{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T02:33:19Z","timestamp":1787020399118,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]],"date-time":"2025-12-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766016000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]],"date-time":"2025-12-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766016000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Med Educ"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Entering medical school as a graduate is an increasingly well-worn route to becoming a doctor in the UK. Recent expansion in medical school places and four-year graduate-entry (GEM) programmes will likely further increase the number of medical students with a previous degree. A growing number of GEM courses accept graduates with an undergraduate degree in a \u2018non-science\u2019 subject. However, the pre-entry and application experiences of these entrants to GEM degrees in the UK remain under-explored. In the context of expanding medical school places to applicants with increasingly diverse educational backgrounds, we investigated this cohort\u2019s motivations for studying medicine and perceived barriers to entry into medical school.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with students on the GEM MBChB programme at Warwick Medical School (WMS). We applied descriptive thematic analysis to the data, coding verbatim transcripts to generate themes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Overarching themes for motivations were: educational, professional and personal factors. These were divided into sub-themes: educational factors were categorised as occurring at school, university or postgraduation. Professional factors included the transferability of existing skills and experience, and the perceived job satisfaction, career stability and progression of a career in medicine, which participants contrasted with previous professional experiences. Personal factors included changing direction during the COVID-19 pandemic, experiences as (a friend\/relative of) a patient and influence from others. Participants reported several perceived barriers to entry into medical school: demanding entrance tests and eligibility requirements, lack of awareness about programmes accepting non-science graduates, academic anxieties, and a fear of falling behind in \u2018life stages\u2019.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Additional obstacles to entry into medical school faced by non-science graduates undermine their potential as future doctors. Reviewing entrance requirements and distributing recruitment material to non-science graduates could dismantle some of these barriers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]],"date-time":"2025-12-18T09:57:13Z","timestamp":1766051833000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Expanding recruitment to medical school: the motivations for and perceived barriers to entry of non-science entrants to a graduate-entry medical course: a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4278-7318","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jessica","family":"Sinyor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2794-6073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lindsay","family":"Muscroft","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"8193_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-6920-11-71","volume":"11","author":"P Garrud","year":"2011","unstructured":"Garrud P. Who applies and who gets admitted to UK graduate entry medicine? - An analysis of UK admission statistics. BMC Med Educ. 2011;11:71.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-018-1355-3","volume":"18","author":"P Garrud","year":"2018","unstructured":"Garrud P, McManus IC. Impact of accelerated, graduate-entry medicine courses: a comparison of profile, success, and specialty destination between graduate entrants to accelerated or standard medicine courses in UK. BMC Med Educ. 2018;18(1):250.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"key":"8193_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-6920-9-76","volume":"9","author":"G Manning","year":"2009","unstructured":"Manning G, Garrud P. Comparative attainment of 5-year undergraduate and 4-year graduate entry medical students moving into foundation training. BMC Med Educ. 2009;9:76.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.3109\/01421590903196961","volume":"32","author":"R Price","year":"2010","unstructured":"Price R, Wright SR. Comparisons of examination performance between \u2018conventional\u2019 and graduate entry programme students; the Newcastle experience. Med Teach. 2010;32(1):80\u20132.","journal-title":"Med Teach"},{"issue":"7","key":"8193_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2923.2010.03685.x","volume":"44","author":"M Shehmar","year":"2010","unstructured":"Shehmar M, Haldane T, Price-Forbes A, Macdougall C, Fraser I, Peterson S, Peile E. Comparing the performance of graduate-entry and school-leaver medical students. Med Educ. 2010;44(7):699\u2013705.","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"8193_CR6","unstructured":"BMJ Careers. Applying To Medical School: A Step by Step Guide BMJ Careers2022 [updated 11 August 2022. Available from: https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/careers\/article\/applying-to-medical-school-a-step-by-step-guide"},{"issue":"2","key":"8193_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.3109\/0142159X.2012.733833","volume":"35","author":"P Finucane","year":"2013","unstructured":"Finucane P, Flannery D, McGrath D, Saunders J. Demographic attributes and knowledge acquisition among graduate-entry medical students. Med Teach. 