Creating Equal Access to Medical Education: Strategies for Overcoming Barriers

When analysing the primary barrier which prevents people from attending medical school, the most common of these barriers is the socio-economic status of the applicants. Looking at statistics from 2021, 69% of applicants to medical school were from the highest socio-economic group, whereas 75% of final entrants were from this same group (Latham, Woolf, Medisauskaite & Boustani, 2025). This discrepancy between socio-economic status and student population in medical school provides a clear problem for access, as it provides a system in which people from a lower socio-economic status are far less likely to be able to attend medical school. This blog will analyse the reasons as to why this socio-economic gap exists, and the harms that it has on students once they are in medical school, as well as suggesting strategies that can help overcome these barriers.

Regarding the reason for this socio-economic gap existing, there are a multitude of factors that relate with each other which harm the likelihood of students from a lower socio-economic background accessing medical school. First of all, parental occupation undoubtedly impacts a students ability to access medical school, as having access to resources play a huge role in being able to reach medical school. However, there are further factors that impact this. A more accurate way to analyse reasons for people being unable to reach medical school from these backgrounds is looking at multiple depravations, which consider multiple factors which a lower socio-economic status can harm, such as health, living conditions, and school performance (Petty-Saphon, 2025). Not having these factors can harm medical students in their applications, as well as providing a feeling of being unworthy and not fitting in to medical school due to their lower socio-economic status, which can deter students from applying. Furthermore, this is a prevalent issue with students that are already in medical school as research suggests that students from a lower socio-economic status, and first generation medical students are more likely to undergo higher stress during this time, leading to a need to provide further support for this inequity in healthcare (Eames, et al, 2024). This shows the disadvantages that exist for applicants, as well as medical students who come from a lower socio-economic background.

In terms of strategies that can assist in making medical school more accessible, this is an area which is difficult to create a realistic environment in which people from all socio-economic backgrounds are granted an exactly equal opportunity, however, steps can be made in order for this to be more possible for students from a lower socio-economic background. For example, further financial support could be granted to support living expenses when attending medical school, as well as support and ability to take time to work a job alongside learning. Regarding the application and learning process prior to medical school, support could be offered in the application process which allows students from this lower socio-economic status to receive aid in their studies in order to prepare for their application. Whilst it is difficult to provide a perfect outcome which creates an equal environment, these steps can be taken in order to ensure that medical school is a possible outcome for people of all different socio-economic backgrounds.

References

Eames, D,, Thomas, S., Norman, K., Simanton, E., Weisman, A (2024). 'Socioeconomic disadvantage in the burden of stress and academic performance in medical school: implications for diversity in medicine', BMC Medical Education.

Latham, K., Woolf, K., Medisauskaite, A., Boustani, S (2025). Unequal Treatment?- 'Access to medicine for socio-economically disadvantaged students', The Sutton Trust.

Petty-Saphon, K (2025). 'Tackling class barriers to medical school', The Guardian, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/03/tackling-class-barriers-to-medical-school (Accessed 24 April 2025)