Surviving and Thriving in Medicine: Developing Theory-Based Interventions for Students From Widening Access...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• Student Support Services

Background:

• Students from widening participation (WP) backgrounds face unique challenges in medical school.
• Ensuring equity in medical education requires understanding and addressing these challenges.
• Effective support systems are crucial for WP students to thrive academically.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an evidence-based and theory-informed intervention strategy for supporting undergraduate WP students in medicine.
• To identify and prioritise the support needs of WP students in medical education.
• To create a framework for developing and evaluating interventions for WP students.

Main Methods:

• Workshops involving medical school staff and WP students to generate intervention ideas.
• Utilisation of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) for data analysis and intervention development.
• Prioritisation of identified student support needs to guide intervention design.

Main Results:

• The TDF and BCW provided a robust framework for structuring the intervention strategy.
• Two key interventions were developed: adapting the personal tutor scheme and implementing a WP peer network.
• The developed interventions aim to promote support seeking, social connection, and belonging among WP students.

Conclusions:

• A theory-based intervention strategy, grounded in the BCW, can effectively guide the development of support for WP students in medicine.
• The study successfully demonstrated a method for creating targeted interventions for underrepresented groups in higher education.
• The proposed interventions offer a foundation for enhancing the medical education experience and outcomes for WP students.