Fourteen physician associate students are now training and living in West Cumbria as North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust seeks innovative solutions to recruitment challenges in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire.

The students, the majority of whom have relocated from across the country, are training at UCLan’s established West Cumberland Medical Education Centre at Westlakes Science Park in Whitehaven. They are being taught their basic sciences using the latest technology in video conferencing alongside the wider Preston cohort of students.

They are also spending time just a mile away at the recently-redeveloped West Cumberland Hospital where they will also undertake their clinical placements.

The physician associate students already have a degree in healthcare sciences prior to taking on the two-year PGDip course which will equip them with a range of medical skills equivalent to those of a newly-qualified doctor.

The role of a physician associate includes interviewing and examining patients, ordering and interpreting tests and making decisions about patient management.

Gareth Bell is a student from Whitehaven and is pleased that opportunities such as the physician associate course have become available in West Cumbria.

He said: “I believe that the UCLan PA course is a vital resource for the county I live in, it is allowing more skilled professionals to enter the area to aid with the shortfall that currently exists.

“The programme is also allowing Cumbrians the opportunity to study a medical-related course, allowing excellence to remain in Cumbria and local people the chance to give something back to the community they love being part of.”