MELANIN MEDICS
JUNE 2022
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-2027
THE TALENT PIPELINE
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
COLLABORATION & SHARED LEARNING
PATHS & LADDERS STRONGER CHARITY
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction
4
Our Story
6
About Us
8
What We Stand For
7
The Process
12
The Problem
14
Our Strategic Priorities
18
Contact Information
26
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
INTRODUCTION A Message from the Chief Executive
It is with great pleasure that I share our 2022-27 Strategic Plan with you. Melanin Medics has grown tremendously over the years and has played a key role in support the next generation and current generation of black medical students and doctors. We have achieved a number of successes and have been fortunate to stand the test of time thus far. As a young and fast-growing charity, we recognise the importance of planning. We have learned to appreciate the beauty of the process and share a commitment to excellence in all that we do. We know we are capable of
achieving even more impact and look forward to going on this journey with you. We are determined to keep the voices and experiences of those we serve at the heart of everything we do. More than ever, we are dedicated to operating in innovative ways to impart services that are of tangible value to current and future black doctors. Thank you to the incredible team behind our Strategic Planning Project and to our network for participating in our surveys and focus groups. Thank you to all our stakeholders also. Dr Olamide Dada MBBCh FInstLM Founder & Chief Executive of Melanin Medics
MELANIN MEDICS | PAGE 4
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
A Message from the Strategic Planning Project Lead
The Melanin Medics 5-Year Strategic Plan was designed with the futures of current and aspiring doctors at the forefront. We were privileged to speak to organisations that share our passion for diversity and widening access within Medicine such as the British Medical Association (BMA), Medical Schools Council (MSC) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) amongst many other incredible establishments. These conversations helped to add a broader context to our plans. Our conversations with our aspiring medics, medical students and doctors shed light on current experiences when accessing medicine as an underrepresented group and the barriers present for African and
Caribbean people. A similar insight was provided by our network-wide survey. This Strategic Plan provides us with the opportunity to focus on the causes that are embedded in the fabric of our organisation whilst catering to the needs of our members and internal team. We plan a refreshed and dynamic focus on enhancing the talent of our members, growing the community, enabling career progression and overall strengthening our charity. More than ever, we are dedicated to operating in innovative ways to impart services that are of tangible value to current and future black doctors.
Oyinda Adeniyi Strategic Planning Project Lead Melanin Medics Communications Officer
OUR STORY
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
OUR STORY Melanin Medics was established in June 2017 by Founder and Chief Executive - Dr Olamide Dada. Based on her own experience applying to medical school and disheartened by the lack of representation she saw upon starting her medical degree. Dr Dada had a deep desire to see greater positive representation of African and Caribbean medical students and doctors. Initially starting off as a blog, Melanin Medics has rapidly grown to become one of the UK’s leading black led charities dedicated to supporting current and prospective African Caribbean doctors. Since the creation of Melanin Medics, we have constructed bespoke programmes and projects to support our members from sixth form stages to speciality medical training and beyond.
2017
Melanin Medics launches as a blog
2018
Melanin Medics is branded as a non-profit organisation
2019
Melanin Medics continues to expand through events and outreach activities.
2020
Melanin Medics is rebranded and obtains registered charity status.
2021
Melanin Medics developed and delivered new flagship programmes & projects.
2022
Melanin Medics celebrates 5 years of impact
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ABOUT MELANIN MEDICS
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
OUR VISION
We envision a future where diversity in Medicine thrives and every person is able to fulfil their maximum potential irrespective of their race and socioeconomic background. OUR MISSION
Our mission is to promote diversity in Medicine, widen aspirations and aid career progression through educational programmes, social empowerment and valuable resources
OUR METHOD Access: Get In Attainment: Get Through Advancement: Get Up
School Outreach Mentoring Programmes (Envision Med and Enrichment) Educational Events Equality & Diversity Workshops Networking Research Involvement Advocacy
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WHAT WE STAND FOR
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
INTEGRITY We are accountable to the people and partners we humbly serve, transparently sharing our activities, results, and developments.
COMMITMENT Since our establishment, we have been committed to fulfilling our aim of promoting diversity in medicine and working towards the actualisation of our vision.
COMMUNITY Community is at the very core of what we do. Our work is made possible through the contributions of several volunteers, partners and supporters.
