Mentor support for future doctors

By Alison Smith
BBC News education reporter

The mentor leaves a reply online to a student's question

It is no secret that competition for a place at medical school is fierce.

High grades at A-level may not be enough, with most medical schools heavily oversubscribed.

Students from low-achieving or disadvantaged backgrounds are much less likely to apply for medical and health-related degrees than other groups, according to educational charity The Brightside Trust.

It has set up Bright Journals, an online resource for undergraduates to become mentors to GCSE and A-level students from under-represented groups.

The government has acknowledged that young people from unskilled backgrounds are much less likely to enter higher education, and the Brightside Trust says this situation is acute in the field of medicine.

Middle class?

Student Andrew Lui said tips from his e-mentor helped him to know what to expect from the application process and the course.

"I would say getting into medical school is twice the work of applying for another course," he said.

As well as the usual application form and interview, prospective medical students have to take a PQA (personal qualities assessment) test, designed to test logic and problem solving.

Andrew had wanted to study medicine since taking his GCSEs and is about to begin his degree at Westminster University.

"My mentor was in his second year of medical school and it was helpful to get advice on the course from a current student," he said.

"I would be in touch with him once or twice a week via the Bright Journals website, and in fact we're still in contact."

In medicine you have to work your way up from the bottom Student Andrew Lui

Andrew does not think medicine is a profession to which only the middle-classes can aspire.

Although the long period of studying coupled with tuition fees and debt may put some people off, he concedes.

"You are studying for 10 years or more," he said.

"In most other fields you get a job straight after studying, but in medicine you have to work your way up from the bottom. After 10 years you're only a junior doctor."

Second year medical student and e-mentor Michael Paddock hopes to encourage sixth formers that they can get on the course and see it through.

He studies at Guy's, King's and St Thomas's Medical School, which in 2004 received 3,500 applications for 336 places on its five-year medical course.

So Michael is well aware of how difficult it is to secure a place.

"But getting a place isn't just about the grades," he said.

"I do think that those from less academic backgrounds may be put off, but if admissions tutors can see you have a passion they will be more likely to admit you."

Barriers

Fostering that passion was the idea behind the Brightside Trust's initiative.

The charity was set up in 2000 by entrepreneurs from the pharmaceutical industry who recognised that success in the field was largely dependent on access to higher education, and wanted to help others overcome barriers.

It funds educational projects designed to encourage those from less advantaged social circumstances.

The scheme offers online resources relating to medical courses

E-mentoring co-ordinator Sarah Davies says through Bright Journals they can work with universities to help them deliver their obligation to widen participation.

"Many universities already have links with schools for this purpose," she said.

"And the government is putting pressure on them to show their commitment to this agenda.

"We give them the idea for e-mentoring and help them to carry it through."

'Far from homogeneous'

The British Medical Association has identified recruitment of doctors from a variety of ethnic backgrounds as an issue, and acknowledges that the profession needs to do more to represent the society it serves.

I'm not from a rich family myself - I have to work during the holidays to pay my rent and tuition fees E-mentor Michael Paddock

This includes attracting more doctors of Afro-Caribbean origin, who are less likely to apply to medical school.

But whereas the profession had traditionally attracted white, middle-class males, the proportion of women and ethnic minorities choosing to work in the field was rising, a BMA spokeswoman said.

Michael said the culture of medical school was far from homogeneous and had introduced him to students from other races and backgrounds.

Friendships formed with students from Asian families had inspired him to learn Gujurati, he said.

"And I'm not from a rich family myself," he added.

"I have to work during the holidays to pay my rent and tuition fees."

He said top-up fees were likely to discourage even more students from applying, but the financial rewards of the profession made paying off the debt possible - and poorer students will not have to pay the fees.

Michael first began mentoring younger pupils while at school, and he hopes to prepare students for what lies ahead should they choose to study medicine.

"It is hard work and they will need to become more organised and prioritised," he said.

"But most of all it's just nice to have someone to talk to about everything. I try to reassure my mentee because A-levels are stressful, and arriving at university is daunting."