Universities spearhead event to encourage more medical students from non-traditional backgrounds
Young people from any secondary school can become a doctor: that’s the message that a conference organised by the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham aims to instil in sixth form students in Lincolnshire and beyond.
The universities are spearheading efforts to boost recruitment into the study of medicine by focusing on locations where young people have traditionally not applied for the subject.
The conference ‘A journey to medicine and healthcare’ takes place on 18 October from 9.45am to 2.45pm at North Kesteven Academy in Lincoln. Unlike other student recruitment events, the organisers are taking this conference out of the university, to the young people themselves in an effort to hit home the message that medicine is open to everyone.
It has already proven popular with Year 12 students as the 110 places available at the conference are fully booked.
The free one-day conference is designed for young people from schools and colleges who do not send many students to university to study medicine or are serving communities with high levels of disadvantage. It will be an opportunity for delegates to meet with staff and students from the two medical schools in the East Midlands.
The conference is being jointly organised by the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham in association with the Medical Schools Council and North Kesteven Academy.
Professor Richard Holland, Head of Leicester Medical School, said: “Medicine is a great career. I would encourage all A-level science students, particularly those taking Biology and Chemistry, to consider a career as a doctor if they genuinely enjoy caring for people, would enjoy a career that is constantly developing, varied, and intellectually challenging."