CHARITY We focus on serving those around us who are in need and utilising our resources to support individuals on their career development and personal development journeys.
EXCELLENCE We focus on implementing innovative and practical solutions to a high standard to maximise our impact and bring about necessary change.
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THE PROCESS
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
We conducted online focus groups with aspiring medics, medical students and doctors from across the UK spanning over different stages in their medical school career in order to obtain a first hand understanding into their undergraduate medical journey, their perception on barriers to and within the medical field, views on the work Melanin Medics do and more! Melanin Medics operates by service provision for the Aspiring Medics Network, Medical Students Network and Doctor’s Network. In order to gain insight with the national institutions that we listed as stakeholders we conducted
consultations with representations from the Medical Schools Council (MSC), Diversity in Medicine and Health (DIMAH, BMA, GMC, NHS MWRes, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons, Health Education England (HEE), National Institute of Health Research and the board of directors at Melanin Medics. These were fruitful conversations which allowed us to identify areas of potential collaborations. The process of activities mapping enabled us to outline how our current activities pave the way for the change we wish to create and assess whether our present programmes fit with our core purpose.
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THE PROBLEM
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
Aspiring Medics The journey to medical school is tough, filled with uncertainty and extra steps that non-medical applicant counterparts are less likely to encounter. Research has found that the difficulty of this process is exacerbated when you are a student from a low socioeconomic background and a student of AfroCaribbean origin. The majority of medical students have been found to be from higher socioeconomic groups with 1/5th of students coming from independent schools. This picture can be disheartening for students outside of this demographic who have aspirations to study Medicine with students from lower socioeconomic positions only having a 44% chance of being accepted into medical school (Niven, Andiappan, Cabot and Gallagher, 2019). Medical courses have been found overtime to fail to attract and accept Black applicants with only 5.2% of applicants who are of Black heritage applying to medical school over a 15 year period (from 1996 to 2011) (Niven, Andiappan, Cabot and Gallagher, 2019). This research calls into question the accessibility of medicine as a degree and career to Black students and underlines the lack of diversity present in the medical profession.
We reached out to our aspiring medical students network to understand their journeys to medical school thus far. Our focus group and aspiring medics survey identified the following key themes:
Variability between Medicine application preparation between schools Information gap for students when applying to medical school Discrepancies in social capital and individual networks Access to Work Experience (and the Impact of COVID-19)
65%
of respondents have experienced difficulty organising work experience
of respondents had a lack of knowledge on the Medicine application pathway
51%
56%
of respondents had a lack of social support and/or mentorship to support their journey to medical school
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
Medical Students Reports have shown that the proportion of ethnic minority students entering higher education is at 25% compared to the national population at 18.3%. However the broad presentation of this data has covered the under-representation of Black Caribbean medical students specifically (Medical Schools Council, 2018). Despite this, data has found that there has been a 29% increase in students of ethnic heritage applying to medical school with a 58% increase in students of Black heritage doing so (Medical Schools Council, 2020). This shows that the interest and aspiration to apply to medical school increasing within recent times, however research also shows that ethnic minority graduates have poorer outcomes in recruitment for foundation, specialty training, academic attainment and training progression (Woolf, 2020) meaning even if participation in medical school is slowly increasing the environment within the medical field is still not conducive to Black medical students thriving. Investigations have demonstrated that UK medical schools often fail to deal with racism - BMJ’s Freedom of Information request found that less than half of medical schools (who responded to the request) collect data regarding racism and racial harassment (Kmietowicz, 2020).
We reached out to our medical students network to understand their journeys to medical school thus far. Our focus group and medical students survey identified the following key themes:
Poor Handling of racism and discrimination within medical school institutions Small black student voice The necessity to be resilient in order to overcome adversity and thus reach their maximal potential despite hostile incidences of subtle and overt racism Additional personal responsibility to tackle racism and discrimination
57%
of students experienced a lack of social support and/or mentorship when applying to medical school
of students have faced academic performance issues in medical school
49%
66%
of students have suffered from imposter syndrome within medical school
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
Doctors As of January 2021, 5.2% of all NHS doctors were Black whilst 2.9% of all doctors in the NHS were Black consultants coupled with this, 7.1% of all junior doctors were Black with 4.4% of all FY1s being of Afro-Caribbean origin. This shows that there are more Black doctors in junior positions and less within senior roles. This finding is not echoed across all ethnic minorities as 31.3% of all senior doctors are of Asian heritage (NHS workforce, 2021). This highlights that the lack of representation is unique to the Black demographic within the NHS. Black doctors applying for medical posts within London are 6x less likely to be offered the position in comparison to their white counterparts and 13% of applicants shortlisted in NHS acute trusts were Black however only 1% of applicants who were offered jobs were Black doctors during 2020-202 (Linton, 2021). This shows that the perceived limitations in career progression expressed by Black doctors is well founded and highlights the need for inquiry into why there is a lack of senior Black doctors and low employment acceptance rate.
