Medical Connections

Medical Connections is a unique opportunity aimed at first year students at Lancaster Medical School to develop your professional connections & networking skills, and increase your confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, to help you to prepare for your future as a medic.

With a series of workshops and one day visit off-campus, Medical Connections will provide you with an opportunity for self-development and an experience to broaden your horizons and connect with others beyond Lancaster Medical School.

What sort of time commitment will be required of me?

The Medical Connections initiative comprises of:

Four 2-hour workshops focused on developing skills relevant to helping you get the most out of your clinical placement activities. There are:

1. What makes a confident leader and a good team member?
2. Your leadership style & how teams work
3. Developing your leadership and team work skills
4. Using your leadership and team work skills

Plus a 1-day visit. We are currently in the process of planning a day that will be interesting and provide a meaningful insight into the work of doctors in one of the North West’s most prestigious specialist centres, so check back here for more information.

Who can apply?

Having been awarded funding from the Widening Participation Advisory Group to run a pilot programme for 15 medical school students, this opportunity is targeted at 1st year Lancaster Medical School undergraduate students from groups under-represented in Higher Education.

Students from the following groups will be given priority:

• Students who are the first generation in their family to progress to higher education
• Mature students (21+ on entry to UG study)
• Students  with disabilities (including specific learning difficulties or mental health challenges)
• Students in receipt of a Lancaster University maintenance bursary
• Students who are a member of an ethnic minority
• Students who are care leavers
• Students who are young carers or parents
• Students estranged from their families
• Students who are refugees and asylum seekers
• Students from military families
• Students from Romani and traveller communities

Shortlist criteria

Priority will given to students in the following order:

1. Those who meet more than one of the eligibility criteria above, and who are 1st year students.
2. Those who meet more than one of the eligibility criteria above, and who are in other year groups.
3. Those who meet one of the eligibility criteria above, and who are 1st year students.
4. Those wh meet one of the eligibility criteria above, and who are in other year groups. 
5. Those who demonstrate how participating in the programme will be of benefit in developing their own personal professional network, confidence in clinical placements and developing leadership and teamwork skills.

Shortlisting to take place on 13th and 14th December 2018. 

Those shortlisted will then be sent a link, before end of the day on 14th December, to video record answers to 5 questions. 

The task will take approximately 10 minutes and needs to be completed by 18th January 2019. To be considered for a place on the programme this task must be completed. If you have any concerns or worries about the task, please do get in touch with Sue Edwards, Medical School Careers Consultant: s.edwards9@lancaster.ac.uk

We are not assessing the quality of your performance in the video. We are looking for evidence that this programme will be of use to you and you are enthusiastic about what you can contribute and what you might gain.

Informal feedback focused on the effectiveness of your answers and how you come across in the video will be given to all those who complete the recording.

Those successful in being offered a place will be notified by the end of the day on 25th January 2019, and feedback given to students before 14th February.