Lancaster University is working on a major funding bid to boost the number of doctors working in the North West.
Experts at the campus want to extend local training opportunities for undergraduate medical students.
They are preparing the business case for a bid to the Higher Education Funding Council for an extra 50 medical under-graduates annually in the region.
This would increase the number of doctors through the development of a new medical school.
Also working on the bid are Liverpool University, the University of Central Lancashire, St Martin's College and the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority.
Students could carry out clinical training in hospitals throughout Lancashire and Cumbria.
University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Abercrombie describes the bid as 'a very important development'.
He says: "It enables the university to develop its expertise in research and teaching in health and medicine and to use that expertise to train doctors who are then likely to stay in the area."
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