Aston University and Wesleyan are celebrating a successful third year of an ongoing partnership to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into medicine and support important research projects.
Over the past 12 months, the Wesleyan Foundation has funded a new pilot study into individuals’ experiences of assisted breathing interventions and critical care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and awarded two new Wesleyan Foundation Scholarships to students at Aston Medical School.
The research, conducted by Dr Michael Larkin, will test the acceptability of their approach to patients and will gather preliminary data about patients’ experiences to better understand patients’ psychological needs for long-term recovery.
The scholarships are two of seven that will be awarded over the five-year duration of the partnership. This year’s recipients are both graduates of Aston University’s Pathway to Healthcare programme – an initiative that works with A-Level students to develop their skills and knowledge ahead of, hopefully, going on to study medicine or a healthcare-related degree.
Through the partnership – launched in 2018 – the Wesleyan Foundation has so far committed £106,000 to help fund scholarships, academic prizes, a PhD student and projects aligned with its own focus areas of health, education, social development and innovation.
Aston has also welcomed six members of Wesleyan’s staff onto its Executive Apprenticeship MBA programme to support their professional and academic development.
A Wesleyan scholarship recipient commented: “This scholarship has made me realise the rewards of hard work. If I didn’t get into uni, I wouldn’t have been able to get any scholarship.”
Nathan Wallis, Chief of Staff at Wesleyan, said: “Our partnership with Aston University continues to go from strength to strength and is directly helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds start their journey to joining the next generation of medical professionals. Now, it is even kickstarting crucial research into the long-term psychological health impacts of COVID-19.
“We started this partnership because of our shared values of promoting positive change in our local community. It is great to see that, three years in, our initiatives are doing just that, and we look forward to building on this progress in the years to come.”
For more information about the Wesleyan Foundation and to apply for funding, visit www.wesleyan.co.uk/foundation.