Aston welcomes medical education consultation

16 March 2017

• Aston calls for better and faster progress on widening access as consultation on undergraduate medical education is launched by the government.  

We welcome the launch of this important consultation, and we are particularly pleased to see the Government’s emphasis on social mobility. As the consultation points out, the medical profession has a long way to go in terms of widening access.

At Aston University we want to see better and faster progress made, and that’s why we launched the Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme last year. This pioneering programme is designed to prepare students from underrepresented backgrounds from across the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull regions to enter medical school and other healthcare professions – at Aston or elsewhere.

Coupled with quality, widening access to medicine should be a key consideration for decisions about where additional medical students will train.

Aston Medical School is currently going through the rigorous GMC approval process, and plans to open its MBChB programme in September 2018, subject to GMC approval.

We are pleased to see government’s commitment to ensuring high quality providers – including new medical schools like Aston’s – can compete on a level playing field for extra places.  We also welcome the focus on innovation. Aston Medical School will be the UK’s first medical school to offer an enhanced management and leadership component in the curriculum, and will be research- led, having already secured significant research funding and publications in journals such as Nature Communications.

ENDS 

Notes to the editor

About The Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme

• At Aston Medical School we ‘inspire to aspire’, by raising the aspirations not just of our students and their families, but also the wider community. In November 2016 we launched the Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme. Designed to prepare students to enter medical school and other healthcare professions at Aston or elsewhere, the programme is for students from across the Birmingham, Black Country (Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell and Wolverhampton) and Solihull regions; from non-traditional backgrounds (i.e. those who will be the first in their family to attend university, have been in receipt of free school meals etc.)
• Students who complete this programme and meet our academic entry criteria will be eligible to apply for one of our subsidised places on our 2018 entry undergraduate medicine degree (the MBChB).

About Aston Medical School

• Aston Medical School will be the UK’s first medical school to offer an enhanced management and leadership component in the MBChB curriculum. We will train tomorrow’s doctors to meet the increasing demand in the UK and abroad for highly skilled medical practitioners.
• Subject to GMC approval, our five year course will enable students to reach the ‘Outcomes for Graduates’ prescribed by the General Medical Council in ‘Promoting Excellence’. Graduates will be competent and safe to start work as a doctor and have the relevant professional attitudes and behaviours to succeed in medical careers.

About Aston University

• Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston University has been always been a force for change. For more than 50 years the University has been transforming lives through pioneering research, innovative teaching and graduate employability success. Aston is renowned for its opportunity enabler through broad access and inspiring academics, providing education that is applied and has real impact on all areas of society, business and industry. True to Aston’s Coat of Arms which bears the word ‘Forward’, in 2016 Aston recently held a year-long anniversary celebration to recognise its heritage and achievements, but with a focus to drive forward the next stage in the University’s exciting journey. www.aston.ac.uk/50 

For more information, call Ben Kennedy, Press & PR Officer, on 0121 204 4592 or email [email protected]

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