Kirkham, EmilyRozwadowski, SophieWijeyaratne, ManukFerris, LisaBennett, JoanneCoyle, Margaret2025-08-272025-08-272023-11-21Kirkham, E. N., Rozwadowski, S., Wijeyaratne, M., Ferris, L., Bennett, J., & Coyle, M. (2023). Enhancing Equity in a Widening Participation Scheme for School Students. Journal of medical education and curricular development, 10, 23821205231213716. https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120523121371610.1177/23821205231213716https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14709/540Objectives: The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) Diversity Review 2021 found that premedical school students from ethnic minority backgrounds were dissuaded from pursuing a surgical career. Gloucestershire is in the bottom 20% of disadvantaged counties; there is no widening participation (WP) scheme in the county. We implemented a fully inclusive WP scheme in Gloucester, with means of accessing virtual and face-to-face work experience, to enhance the equity of work experience. Methods: A three-stage project was conducted. Stage 1; two separate virtual Q and A sessions, to allow students to ask questions about life as a doctor. Stage 2; conversation between student and patient held virtually, to gain insight into working as a doctor to help determine whether medicine is the career for them. Stage 3; face-to-face work experience. Distribution sent to all 58 schools (state and private) in the county, targeted at secondary school children. Results: One hundred twenty-nine people attended the Q and A; 70 feedback responses received. Of the total, 86% female and 56% of ethnic minority background. 26% did not have an immediate family member that attended university, 10% had care-giving responsibilities. Eighty-one percent rated the session >8/10 for usefulness. Twenty-seven undertook the virtual conversation, feedback from 11; 91% female, 45% of ethnic minority background, and 27% did not have an immediate family member that attended university. All rated the session 10/10 for usefulness. 10 attended the face-to-face experience, 50% from an ethnic minority background. Conclusion: The RCS Report identified barriers to aspiring students from less-privileged backgrounds pursuing a medical career. More needs to be done with WP schemes to promote equity. Targeted distribution of WP schemes to all schools, utilization of a variety of means of offering work experience, and accessibility to any school-aged student were aspects of our WP to improve exposure to the medical profession.Full text uploadedenCC BY-NC 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/EducationEquality, diversity & inclusionJournal Articlehttps://gerr.openrepository.com/bitstreams/44189810-2a78-4f95-940a-6d3c68974e21/download