We reached out to our doctors network to understand their journeys to medical school thus far. Our focus group and doctors network survey identified the following key themes:
Enhancing the leadership capacity of Black heritage doctors would increase their capacity to be involved in policy creation, academia and entrepreneurship. Provision of career development opportunities Publication and selection bias within academia Awareness of the neurodivergent community within Medicine
52%
of respondents felt that they needed leadership training
of respondents felt that not knowing any medical students or doctors was a challenge to them when applying to medical school
67%
51%
of respondents stated that they desired an increase in inclusivity within the profession
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OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
THE TALENT PIPELINE
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
COLLABORATION & SHARED LEARNING
PATHS & LADDERS STRONGER CHARITY
STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 1:
Securing the talent pipeline of future black doctors through early intervention and opportunity
WHAT WE WILL DO Establish links with Regional Teaching Hospitals to increase awareness of work experience opportunities for members in our aspiring medics network Provide needs based financial assistance in the form of scholarships and/or bursaries to medical students Develop an Introduction to Medical Research Programme to bridge the gap between black medical students and research opportunities Promote training delivered by partners which is relevant to our membership
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2:
Increasing the member voice by creating greater opportunities for community involvement
WHAT WE WILL DO Plan a programme of events to ensure diversity in locations for member engagement Create regional hubs to listen to members via our networks to ensure we are informed and seek members’ views on specific issues or topics Update our website and grow a more significant presence on social media channels which reflect our members’ work and interests Develop opportunities where member achievements can be celebrated
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3:
Promoting shared learning and increasing collaboration
WHAT WE WILL DO Forming and strengthening relationships national and international with professional bodies Develop and expand online learning modules, courses and workshops to support professional bodies and student organisations to better deal with microaggressions and furthering allyship Supporting Afro-Caribbean Medical Societies in the UK through sponsorship and collaboration Establish collaborations with fellow grassroots organisations to support members of our network with the services that we do not offer
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 4:
Establishing paths and ladders for black medical student and doctors to support career progression in medical training and clinical academia
WHAT WE WILL DO Developing the leadership capacity of our members through mentoring and bespoke leadership training opportunities Diversifying clinical academia through widening access and increasing awareness of available opportunities Promote training delivered by partners which is relevant to our membership Work alongside members to develop toolkits and resources
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STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-27
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 5:
Becoming a strong charity to better champion the needs of our community
WHAT WE WILL DO Establish an advisory board and recruit additional trustees Embed methods to up-skill new and current Melanin Medics volunteers Grow the Melanin Medics team through the recruitment of permanent employee(s) Recruit, attract and retain a highly competent team of staff and volunteers who are highly engaged in MM and our cause
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PROJECT TEAM Oyinda Adeniyi - Communications Officer (Project Lead) Dr Olamide Dada - Chief Executive (Project Supervisor) Dr Oby Enwo - Advocacy Officer Dr Michaella Cameron-Taylor - Communications Officer Dr Matilda Esan - Director of Advocacy & Policy Dr Khadija Owusu - Director of Programmes Dr Valentine Mberu - Communications Officer Dr Ayomide Ayorinde - Programmes Officer Dammie Olubowale - Grants & Partnerships Officer Jacob Barnaby - Workshop Facilitator
Melanin Medics is a charitable organisation supporting students and doctors from African and Caribbean backgrounds, to promote diversity in Medicine. We champion racial equity by implementing positive solutions to overcome racial and socio-economic barriers; through educational programmes, social empowerment and valuable resources.
CONTACT Melanin Medics www.melaninmedics.com info@melaninmedics.com @melaninmedics
MELANIN MEDICS | REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1188982
Curated by Melanin Medics
www.melaninmedics.com