The Tom Donaldson Charitable Trust: Trust Me... I Will Be a Doctor
‘T
rust me, I will be a Doctor’ was set up in 2018 in memory of Tom Donaldson, a newly qualified doctor from Derbyshire. Having completed his final exams at the University of Manchester, Tom was on his elective in New Zealand when he died in February 2009 following an accident that resulted in a head injury. Aged just 23, Tom would have helped hundreds of people as a doctor, but he did not have the chance to make that happen.
Doctor for The
Day, November
ess to Medical
Widening Acc
2019
School - Univer
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sity of Nottingha
Doctor for The Day, Novemb
Widening Access to Medic
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al School - University of Nottin
Doctor for The
Day, November
ess to Medical
Widening Acc
gham
2019
School - Univer
Module in Tropical Medicine at The University of Nottingh am, Malaysia Campus
Photo credit: Afra Akma
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04
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sity of Nottingha
In Tom’s memory, the Trust supports other young people to achieve their dream of becoming a doctor and help the people Tom dreamed of reaching. Specifically, we support young people from low-income backgrounds in their applications to study Medicine at university, and current students on Medicine with a Foundation Year degree programmes, by providing small grants and raising awareness of the work experience opportunities available.
BMA[2] and Newcastle University’s Faculty of Medical Sciences[3] research shows that students from a low-income background struggle to get into medical school for many reasons: their schools do not offer the required A Level subjects and might not know how to, or cannot afford to, support medical school applications; students themselves do not know what voluntary or work experience is needed nor how to obtain it; their parents do not have the contacts to secure work experience; and pupils lack the resources needed to participate in work experience (for example, travel costs, buying professional attire, daily subsistence whilst on placement). Whilst work experience does not have to be in an NHS setting, students may still be unable to meet medical school expectations of speaking to a doctor to ensure their applications are based on an informed choice.
The Need UK-based research shows that young people from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds face major barriers when pursuing a medical degree and career. Social Mobility Commission research found that medicine is dominated by those from advantaged backgrounds: 73% of doctors are from a privileged background, where their parents have professional and managerial positions, and less than 6% are from working-class backgrounds[1]. Most medical students are privately educated and British Medical Association (BMA) research in 2015 found that 20% of secondary schools in the UK provided 80% of all applicants to medicine[2]. Many disadvantaged students are therefore being prevented from reaching their potential and the demographic of the UK’s medical profession does not mirror the population it serves.
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The Trust will support young people from low-income backgrounds in their applications to study medicine at university, by providing small grants and raising awareness of the work experience opportunities available.
Tom Donaldson
