University of Edinburgh Medical School - The Edinburgh Model

The Edinburgh Model

The Edinburgh Model was a model of medical teaching developed by the University of Edinburgh in the 18th century and widely emulated around the world including at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the McGill University Faculty of Medicine. It was a two-tiered education model, revolutionary and well suited to the medical system of the UK at the time. First, the model offered its students studies in all branches of science, not just medicine. According to Mary Hewson, "every branch of science was regularly taught, and drawn together so compactly from one to the other." Edinburgh offered the most extensive selection of courses in any university in Britain. Second, it had a two-tiered education model which allowed a great number of students to matriculate, but allowed few to graduate. The requirements for an MD were very stringent. Students had to attend all lectures with the exception of midwifery (although it was strongly encouraged nonetheless), they had to study for at minimum 3 years, had to write a series of oral and written examinations in Latin and had to compose a Latin thesis and defend it before the whole faculty. As a result, the majority of students, attended Edinburgh with the intention of learning medicine for 1 year before leaving due to the costs of a degree and the fact that a MD degree was not required to practice medicine. Between 1765 and 1825, only 20% of Edinburgh students graduated with an MD. This model allowed Edinburgh to train many physicians and have a large network of alumni. Under this model, Edinburgh flourished as the leading medical institution in the world throughout the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries.