Papers relating to the University of Nottingham Medical School, 1969-1975, and publications of Dr Ian Olson (1939-); 1969-2006

The collection relates to the establishment of the Basic Medical Science curriculum at the University of Nottingham Medical School, and contains:

Offprints of selected publications by Dr Ian Olson relating to his experiences in setting up the Medical School at The University of Nottingham (MS 836/1/1-11), as follows:

'Advantages and disadvantages of closed-circuit television in the teaching of large classes in preclinical medicine'. British Journal of Medical Education, Vol. 4, 312-315 (1970). (MS 836/1/1)

'The use of colour filters by students with congenital colour defects in the learning of histology'. Medical and Biological Illustration, Vol. 21, 52-53 (1971). (MS 836/1/2)

'Prototype closed-circuit television and audio-visual systems installed at the new medical school, Nottingham'. Medical and Biological Illustration, Vol. 21, 156-162 (1971). (MS 836/1/2)

'Significance of Literacy in the Performance of Students in the First Year of the Nottingham Medical Course' (with H. Diack and Pamela J. Harrold). British Medical Journal, 282-284 (1973). (MS 836/1/4)

'The technical operation of multi-disciplinary teaching laboratories at the new medical school, Nottingham' (with R.E. Whibley and F.C. Treeby). Journal of Science Technology, Vol. 17, 11-14 (1973). (MS 836/1/5)

'Organization and use of multidisciplinary teaching laboraties at the new medical school, Nottingham' (with Frederick C. Treeby and Roger E. Whibley). British Journal of Medical Education, Vol. 8, 255-261 (1974). (MS 836/1/6)

'Use of a video-cassette recorder for the assessment of teaching effectiveness' (with R.F. Hudson, D.J. Morton and M. Percival). Medical and Biological Illustration, Vol. 24, 191-193 (1974). (MS 836/1/7)

'Home bases for private work and study: Are multidisciplinary laboratories the best answer?' (with Frederick C. Treeby and Roger E. Whibley). British Journal of Medical Education, Vol. 9, 205-214 (1975). n.b. pp. 212-214 are missing from this offprint. (MS 836/1/8)

'The organization of an integrated basic medical science curriculum at a new medical school, Nottingham'. Medical Education, Vol. 10, 362-368 (1976). (MS 836/1/9)

'The Open University and medical education abroad'. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 71, 276-277 (1978). (MS 836/1/10)

Page from a bibliography of Ian Olson's educational publications, 1969-1978, listing the 10 articles above, plus others. (MS 836/1/11)

Photocopied obituaries of University of Nottingham Medical School staff (MS 836/2/1-2), as follows:

Obituary of Professor David Greenfield (1917-2005), foundation Dean of the University of Nottingham Medical School, by Dr Ian Olson, published in The Times on 6 January 2006. (MS 836/2/1)

Obituary of Professor Maurice Backett (1916-2009), foundation Professor of Community Health at the University of Nottingham Medical School, by Dr Ian Olson, published in The Times on 31 December 2009. (MS 836/2/2)

Three files of papers maintained by Dr Ian Olson during his time at the University of Nottingham Medical School (MS 836/3/1-3), as follows:

Curriculum Inter-Departmental Working Party. The file contains minutes of meetings, reports, draft timetables, draft descriptions of courses, and correspondence with members of departments within the Medical School, concerning the development of the curriculum and timetabling issues for Years 1 and 2 of the Basic Medical Sciences course. 1968-1970 (MS 836/3/1);

Medical Sciences Curriculum Sub-Committee, established in February 1971 to review and amend the curriculum and timetable for Years 1 and 2 of the Basic Medical Sciences course, and make recommendations for inter-disciplinary courses in the Honours year. The file contains minutes of meetings and papers considered by the Sub-Committee. 1971-1974. (MS 836/3/2);

Examinations Committee. This Committee considered the qualifications which could be obtained by students failing Part I examinations at the end of their second year. The file contains minutes of meetings of the Committee, many of which were held jointly with the Medical Sciences Curriculum Sub-Committee; also minutes of meetings of the 3rd Year Ordinary Degree Working Party; and papers considered at the meetings. The file also contains papers of the Medical Sciences Curriculum and Examinations Committee, which replaced the separate committees in June 1975. 1974-1975 (MS 836/3/3).

Dr Ian Olson was educated at the University of Aberdeen. In 1969 he was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Human Morphology to the Foundation Team to establish the new Medical School at Nottingham, the first new medical school to be established in the United Kingdom in the 20th century. The school received its first intake of students in September 1970.

In the year before the school opened, Dr Olson acted as Secretary to the Curriculum Inter-Departmental Working Party which co-ordinated the timetabling of the courses offered by the different departments within the faculty. The new medical curriculum chosen was radical: the 'pre-clinical' and 'clinical' parts of traditional courses were merged, and the teaching was thematic. Basic Medical Science courses in three themes ('The Cell', 'Man', and 'The Community') ran concurrently during the first two years of the medical degree, alongside introductions to clinical practice. Students were awarded a B.Med.Sci degree on successfully passing the third year. Teaching at Nottingham also made use of multi-disciplinary laboratories and new technologies. During his time at Nottingham Dr Olson was also an ex-officio member of the Medical Sciences Committee; Chairman of the Medical Educational Services; Chairman of the Multidisciplinary Laboratory Services; Chairman of the Audio-Visual Services; and a member of the Faculty Board.

In 1974 he was invited to establish a new medical school and teacing hospital in Kuwait. He took up the post of Academic Vice-Dean and Professor of Human Morphology and Experimental Pathology in Kuwait in 1975. Dr Olson later returned to Scotland and in 1979 was appointed as Clinical Lecturer in Mental Health at the University of Aberdeen. He is also an enthusiast for Scottish ethnology and has had articles published on the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection.

The collection has been arranged by format, and within sections chronologically.

Accessible to all readers

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright on the description belongs to the University of Nottingham.

Good

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

The papers were acquired in November 2008. The obituary of Professor Maurice Backett was added to the collection in January 2010.