Equality, diversity and inclusivity in the curriculum

We recognise that the most authentic way for students to learn about diversity is for them to meet and work with the widest range of patients, carers and community support groups from across the North West as is possible.

Patient involvement

Starting in Year 1, students attend the Health in Community placement, a 1-day opportunity to visit one of our community group partners in order to understand their remit and the vital support they offer within then local community.

Later in the curriculum, students in year 4 have an opportunity to work with patient groups as part of the Disability and Care in the Community and Communication in Clinical Practice themes.  Local groups we work with include Merseyside Society for Deaf People, Parkinsons and the Stroke Association

Diversity in medicine – curriculum component

To acknowledge and articulate the importance of diversity in medicine, there is a core course component in year 3 where student doctors are asked to submit an assignment on current issues impacting different groups in accessing health and social care.  Students are invited to pick from a variety of titles, or, if they have a specific interest not linked to an existing title, may by agreement with the course lead design their own project. A number of students in recent years have gone on to publish their Diversity in Medicine assignments in the locally produced student journal.

EDI toolkit

Our EDI toolkit is intended to support all who design and deliver teaching in the School of Medicine in considering how equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) can be increasingly embedded throughout the course.

Alongside EDI-specific teaching sessions, we would like to ensure EDI-related topics are threaded through all areas of the curriculum. Many of us find it difficult to know where to start, which is why this toolkit was created. Find out more about our Toolkit.

Bystander and microaggression training

In 2021 the School worked with the School of Healthcare and the Anthony Walker Foundation to design and deliver a series of live online training sessions for all NHS staff and clinical students who work and study across NHS trusts in the Mersey, Cheshire and Wirral and Lancashire Region, focusing on raising awareness of microaggressions. This training was developed in response to the large number of ‘lived experiences’ shared by staff and students working and training in the region. The training was then developed into an e-learning package and made compulsory for all staff joining the School from 2022 onwards.

Following a proposal made by students in the EDI student-staff network, the e-learning package became a mandatory course component for all student doctors from 2024 onwards.

In addition, the School of Medicine works closely with the Guild to develop specific bystander activity training for all students entering year 1 of the course, and a new session on bystander activity will be introduced for year 5 students in the 2024/25 academic year.