About & Governance

Our Mission

Consistent near-peer BLS education, wherever you study

RMD UK is a nationwide community of students and educators united by a shared commitment to delivering high-quality, near-peer Basic Life Support (BLS) education. Bringing together the people who run RMD sites across UK Higher Education Institutions, the network fosters collaboration, shared standards, and mutual support.

As a voluntary, collegiate community, RMD UK enables members to share knowledge, develop their teaching and leadership skills, and contribute to a model that has been shaping interdisciplinary healthcare education since its founding at the University of Birmingham in 1995.

Our Pillars

The Three Pillars of RMD

Everything we do as a network is built on three interconnected principles.

Resuscitation

At its core, RMD UK is dedicated to improving resuscitation education through a proven, near-peer teaching model. Sites across the country deliver consistent, high-quality BLS training, helping students gain the confidence and competence to respond effectively in critical situations.

By sharing resources, best practice, and innovations between institutions, RMD UK helps maintain excellence and consistency in resuscitation training nationwide.

Mentorship

RMD UK creates a supportive environment where students learn from one another and grow together. Through peer support between sites and within them, members benefit from shared experience, advice, and guidance.

This mentorship extends beyond individual sites, fostering a national network where new and established RMD sites can collaborate, solve challenges, and support each other's success.

Development

Being part of RMD UK provides opportunities for personal and professional development. Members can become instructors, assessors, and senior faculty within their own site, while also contributing to wider initiatives such as cross-site collaboration and research.

The network promotes interdisciplinary learning across healthcare specialties, encouraging innovation and continuous improvement in teaching.

Our History

Three decades of near-peer BLS

RMD was established in 1995 by three medical students at the University of Birmingham to provide Basic Life Support training to healthcare students through a unique, interdisciplinary, peer-led programme. From those beginnings, it has grown into one of the largest near-peer BLS programmes in Europe.

Now overseen by a senior faculty of clinical and non-clinical staff — including one of the founders, Prof Jon Hulme — and run day-to-day by a student faculty of healthcare undergraduates, the model has been cited by the General Medical Council (GMC) as an innovative teaching method and endorsed by the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine.

In 2023, RMD UK formally brought together four sites — Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick, and Brunel — as a coordinated national network, working in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK to strengthen and expand the model. In 2026, the near-peer training concept and structure RMD developed was adopted into the Resuscitation Council UK's own BLS training portfolio, as part of RCUK's strategy to roll out fit-for-purpose near-peer training more widely. RMD UK remains the collegiate community of sites that delivers and develops this model day to day; it is not a subsidiary or branch office of RCUK, and ERC/RCUK course materials remain openly available to any institution, with or without RMD UK.

1995

Founded at the University of Birmingham

Three medical students create a near-peer BLS programme for healthcare undergraduates.

2000s

Growth and recognition

Cited by the GMC as an innovative teaching method. Endorsed by the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. Programme scales to 1,000+ candidates per year at Birmingham.

2023

RMD UK national network established

Four active sites — Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick, and Brunel — formally joined as RMD UK, working with the Resuscitation Council UK.

2026

Near-peer model adopted into the RCUK portfolio

RCUK adopts RMD's near-peer training concept and structure into its national BLS strategy. RMD UK continues as the collegiate network delivering and developing the model, and is establishing a fifth site at Plymouth.

Governance

A collegiate network, not a central office

RMD UK operates at two tiers. Most decisions are made at chapter level; the network tier exists to coordinate, not to direct.

Campus tier

Each site (Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick, Brunel, and Plymouth in development) runs its own course, recruits and trains its own instructors and assessors, and manages its own faculty structure. Sites are accountable to their host institution first.

Network tier

Senior faculty across sites coordinate on shared standards, instructor development, and the relationship with RCUK and other partners. The network tier supports sites and helps new ones get established — it does not centrally run individual courses.

For named faculty and site leadership, see the Faculty page.

About RMD UK