Two studies in this week’s British Medical Journal reveal large disparities in medical school admissions by social class. Dr Peter Dangerfield, chairman of the BMA’s Board of Medical Education, says the research echoes the findings of the BMA report ’The Demography of Medical Schools’, published on Monday.

\"As some of the experts in this week’s BMJ argue, there is a very strong case for a medical workforce that is representative of its patients. However, students from the lowest socio-economic groups are not only less likely to apply to medical school, but also less likely to be accepted if they do. The answer is not positive discrimination, or any change to the standards required of doctors, but action to ensure that there is a level playing field. As a profession we need to tackle the notion some people have that medicine is ’not for them’, but we also need to ask whether medical schools are unintentionally excluding certain groups.\"

Leigh Bissett, chairman of the BMA’s Medical Students Committee, says the BMJ research strengthened the case for measures to tackle the financial disincentives to studying medicine.

\"One of the key findings is that students from poor backgrounds are put off studying medicine because of the costs. Top-up fees could mean debts as high as 64,000 for medical students and the government needs to address these financial barriers if more people are to have the chance to become doctors.\"

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