A qualitative exploration into how financial experiences shape the journey of widening participation students through medical school.

Bristow, Victoria Helen (2024) A qualitative exploration into how financial experiences shape the journey of widening participation students through medical school. Masters thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

An ambition within medical education is that the medical workforce reflects the diversity within the patient groups they serve (Garlick and Brown, 2008). Despite the efforts made within widening participation initiatives, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are still underrepresented, and other groups face disadvantages in medical school and the medical profession (BMA, 2023). This project explored the under-researched area of financial experiences of medical students, both with and without identified widening participation characteristics, to gain insight into their journey through medical school. A qualitative literature review of 24 papers concerning the widening participation student experience at medical school revealed a lack of research on the financial experiences of widening participation medical students. The review highlighted how including participants without identified widening participation characteristics gives a social and cultural context to the experience of widening participation students. A focus group study involved nine medical students not selected specifically for widening participation characteristics at a university in the East of England. Through a thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke (2006), three themes were constructed: student as consumer, becoming a doctor and interacting with difference. The literature review and thematic analysis raised questions about widening participation and how it is conceptualised and enacted; this led to a critical analysis of widening participation which questioned the utility of the concept of widening participation and proposed alternative conceptualisations of "hidden widening participation ", "unrecognised widening participation ", and "unsupported widening participation ". The project findings contribute insight into paid employment as an important financial factor shaping financially struggling students' experience. Furthermore, the project raises questions about how widening participation is studied and conceptualised or if widening participation effectively encapsulates students who need support due to financial struggles, thus making suggestions for future research directions.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	03 Jul 2024 12:02
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2024 12:06
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/95779
DOI:

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