Priory in 1106. According to historical records ''St Thomas's Hospital Medical School'' was founded in about 1550. It was admitted as a school of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1900 but remained a constituent part of ''St Thomas' Hospital'' until 1948 when it formally became part of the university. In 1982 it merged with the medical school at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

to form the

United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals The United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals was the name given to the joint medical and dental school formed in London as a result of the merger of Guy's Hospital Medical School, St Thomas's Hospital Medical School a ...

. In turn UMDS was absorbed by King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry, but the dentists have since been split out into The Dental Institute.

Name

Unlike the hospital which in recent times dropped the possessive "s", the medical school continued with the original spelling.

Departments

Department of Community Medicine

Notable people

Notable former members of staff

* Thomas Wharton (1614-1673) -

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

best known for his descriptions of the submandibular duct * William Cheselden (1688-1752) - surgeon and specialist in the removal of bladder stones *

Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the patholog ...

(1768-1841) - surgeon and

Thomas Wakley Thomas Wakley (11 July 179516 May 1862) was an English surgeon. He gained fame as a social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism. He was the founding editor of ''The Lancet'', a radical Member of Parliament (MP) a ...

(1795-1862) - surgeon and social reformer * Beulah Bewley (1929-2018) - campaigner for women's opportunities in medicine *

Karen Dunnell Dame Karen Hope Dunnell, DCB, FAcSS (''née'' Williamson; born 16 June 1946) is an American-born British medical sociologist and civil servant. She was National Statistician and Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics of the U ...

(b. 1946) - UK

National Statistician The National Statistician is the Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, and the Head of the UK Government Statistical Service. The office was created by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The UK Statistics Authority announce ...

* Doug Altman (1948-2018) - statistician *

Edward Headlam Greenhow Edward Headlam Greenhow FRS, FRCP (1814 – 22 April 1888) was an English physician, epidemiologist, sanitarian, statistician, clinician and lecturer. Life and career Greenhow was born at North Shields in 1814, and after receiving his medica ...

(1814-1888) - first lecturer appointed at St Thomas's *

Herbert Barrie Herbert Barrie (9 October 1927 – 20 March 2017), was a British consultant paediatrician and a leading figure in neonatology. He was a pioneer in the emerging specialty of paediatrics and neonatal medicine; and he developed one of the first ne ...

, neonatologist

Notable alumni

Takaki Kanehiro Baron was a Japanese naval physician. Early life Born in Hyūga Province (present-day Miyazaki Prefecture) as the son of a '' samurai'' retainer to the Satsuma domain, Takaki studied Chinese medicine as a youth and served as a medic in the ...

(1849 - 1920) - Japanese naval doctor, first person to discover the link between

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, ...

and diet. *

Charles Scott Sherrington Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (27 November 1857 – 4 March 1952) was an eminent English neurophysiologist. His experimental research established many aspects of contemporary neuroscience, including the concept of the spinal reflex as a system ...

(1857 - 1952) - Nobel Prize for Physiology for work on functions of neurons *

Havelock Ellis Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality i ...

(1859 - 1939) - Physician, sexual psychologist and social reformer. * Oguntola Sapara (1861 - 1935) - Medical doctor and activist. Known for Smallpox eradication in Nigeria. *

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

(1874 - 1965) - Playwright, novelist, short story writer. * Eric Anson (1892 - 1969) - New Zealand's first specialist

anaesthetist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

. *

Max Theiler Max Theiler (30 January 1899 – 11 August 1972) was a South African-American virologist and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever in 1937, becoming the first ...

(1899 – 1972) -

Virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, thei ...

, awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

in 1951 for developing a vaccine for

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

* Harold Ridley (1906 - 2001) - ophthalmologist who invented

intraocular lens Intraocular lens (IOL) is a lens (optics), lens implanted in the human eye, eye as part of a treatment for cataracts or myopia. If the natural lens is left in the eye, the IOL is known as Phakic intraocular lens, phakic, otherwise it is a pseudop ...

* John B. Harman (1907 - 1995) - president of the

Medical Defence Union The Medical Defence Union (MDU) is the largest medical defence organisation (MDO) in the United Kingdom, offering professional medical indemnity for clinical negligence claims and advice provided by medico-legal experts for its members. A mutual n ...

and chairman of the

British National Formulary The ''British National Formulary'' (BNF) is a United Kingdom (UK) pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about many medicine ...

