Article written by Samuel Hurley, Social Responsibility and Public Engagement Intern

Pupils from disadvantaged or underprivileged backgrounds face a number of challenges when applying for medical school. Whether this be due to a lack of role models or a limited support network, many pupils don’t know who to turn to for advice.

Driven to tackle this issue due to his own personal experience, Dr Brian Wang of Imperial College Healthcare Trust formed the charity In2MedSchool in 2020. In2MedSchool is a widening participation initiative that provides free mentorship, events, and resources for children from disadvantaged backgrounds hoping to study Medicine and other healthcare-related degrees at university. Over 2,500 children aged 16-18 have signed up for this programme since its inception in September 2022.

Through the initiative, medical students and junior doctor volunteer’s act as mentors, helping the children make an informed decision about their future. The events programme delivers free online and in-person events covering all aspects of the application process. The initiative also run free webinars covering both academic and non-academic topics, including what it is like to be a black or a disabled medical student, and has been viewed over 12,000 times. In2MedSchool also provides a fantastic opportunity for medical students and junior doctors to develop their own mentoring and interpersonal skills

Jenna Stocks, a medical student at the University of Manchester, is currently the director of In2MedSchool’s Grants and Partnerships team. For her role, Jenna and the team of directors recently won the award of Community Champion at the Third Sector Awards 2022.

As the director of In2MedSchool’s Grants and Partnerships team, Jenna has developed strong collaborative relations with prominent organisations including the Royal Society of Medicine and Royal College of Surgeons. In doing so, Jenna and her team have helped In2MedSchool run their programmes and have also raised awareness of widening participation amongst members of these organisations that work with In2MedSchool.

In2MedSchool founder, Dr Brian Wang, praised Jenna’s achievement: “Jenna has volunteered countless evenings and weekends towards making the charity a success and has been an integral part of the initiative since its inception in 2020. Her dedication to supporting widening participation in higher education has helped In2MedSchool becoming one of the largest widening participation initiatives in the UK”.

Jenna’s contribution has also directly resulted In2MedSchool recently receiving the Best Initiative Award at the Student Social Mobility Awards.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Jenna’s work at In2MedSchool or how you can volunteer for the initiative, visit In2MedSchool’s website at https://www.in2medschool.com/

Related