Are medical school applicants from a widening-participation background disproportionally disadvantaged: a systematic review

William G Rowley and Dr Fiona Watson, University of Liverpool

Email: W.Rowley@liverpool.ac.uk

Poster

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Abstract

Medical school entry is a competitive process with students from a widening participation background thought to be disadvantaged in this process. A systematic review was undertaken to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical school selection. The review, based on analysis of 3 databases, focussed on three areas potentially affecting student recruitment: qualifications, admissions tests, and interviews.  Five eligible manuscripts were identified for use.  Results indicated that COVID-19 impacted academic performance for both groups of students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds may not necessarily have had the required resources to participate and still be competitive in on-line interviews.

Overall, there was insufficient evidence showing widening participation applicants have been disproportionally disadvantaged by the pandemic, thus further research is required. Several additional solutions to address barriers faced by the widening participation cohort were identified, these included altering the weighting of aspects of the admissions process.

William G. Rowley

Student/Researcher, University of Liverpool

I have been studying undergraduate medicine at the University of Liverpool since 2019. Currently I am taking a year out of this to be involved in the intercalated master’s degree: biomedical sciences and translational medicine, also at the University of Liverpool. My research at the moment is in the area of pancreatic cancer, focussing mainly on relating levels of protein and mRNA of an enzyme (cytidine deaminase) involved in the gemcitabine (a chemotherapeutic agent) pathway. Previously, I have also been involved in research investigating the impact of COVID-19 on widening participation students and their access to medical school, as a part of my undergraduate medical degree.

Dr Fiona Watson

Widening Participation Lead, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool

I graduated from the University of Glasgow with a 2:1 degree in immunology in 1986 and completed my PhD at the University of Liverpool in the area of haematology in 1989.  My research interests since then have focussed on various areas including neutrophil function in rheumatoid disorders, genetic regulation within gastrointestinal physiology, the role of human papillomavirus in cancer and the role of heat shock proteins in prostate cancer.

I was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Liverpool in 1996 and was appointed to Senior Lecturer in 2013. Since 2008 I have been acting as Director of Admissions for the Liverpool Medical programmes where my interest in widening participation, outreach, and the use of contextual data in admissions has developed. 

I currently act as the Widening Participation Lead for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool.