BM6 course celebrates 20 years of widening participation

Faculty of Medicine staff, students and alumni have come together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BM6 programme.

Established in 2002, the course invites and encourages people from range of backgrounds into medicine. The programme aims to address under-representation of lower socioeconomic groups in the medical profession and enrich the diversity of our student body and learning environment.

More than 350 students have completed the course and gone on to a range of medical professions.

To celebrate the anniversary, the Faculty of Medicine invited current and past BM6 students to Southampton for a special event to hear about each other experiences of the course.

Professor Sally Curtis, Deputy Head of School Education, and previous BM6 programme lead, said: “We are incredibly proud of our BM6 course and to reach 20 years is a fantastic achievement, and reflects the hard work of the students and staff and the support from the Faculty.

“We were delighted to welcome so many students, staff and alumni to our celebration event. It was a wonderful opportunity for current students to meet alumni and to hear about the opportunities they’ve had, their successes and the challenges they have successfully navigated, and for all to discuss and reflect on the vision and ambitions for the BM6 Programme going forward.”

Dr Caroline Childs, BM6 programme Lead, said: “For the past 20 years we have developed our BM6 course to be one of the most rich and diverse programmes in the country. As a Faculty, we have immensely benefited from the course too. The students bring a huge amount of experience and knowledge in to the learning and social environments and an increased understanding of a broader range of patients/backgrounds into the academic and clinical learning arenas.

“We are very proud of the feedback our students give us which we use to improve the programme and we are looking forward to further building on social support networks within BM6, which currently includes a whole cohort induction week welcome event and an Eid celebration.”

For the full story of the event and more about the BM6 programme CLICK HERE