attracting welsh medical students to cardiff: an evaluation of attitudes and perceived barriers
DESCRIPTION
Prof. Aled Phillips, Cardiff University; Sara Whittam, Cardiff University With data demonstrating a decrease in applications from Welsh students to study medicine at Cardiff University and specifically from Welsh medium schools, this project aims to explore the perceptions and attitudes of prospective Welsh students to studying medicine in Wales. Admissions data shows that the average who applied from Wales fell from 18.6% in 2008 to 14.4% in 2012. What’s more, this fall is even more marked among students of Welsh-medium schools with a 50% decrease (from 108 students applying in 2008 down to 50 in 2012). In our bid to be the location of choice for the best students, we must address this issue in order to meet our vision of subsequently producing and retaining the best doctors for Wales. We intend to analyse the admissions and recent research data to find trends and patterns, with a specific focus on Welsh speaking prospective students, to provide a better understanding of the picture that exists with school engagement and application rates. The second phase will be to engage with schools, prospective students, parents and other stakeholders to capture their positive and negative perceptions and perceived difficulties about applying and studying Medicine at Cardiff University and the preparation they receive. We will compare and contrast Welsh medium schools with other schools in Wales with the intention of gaining a better understanding of the situational, institutional and organisational barriers that exist. This research will in turn better inform how the School of Medicine can support prospective students from Wales, and specifically from Welsh medium schools and provide a strong foundation for targeted marketing material and events.TRANSCRIPT
It is important for people working in health, social service and social care to recognise that many people can only communicate their care needs effectively through the medium of Welsh. For many Welsh speakers, being able to use your own language has to be seen as a core component of care, not an optional extra. (More than Words, Welsh Assembly Government, 2012). The development of Welsh-medium opportunities within medical education is an integral response to the ongoing pressure to provide citizen centred services in Wales. With the recognition of the role of language in patient care and safety as outlined in the Welsh Governments response to the Frances Report in Delivering Care, Compassionate Care (2013) and its Strategic Framework for Welsh language services in Heath (2012), it is clear that the future leaders of the NHS need more than ever to negotiate the complexities of an ever bilingual nation. Projects in both Swansea and Cardiff Medical Schools, funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, aim to build and embed a framework that offers students the opportunity to: Gain confidence in using Welsh in a professional and clinical setting Gain knowledge in understanding the linguistic barriers encountered in the healthcare service. These initiatives in the Welsh medical schools will add value to the students experience, increase their confidence, effectiveness and enhance their employability. Added to this, a recognition and respect of language as a healthcare need with a deeper and developing understanding of bilingualism will have a direct impact on enhancing patient experience and treatment in Wales in line with the GMC guidelines in developing doctors as practitioners and professionals.
Welsh students are deciding to study medicine elsewhere. This is despite concerted efforts to facilitate applications from Welsh students including the offer of bilingual interviews, the offer of interviews in North Wales and MedWales- a 200 student medical admissions event. This fall has an impact on the C21 vision of producing, attracting and retaining the best doctors for Wales and potential to exacerbate the ongoing recruitment issues in certain parts of Wales. (Together for Health, 2011)
Attracting Welsh medical students to Cardiff: An evaluation of attitudes and perceived barriersProf. Aled Phillips, School of Medicine, Cardiff University & Sara Whittam, School of Medicine, Cardiff University
The aim of this year 3 SSC is to identify reasons why the numbers of Welsh domicile, and Welsh speakingapplicants specifically, have fallen over successive years. The students will initially analyse the admissionsdata to discover patterns and trends. This analysis will uncover at which stages of the admissions process theWelsh applicants are not successful and whether or not there are patterns in the applicant schools. Using thisdata, students will choose a representative set of schools to visit. Informational interviews will uncoverperceptions that exist about studying medicine at Cardiff amongst pupils, teachers and other key influencers,and the preparation pupils are receiving.Fallen from 18.6% in 2008 to 14.6%Welsh Domicile Student ApplicationsFallen 50% since 2008 Map of existing patterns and trends in applications from Welsh schools, and Welsh medium schools specificallySummary of student and key influencer opinion and views about studying medicine at Cardiff Examples of good and bad practice in application and interview supportBaseline to further research key influencer opinion and perception and suggest targeted recruitment and admissions interventionsProject OutputBackground & ContextWelsh Speaking Student Applications
Reference: Together for Health: A Five Year Vision for the NHS in Wales, 2011, Welsh Government Cardiff: Destination of Choice