Successful bid funds Medical School summer scheme for students from diverse backgrounds
EDGE Hill University has won
funding for a residential summer School to encourage students from more diverse
backgrounds to explore a career in medicine. Students from:- low income
backgrounds or areas of deprivation, care leavers, young carers, refugees and
1st generation University goers with an interest in studying medicine are being
encouraged to sign up.
The 3 day residential will provide them with the chance to speak to current
medical students, find out more about the profession, the application process
and financial support, as well as taster sessions and the chance to explore Edge
Hill's campus and facilities.
Dr Peter Leadbetter,
programme lead for Foundation Year Medicine at Edge Hill, said:-
"We want these young people to know they've got so much to offer,
that they belong and that they deserve to be here. It's so important
that Doctors represent and understand the needs of the communities
they're serving and we believe these young people really do. They
just need to be given the opportunity and the encouragement to
pursue their ambitions."
2 cohorts of 16 and 17 year olds, 140 in total, will be able to take
part in the summer School led by the University's Medical School
thanks to £112,000 funding awarded by the Medical Schools Council
(MSC).
Applications to join the scheme; in collaboration with medical
Schools at The University of Liverpool, Lancaster University and the
University of Manchester; are now open, with Schools in
underrepresented communities around the North West being called on
to raise awareness.
Successful candidates will spend the majority of their time at Edge
Hill with half day visits to the other 3 Universities.
Ongoing support provided by the MSC as part of the wider Pathway
Programme will include online events such as:- Q&As with current
students and medical professionals, and signposting to additional
resources.
Dr Craig Keenan, Edge Hill's
programme lead for widening access to medicine who led the funding
bid, said:- "So many young people have what it takes to pursue
a career in medicine but just don't get the opportunity because they
don't recognise it as an option for them. They often don't know any
medical professionals and if their School or college doesn't have
the right information they won't even know which A Levels to take.
They won't know about options like our Medicine with Foundation Year
degree for example, which is open to those who've studied the right
A Levels to join the medicine degree but whose background means
they're less likely to meet the academic requirements for direct
entry. We want to raise aspirations for students and their colleges
or Schools."
Jake Brown, Widening Participation Officer at Lancaster University,
which previously led the summer School scheme, shared feedback from
a previous participant:- "It was 1 of the best possible
experiences I could have had in preparation for studying medicine."
Jake added:- "Following 2 years of successful collaboration on
the medical summer School, it's fantastic to see the programme
continue and expand under Edge Hill's leadership. We're excited to
welcome the students to our campus, knowing how truly valuable and
unique the opportunity to experience multiple medical Schools
through 1 programme is."
Find out more about how Edge Hill's commitment to widening participation is supporting Medical School students and apply for the summer School here. The deadline for applications is:- Friday, 10 February 2023; for questions or to join a mailing list for updates about the Pathway Programme email:- EHUWAM@EdgeHill.AC.UK.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Holmusk and University of Liverpool join forces to establish flagship Mental Health Analytics and Research Hub
MERSEY Care NHS
Foundation Trust are delighted to announce a collaboration with long
term partners Holmusk[i] and the University of Liverpool to
establish a mental health analytics and research hub to translate
mental health research into results that directly benefit people.
This partnership aims to improve the quality of life for mental
health patients and service users through data analytics and digital
solutions, resulting in more opportunities to access research and
innovations, improved resource utilisation, streamlined care
delivery and cost savings.
This flagship collaboration will focus on Liverpool as an area of
high deprivation and need[i], and will show how health systems can
attract the next generation of leaders by positioning mental health
as a field of innovative and state of the art research.
Prof Joe Rafferty CBE, Mersey Care's Chief Executive said:-
"We look forward to the opportunity to work with our partners on
this new initiative. Investment in mental health research has huge
potential to reduce health inequalities, improve outcomes for our
populations and boost the economic growth for our Region. With the
implementation of Holmusk's Management and Supervision Tool (MaST),
which manages risk for service users and patients, we've already
demonstrated the impact that digital solutions can have and we're
looking forward to continuing to develop innovations for the benefit
of our communities."
The partners establishing this flagship hub all have deep expertise
in mental health research and care delivery, including:-
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, 1 of Europe's leading institutions
for mental health innovation, which was recognised in 2017 as a
Global Digital Exemplar for its advanced digital transformation
programmes.
Holmusk, a leading global mental health and data analytics company
building the world's largest real-world evidence (RWE) platform for
mental health.
The University of Liverpool, 1 of the world's leading centres for
public health innovation, where its Institute of Population Health
is becoming 1 of the UK's leading hubs for digital innovation in
connected mental health translational research.
Nawal Roy, Holmusk Founder and Chief Executive said:- "We're
delighted to be a part of this new mental health analytics and
research hub. There's a dire need for better mental health care, and
through this partnership, we can better collaborate to realise
analytics-driven solutions for mental health and move the needle in
a tangible way."
The alliance will convene leaders from industry, mental health
service provision, and academia, leveraging their respective data
analytics, clinical and research expertise to develop a flagship
mental health learning system.
This collaboration will also oversee the development of new tools to
improve delivery of care, including the expansion of capabilities
for MaST, Holmusk's clinical workflow support systems that uses
sophisticated predictive analytics to help mental health staff make
better decisions about the resources they use to provide safer and
higher quality care.
Mersey Care's involvement with MaST and Holmusk dates back to 2018,
when they became the 1st NHS organisation to adopt and shape MaST,
leading to a number of awards. The University of Liverpool has also
been developing advanced statistical and machine learning methods
for predicting complex health events including mental health crises,
in partnership with Mersey Care.
Professor Iain Buchan, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation
at the University of Liverpool said:- "Our partnership will
drive advances in predictive mental health care, evolving through
close coupled science and service to meet the needs of those we
serve. This collaboration will bring together data scientists with
mental health researchers and professionals to create a learning
system that improves prediction, refines interventions and evaluates
outcomes by default."