BMJ  2008;336:1082-1083 (17 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39569.609641.80

Editorials

Increasing diversity among clinicians

Is politically correct but is costly and lacks evidence to support it

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

UK medical students tend to come from higher socioeconomic classes,¹ perhaps not surprisingly, as social class correlates with intellectual ability.² As part of the UK government’s widening participation initiative, there is a push to increase the proportion of students from lower socioeconomic classes (as well as mature students, those from minority racial groups, and disabled people) in higher education. Two underlying principles exist for medicine in particular. The first, social justice, aims to ensure fair access to a degree course that is the gateway into the medical profession.³ The second is the belief that a diverse population of doctors can better serve a diverse population of patients.⁴ To help promote widening participation, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Department of Health have provided funding to medical schools for projects such as outreach schemes at local schools and innovative degree programmes.⁵

In the accompanying article, Garlick and Brown . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ BMJ Editorial, BMA House, London WC1H 9JR, ² Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Widening participation and removing the inequity of educational opportunity

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bmj.com, 16 May 2008 [Full text]

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