Cambridge bids for medics

The University of Cambridge has become the latest to add its name to a growing list of institutions keen to attract a new kind of mature medical student.

The university this week confirmed it will be bidding for more medical students as part of the government's expansion of medical school intakes.

If it gets the go-ahead, Cambridge says it wants to target graduates, particularly those from the humanities, who want to do a second four-year medical degree.

Sir Keith Peters, head of Cambridge's clinical medical school, said: "We are trying to break the present mould when doctors have to make the decision at 18. We want to get some students whose experiences are different. I am very anxious to do this - to bring a different person into medicine."

Cambridge is proposing an intake of about 20 students a year to the course.

Leicester University, with partner Warwick, St George's Hospital Medical School in London, the Open and Hull universities have already expressed interest in new courses specifically for graduates.

Leicester University has already won General Medical Council approval for its plans.