Barts Medical School building opens in Gozo

Barts Medical School has opened its Gozo campus, offering students and staff a new facility for the teaching and study of Queen Mary University of London’s MBBS medical degree.

The four-storey, 8,100 sq.m building is located next to Gozo General Hospital, and includes a 140 seat auditorium, two smaller lecture theatres that can combine into a 120-seat facility, two computer labs for 70 students each, and teaching and clinical skills rooms.

The building also hosts a library, students support facilities, a large canteen/social spaces and offices.

The news was announced by Queen Mary in a press statement issued on Monday.

Plans to open a Gozo branch of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry were first publicised by the government in March 2014.

Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) had initially been entrusted with the construction of the new medical school as part of a deal which saw the consortium also take control over the management of St Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech and Gozo hospital.

After running into financial problems, VGH sold its contract to US consortium Steward Health Care, which was also encharged with building the Barts Gozo campus.

Read also: Nurses’ boss: Steward ‘failed miserably’ to deliver on all hospital projects

Professor Anthony Warrens, education dean at Barts and The London hailed the building’s opening as “a significant new chapter in Queen Mary’s presence in Malta.”

“This state-of-the-art facility will be a boon for students and staff alike, creating an excellent teaching and learning environment while also providing additional areas for students to study and relax,” Warrens said.

The new building is an addition to Queen Mary’s Gozo campus, after an Anatomy Centre opened in December 2018.  The centre features a dedicated area for teaching anatomy through dissection. It is equipped with facilities for clinical imaging, as well as office accommodation for academic, technical and administrative staff.

Queen Mary launched a five-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme taught in Malta two years ago.

It has now accepted its third cohort of students for the 2019/20 academic year. The MBBS is taught by Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary and has been designed to provide students with the medical knowledge, clinical skills and professional attitudes that are required to become a competent Foundation Year (FY1) Doctor.

The programme is taught in English, using the same curriculum as the MBBS in London, and results in the award of a Medicine MBBS from Queen Mary University of London. Arrangements have also been made to make junior doctor (Foundation Year 1 and 2) positions in Malta available to our graduates.