More students from deprived backgrounds will have the chance to study medicine next year.
Following the successful recruitment of students in its first year, SNP Government funding will see a further 40 students obtain the experience and qualifications to better prepare them to study medicine.
£330,000 for the pre-medical entry programme will be shared equally by the Universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said:
“I want to see a more diverse workforce in the health service. We must ensure we have a level playing field and give everyone with the ability and desire to study medicine a fair chance. Applicants from deprived backgrounds can have the academic ability but lack the opportunities to gain experience universities are looking for.
“This course contributes to our commitment to widen access to higher education and enhances the range of medical education already available in Scotland’s five world-leading medical schools.”
Professor Matthew Walters, Head of the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Glasgow, added:
"We believe that medical students should reflect the make-up of the wider community. This belief underpins the University's 'Glasgow Access Programme', which levels the playing field of access to Medicine and provides talented but disadvantaged students from all backgrounds with the opportunity to fulfil their potential and become excellent doctors. We are delighted by the SNP Government’s ongoing support of this important programme.”
Professor Steven Heys (University of Aberdeen) and Susan Grant (North East Scotland College) said:
“We are delighted that the SNP Government continues to support our innovative partnership to provide a gateway to medicine for people who have suffered disadvantage and would otherwise not have been able to train to be a doctor.”
Kenneth Gibson MSP commented:
“To truly prosper and become a more equal society, is important that talented people from all walks of life have an opportunity to succeed in important fields such as medicine. This initiative will allow our young people from both urban and rural backgrounds to become Scotland’s doctors of the future and help to ensure that our doctors are representative of the wider society that they will serve upon graduation.”
ENDS
Comments