A Career in Medicine – Just For the Wealthy?
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Today we’d like to announce the publication of Viren Kaul and Radhika Batra’s article on the problem of tuberculosis in India and Operation ASHA, a community-based NGO set up to control and treat the disease on a local level. Read out it here.
Meanwhile, in today’s blog James Barclay, second year medical student and our Regional Advisor for Edinburgh University, explains how increased access to a career in medicine is still far from its target in Britain.
Despite £392 million piled into efforts to broaden access to medicine since 2001, only one in seven students comes from the lowest economic background.
Medical schools are simply not bringing in enough pupils from low-income backgrounds, according to a recent report by the British Medical Association. Despite £392 million piled into efforts to broaden access to medicine since 2001, only one in seven students comes from the lowest economic background. The BMA’s report on equality and diversity in medical schools shows that there was only a 1.7% rise in individuals from poorer backgrounds from 2003 to 2008. This is a complex problem but also a classic story of social class barriers in modern Britain.
Medical degrees more than any other present students with alarming financial pressures. The BMA estimates that the level of debt for the average medical student will reach a mountainous £37,000 next year. Five or six years of tuition fees, living costs and little chance to earn a wage in the short holidays between terms all combine to mean a clear series of obstacles for poorer students. Professor Bhupinder Sandhu, chair of the BMA’s equal opportunity committee points to other underlying issues in the educational system, citing ‘low aspirations’ in poorer school students, with ‘many feeling a degree in medicine is simply unattainable’.
At the other end of the scale, privately educated students have higher acceptance rates to medical school- with recent figures showing 60% of applicants are successful, compared to state school levels of 45%. Would-be medical students are increasingly being asked to jump through the hoop of demonstrating extra-curricular activities. On a general level this play into the favour of the privately educated, whose schools tend to place greater emphasis on such activities, as well as being more likely to offer helpful career guidance.
A recent report by ex-Cabinet minister Alan Milburn, “Unleashing Aspiration” claims that efforts from professions such as medicine to increase their recruitment pool have raised but not broken the glass ceiling. He adds “this is more than an issue for those at the very bottom of society”. He makes the point that it is also the “forgotten middle classes” who lose out in the race for jobs.
Doctor Peter Rubin, chair of the General Medical Council, which regulates the country’s doctors, points out that “the skills required to be a good doctor – commitment and keen intelligence, compassion, tenacity and first rate communication skills – are found in people from all backgrounds”. So what is being suggested? Rubin believes that students from more affluent backgrounds should pay higher fees so that students from poorer families can go to university. This is an idea borrowed straight from the American model, where some of the top universities actively recruit talented students regardless of background. However, the proposal has left some wondering whether Britain should use America as a guide, given that students there are loaded with even higher level of debt than British students. The BMA has questioned whether it is justified to penalise one group of students over another.
This is more than just about correcting the country’s embarrassing statistics. It is about ensuring a meritocracy where those that have the skills do not lose out. Any solution from the problem will need to address social and educational issues from school to university level. As the country wheezes through the recession, one thing is certain- it should not be poor but promising students that bear the burden.
References:
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/19/alan-milburn-uk-unequal-society, accessed December 20, 2009
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/nov/04/medicine-tuition-fees-scholarships-university, accessed December 20, 2009
3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/26/medical-students-debt-low-income, accessed December 20, 2009
4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/05/medical-students-private-schools-education, accessed December 20, 2009
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8160052.stm, accessed December 20, 2009