Widening Participation in Medicine

Building better futures

We believe the circumstances that a child is born into should not limit them from achieving their full potential.

Do you believe that too?

Promoting fair access, regardless of individual circumstance

Generation Medics was founded by a team of NHS doctors with one simple aim: to widen participation by improving access, so that the workforce can become more representative of the society it serves.

Nearly seven years later our programmes are designed to improve access and retention.

Our organisation and programmes have won several prestigious awards, and we’re now working with NHS England, NHS Health Education England (HEE) and Universities across the UK to make our shared dream a reality.

Want to know what widening participation is? You can find out more here.

Proven track record, with years of experience and 100% recommendation rate from past schools, pupils and teachers

Strong connections with schools, colleges and communities across the UK including the most hard-to-reach groups

Pick ‘n’ Mix programmes to integrate within your existing offering and future Access Agreement objectives

Addressing inequality for social mobility and improved patient care

Research shows the importance of supporting students from low socio-economic backgrounds to access the medical profession.

74% of those working in medicine come from a professional or managerial class background, compared with 30% of the UK population as a whole.

% of people who attend Private School from the entire population

% senior doctors who were privately educated

Only 6% of doctors come from a working class background.
80% of applications to medical school come from just 20% of schools.
Although only 7% of the entire population attended Private Schools, 61% of Senior Doctors were privately educated.

The ‘skills which modern doctors require include far greater understanding of the social and economic backgrounds of the people they serve’, the medical profession ‘has a long way to go when it comes to making access fairer, diversifying its workforce and raising social mobility’.

Rt Hon Alan Milburn

We can help

We’re experts at widening participation. Collectively our team has tens of years of experience that’s won awards, funding and recognition from the likes of NHS England, HEE, HEFCE and Universities UK.

We’re a group of doctors who have been in the shoes of these young people and we’re determined to help.

Head to our ‘About us’ page to read out story.

We’ve spent years and years working in this market and we’ve learnt what works first hand.

During this time we’ve established trusted relationships with schools, colleges, teachers, parents and pupils from hard-to-reach backgrounds so you don’t have to.

Recruit students who are serious about Medicine, and integrate our programmes of support to improve student retention

Use our connections to work with disadvantaged, under-represented and hard-to-reach groups

Build bespoke and fully integrated Widening Participation projects and activities based on your needs

What our customers and partners have to say

We normally deliver summer schools entirely internally but needed expert sessions tailored to the audience, Generation Medics were able to deliver this. We had a staff illness in the team and needed additional support to deliver this project on time for the students who had already signed up.

Generation Medics demonstrated their expertise in delivery to be able to adjust to our changed needs and aid delivery of a successful insights to healthcare summer school.

Widening Access TeamUniversity of Essex

It was identified that more work needs to be focused on engaging young people to consider healthcare careers. We commissioned Generation Medics as we understood their expertise in the area of engaging those from hard-to-reach backgrounds and were impressed by their reputation and growth.

We needed the project delivery to start immediately and Generation Medics were able to help us identify how the project would work to best meet the outcomes we needed. They used their local knowledge to deliver a programme that young people, families and schools in our patch are still talking about today.

Project ManagerNHS Health Education England

The Generation Medics programme is a wonderful opportunity and I’m extremely grateful to Generation Medics and Dr Rafique for putting it together.

Whatever your age, training and ability, there are a huge range of roles and career pathways in the NHS so this is a truly fantastic opportunity and we’re delighted to be able to support it.

Dean, Housing Association Regional Director for Liverpool City RegionRiverside Housing

I wish that Generation Medics was here when I was younger. I didn't think I was clever enough to work in healthcare but you've made me think of healthcare careers differently.

TrusteeThirty Percy Foundation

We were incredibly impressed by the work of Generation Medics and are pleased that we awarded them funding to help them build gold-standard processes for careers provision and mentoring. As part of our programme of support we externally reviewed Generation Medics organisation and provision and are pleased that this support has helped them to scale their work nationally.

We work with schools and colleges across the country to help them improve their careers offer to young people, so we recognise and support good-quality provision like that provided by Generation Medics.

Investment and Strategy TeamCareers Enterprise Company

What teachers think of our impact

There are some kids that don't even dare to have that dream. They just think it's not for them it's for other people.

Generation Medics is opening that door for them and showing them how people like them can succeed.

Enabling that dream, that inspiration within students who come from lower income backgrounds is so important and I'm a massive fan!

CatrionaDeputy Headteacher

The workshops and support given to our pupils by Generation Medics have provided a comprehensive awareness of careers available, routes and progression in medicine, dentistry, health, life-sciences and social care careers.

Working with GMX has been the most seamless process, it started before they even set foot on school grounds. I was impressed by their knowledge, resources and professionalism from start to finish.

AbouCareers Lead

The programme delivered by GMX has been phenomenal.

The mix of tasks and practicals related to the world of work with very talks, advice and tips from real students and professionals has worked really well.

It has inspired some of our younger students to work harder as they have decided this is what they want to do. Others have been inspired to think about their future careers and choose appropriate A level subjects to support that.

ColletteHead of Careers

I wish that Generation Medics was here when I was younger. I didn't think I was clever enough to work in healthcare. You have made me think of healthcare careers differently.

People often don't mention alternative routes into careers, but you have your finger on the pulse of the latest updates (e.g. foundation degrees, apprenticeships, T-levels) to share with people you support and that's fantastic.

BenHead of Yr 11

We had a variety of pupils at the GMX sessions, those with dyslexia, autism and those who struggle with social interaction.

Generation Medics integrated all of these pupils into their brilliant interactive sessions. The pupils have all come away smiling and with good thoughts about the medical world. This is significant for them.

AnnetteSEN Coordinator

Trusted support with a proven track record

Our dedicated team are up-to-date with the latest developments and ensure that we deliver fun, educational and inspirational experiences for pupils. We’ll work alongside you and your team to adapt our services to your needs and achieve the results you’re looking for.

Delivery

Our fully trained team can deliver our bespoke programmes on behalf of your institution. Furthermore, we can target the disadvantaged and underrepresented according to the objectives of your institution and the regional/local objectives.

Here are some examples of what we can do:

Interact with children from an early age in Primary Schools to inspire, empower and provide enrichment. As a result, breaking down barriers before they are formed.
Offer taster sessions, experience projects and full application support conferences/holiday programmes to encourage non-traditional applicants.
E-learning, mentoring and face-to-face/online peer support.
Ongoing support throughout university study to encourage success.

Consultancy

Our experienced team can work with your existing in-house teams to enhance and improve your widening participation initiatives to achieve best-practice and in turn better outcomes. Our industry experts will apply their knowledge with ‘fresh eyes’ on your programmes to create innovative solutions.

Here are some examples of what we can do:

Help you target underrepresented and hard-to-reach groups to widen participation and create a step-change in your applications
Specifically build and encourage aspiration for medical specialties with shortages
Build aspiration from an early-age through a progressive outreach programme that builds a pipeline of talent
Innovate curriculum in order to ensure those from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds are more likely to succeed

With our widening participation programmes already created and ready to be delivered by our local teams, whether you’re a new medical school or an existing medical school looking to supplement the work that your WP/marketing departments do- you’re in safe hands.

You can pick and choose from activities that we’re ready to deliver, just get in touch and we can discuss what we’re able to offer.