Rustom Jal Vakil Rustom Jal Vakil (17 July 1911 – 20 November 1974) was a cardiologist from India who was awarded a Padma Bhushan for his contributions to medicine. He was the first Indian to win a Lasker Award. Born in Bombay in 1911, Vakil completed his medic ...

(b. 1911) - Eminent Indian cardiologist, recipient of the prestigious Lasker Prize known as the American Nobel. *

David Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley David Alastair Pearson Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley (18 February 1911 – 21 February 1990) was a British peer and physician. He trained as a physician in Germany and England, served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and then ...

(1911 – 1990), British cardiologist and member of the House of Lords *

Richard Doll Sir William Richard Shaboe Doll (28 October 1912 – 24 July 2005) was a British physician who became an epidemiologist in the mid-20th century and made important contributions to that discipline. He was a pioneer in research linking smoking ...

(1912 - 2005) -

Epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and physiologist; established link between smoking and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. * Sir

Bryan Donkin Bryan Donkin FRS FRAS (22 March 1768 – 27 February 1855) developed the first paper making machine and created the world's first commercial canning factory. These were the basis for large industries that continue to flourish today. Bryan D ...

- physician and criminologist * John Cosh (1915 – 2005) -

rheumatologist Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

Richard Bayliss Sir Richard Ian Samuel Bayliss (2 January 1917 – 21 April 2006) was an English physician specialising in endocrinology. He became Physician to the Queen and head of the Medical Household. Early life and training Richard Bayliss was born in ...

(1917 - 2006) - Physician to the Queen and head of the

Medical Household The Medical Household is the medical part of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It mainly comprises a range of Physicians and Surgeons to the Sovereign and to the Royal Household. None have more than a nominal or occasion ...

* Dame

Cecily Saunders Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders (22 June 1918 – 14 July 2005) was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasising the i ...

DBE OM (1918-2005) - Nurse, physician and social worker who developed the concept of the hospice and was a pioneer of

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

. *

Humphrey Kay Humphrey Edward Melville Kay (10 October 1923 – 20 October 2009) was an English pathologist and haematologist who oversaw clinical trials for leukaemia treatments for the Medical Research Council in the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Kay was bor ...

(1923 - 2009) -

Haematologist Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

* Walter W. Holland CBE (1929 - 2018) -

and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

physician *

Anthony Yates David Anthony Hilton Yates, FRCP (15 August 193013 September 2004) was an English rheumatologist and consultant, president of the British Association for Rheumatology and of the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Section of the Royal Society of Me ...

and consultant, president of the British Association for Rheumatology and of the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Section of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chamber ...

* Mary Baines (1932 - 2020) - palliative care physician * David Owen (b. 1938) -

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Foreign Secretary and founder of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. * Elizabeth M. Bryan (1942 - 2008) - Paediatrician and expert on twins. * Philip Poole-Wilson (1943 - 2009) - cardiologist * Sir Gordon Duff (b. 1947) - Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford * Vicky Clement-Jones (1948 - 1987) - Founder of the British Association for Cancer United Patients. *

Jeffrey Tate Sir Jeffrey Philip Tate (28 April 19432 June 2017) was an English conductor of classical music. Tate was born with spina bifida and had an associated spinal curvature. After studying medicine at the University of Cambridge and beginning a me ...

(b. 1948) - Conductor * Gilbert Thompson (physician) (born 1932) - lipidology expert and academic * Roger Jones (b. 1948) - professor of general practice, and editor of the ''

British Journal of General Practice The ''British Journal of General Practice'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal for general practitioners and primary care researchers. History The journal was established in 1953 as the ''College of General Practitioners' Research Newsl ...

'' * James Colthurst (born 1957), radiologist *

Fiona Wood Fiona Melanie Wood (born 2 February 1958) is an English-born Australian plastic surgeon working in Perth, Western Australia. She is the director of the Royal Perth Hospital burns unit and the Western Australia Burns Service. In addition, Wo ...

AM (b. 1958) - Plastic surgeon, Australian of the Year 2005. * Phil Hammond (b. 1962) - comedian and commentator on health issues

References

External links

Lists of St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School students

List of St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School military personnel, 1914-1918
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomass Hospital Medical School Medical schools in London 16th-century establishments in England History of the London Borough of Lambeth United Hospitals Former colleges of the University of London GKT School of Medical Education