Memorial University Faculty of Medicine (Newfoundland) Fast Facts

School Info

The Faculty of Medicine of Memorial University of Newfoundland, one of 17 Canadian medical schools, was established in 1967 when Dr. Ian Rusted was appointed dean of medicine. Under his leadership, faculty members were recruited, the undergraduate program was initiated and the first medical students were admitted in 1969. The existing programs of postgraduate training and continuing medical education were strengthened and the spectrum of medical education was subsequently completed in 1971 with the initiation of a program of graduate studies leading to the degrees of M.Sc. and PhD. Today there are about 150 graduate students enrolled in eight program areas, including the MD-PhD degree, diplomas in Community Health, Clinical Epidemiology and Post-Secondary Studies (Health Professional Education). As well, the master's in Applied Health Services is offered through the Atlantic Regional Training Centre, a joint venture between Memorial University , Dalhousie University , the University of New Brunswick and the University of PEI .

Curriculum

The undergraduate curriculum is designed to foster integrated learning and permit contact with patients early in the student's training. Small class size and an emphasis on problem-based learning and distributed learning allow students the opportunity to actively participate in the learning process. The Faculty of Medicine has 666 full and part-time faculty members of which 200 are full time faculty.

Facilities

The Faculty of Medicine is housed within the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's , a modern facility which also includes the adult and women's hospital, the Janeway Children's Hospital, the H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre, the Telemedicine Centre, the Centre for Offshore and Remote Medicine (MEDICOR), and the Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy. Modern research laboratories include the Terry Fox Cancer Research Laboratories and the hyperbaric medicine research facility. The Medical Education and Laboratory Support Services (MELSS) is a core research support unit of the Faculty of Medicine. MELSS has a full service Electron Microscopy Unit providing a wide range of teaching and research support, and a fee for service clinical biopsy service to provincial hospitals. It also houses a Histology Laboratory, equipped with all the necessary equipment for the preparation of histology materials to support research and teaching. There is a Flow Cytometry Unit which provides fluorescence activated cell sorting on a fee for service basis to the entire university research community. The Confocal Digital Imagery Centre provides highest quality optical sectioning, 3D reconstruction and time-lapse observation as well as full image analysis services to researchers. MELSS also houses the Clinical Skills Teaching which is used for clinical teaching and assessment, clinical trials research, genetic counselling and other patient encounter activities.