Widening Access to Medical School


Margaret McCartney in the BMJ this week had an article complaining about leaflets in the paper BMJ that advertise courses to help students get places at medical school, for a mere £500 that is! Its ironic that opposite her article there was a full colour page advert for just such a company - MediPrep!

So is it a problem? Only 7% of pupils in the UK are educated privately, but they compose a quarter of medical students. The GMC commission  'Selecting for Excellence' in 2014 which examined these issues and found that 80% of all medical students in the UK came from just 20% of schools! Entry to medical school is demanding, it is important that students are selected in the fairest way possible and the GMC reported that some students, despite having the necessary aptitude to study medicine were being excluded. So, yes we do have a problem.

So, Houston, what are we doing about it!

A core objective of Wakefield General Practice Workforce Development Academy is to widen access to Medical Schools for residents of Wakefield and District. We are developing a number of programmes to support these aims including:
  • Schools Programme:Work with local schools to be able to offer work experience placements in general practice to school and college students
  • Internships: Work with local schools to be able to offer internship placements in general practice to school and college students interested in a career in healthcare and medicine
  • Widening Access to Medical Schools:Work with local medical schools to offer opportunities to increase the diversity of medical students.

Want more details?

Want more information about these programmes then contact either Dr David Brown (Wakefield GPWD Academy Chair and GP Lead) or Kerry Munday (Wakefield GPWD Academy Strategic Lead)


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