“I’m a Medic” – a web-based, social capital approach to health careers

Abstract

Widening access to medicine in U.K. requires outreach that engages schools in remote areas, schools with below average attainment, and schools serving disadvantaged communities in order to develop a more representative profession and meet serious workforce shortages. The approach reported here embodies ideas about how to develop social and educational capital by facilitating live web chats between school children (13-17 years) and teams of health practitioners. "I'm a Medic" comprised three 2-week events over a 10-month period with circa 900 school students and 22 health professionals from general (family) practices participating. A high proportion (78%) of the students was actively engaged in live chats, asking questions, and voting for the most valuable health practitioner. Questions covered education and training, the nature of the practitioners' work, political and ethical aspects of healthcare, and a variety of scientific and personal aspects. Evaluation showed a positive increase in career interest and aspiration for science, healthcare and medicine. Teachers would all recommend "I'm a Medic" to colleagues and all bar one would take part again. They reported it was effective in engaging students, improving their confidence in asking questions, and their awareness of general practice and the NHS. Practitioners reported improvements in their understanding of how school students view healthcare professions, their interest in public engagement, and their confidence in communicating their work. Logistic challenges included conflict between scheduled web chats in normal school time and practitioners' clinical commitments. Nevertheless, the project demonstrated effective engagement across geographic and social/educational barriers, and can provide a valuable mode of outreach, particularly about careers in healthcare.

Closing Editorial: New insights and reflections on the science of selection and recruitment

“…Following the theme of new technology, several papers in this issue demonstrate how social media can be especially advantageous for attraction and outreach in recruitment (e.g. use of videos on Twitter for psychiatry recruitment ( Cunliffe et al, 2018 ) and use of live web chats for school leavers; ( Garrud et al, 2018 ), in addition to offering more efficient approaches to delivering selection methods (e.g. piloting asynchronous MMIs in medical school admissions; Zibarras et al, 2018).…”

“…see Parsons et al (2018) study of using traditional interviews versus MMIs in medical school admissions in Newfoundland, Canada). Less research has focused on practical solutions involving new technology in recruitment and in this special issue there are some good examples ( Garrud et al, 2018 ). That said, there remain many hurdles to jump, not least in exploring which markers are the most effective in targeting outreach programmes (Satarnia et al, 2018).…”