2013;35(2):134\u20138.","journal-title":"Med Teach"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"700","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-022-03768-y","volume":"22","author":"K Aston-Mourney","year":"2022","unstructured":"Aston-Mourney K, McLeod J, Rivera LR, McNeill BA, Baldi DL. Prior degree and academic performance in medical school: evidence for prioritising health students and moving away from a bio-medical science-focused entry stream. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):700.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"key":"8193_CR9","unstructured":"350 extra medical. school places allocated in NHS training boost [press release]. 2024."},{"key":"8193_CR10","unstructured":"NHS England. NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. 2023."},{"key":"8193_CR11","unstructured":"General Medical Council. Outcomes for Graduates. 2018 2018."},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1136\/mh.26.1.18","volume":"26","author":"J Saunders","year":"2000","unstructured":"Saunders J. The practice of clinical medicine as an Art and as a science. Med Humanit. 2000;26(1):18\u201322.","journal-title":"Med Humanit"},{"issue":"16","key":"8193_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1357","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2024.2508","volume":"331","author":"TJ Strange","year":"2024","unstructured":"Strange TJ, Castellanos MR. Medicine\u2014Both a science (Care) and an Art (CARE). JAMA. 2024;331(16):1357\u20138.","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"issue":"10217","key":"8193_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(19)33145-9","volume":"395","author":"G Francis","year":"2020","unstructured":"Francis G. Medicine: Art or science? Lancet. 2020;395(10217):24\u20135.","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1136\/mh.27.1.42","volume":"27","author":"J Herman","year":"2001","unstructured":"Herman J. Medicine: the science and the Art. Med Humanit. 2001;27(1):42\u20136.","journal-title":"Med Humanit"},{"key":"8193_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1007\/s11606-017-4275-8","volume":"33","author":"S Mangione","year":"2018","unstructured":"Mangione S, Chakraborti C, Staltari G, Harrison R, Tunkel AR, Liou KT, et al. Medical students\u2019 exposure to the humanities correlates with positive personal qualities and reduced burnout: A Multi-Institutional U.S. Survey. J Gen Intern Med. 2018;33:628\u201334.","journal-title":"J Gen Intern Med"},{"issue":"3","key":"8193_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.1097\/ACM.0000000000002901","volume":"95","author":"JTH Lam","year":"2020","unstructured":"Lam JTH, Hanson MD, Martimianakis MAT. Exploring the socialization experiences of medical students from social science and humanities backgrounds. Acad Med. 2020;95(3):401\u201310.","journal-title":"Acad Med"},{"issue":"10 Suppl","key":"8193_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S59","DOI":"10.1097\/00001888-200310001-00019","volume":"78","author":"TD Stratton","year":"2003","unstructured":"Stratton TD, Elam CL, McGrath MG. A Liberal arts education as Preparation for medical school: how is it valued? How do graduates perform? Acad Med. 2003;78(10 Suppl):S59\u201361.","journal-title":"Acad Med"},{"issue":"8","key":"8193_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bdj.4801599","volume":"193","author":"ML Crossley","year":"2002","unstructured":"Crossley ML, Mubarik A. A comparative investigation of dental and medical student\u2019s motivation towards career choice. Br Dent J. 2002;193(8):471\u20133.","journal-title":"Br Dent J"},{"issue":"4","key":"8193_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"236","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2923.1999.00293.x","volume":"33","author":"P Vaglum","year":"1999","unstructured":"Vaglum P, Wiers-Jenssen J, Ekeberg O. Motivation for medical school: the relationship to gender and specialty preferences in a nationwide sample. Med Educ. 1999;33(4):236\u201342.","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-021-03099-4","volume":"22","author":"BM Holzer","year":"2022","unstructured":"Holzer BM, Ramuz O, Minder CE, Zimmerli L. Motivation and personality factors of generation Z high school students aspiring to study human medicine. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):31.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1186\/s12909-017-1079-9","volume":"17","author":"A Wouters","year":"2017","unstructured":"Wouters A, Isik U, Ter Wee MM, Croiset G, Kusurkar RA. Motivation and academic performance of medical students from ethnic minorities and majority: a comparative study. BMC Med Educ. 2017;17(1):233.","journal-title":"BMC Med Educ"},{"issue":"5","key":"8193_CR23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.3109\/0142159X.2013.769673","volume":"35","author":"D Pagnin","year":"2013","unstructured":"Pagnin D, De Queiroz V, De Oliveira Filho MA, Gonzalez NV, Salgado AE, Cordeiro e Oliveira B, et al. Burnout and career choice motivation in medical students. Med Teach. 2013;35(5):388\u201394.","journal-title":"Med Teach"},{"key":"8193_CR24","unstructured":"University of Warwick. (Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, received 19 July 2024). 2024."},{"issue":"7","key":"8193_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"674","DOI":"10.1111\/medu.12496","volume":"48","author":"RH Ellaway","year":"2014","unstructured":"Ellaway RH, Bates A, Girard S, Buitenhuis D, Lee K, Warton A, et al. Exploring the consequences of combining medical students with and without a background in biomedical sciences. Med Educ. 2014;48(7):674\u201386.","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"issue":"12","key":"8193_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e580","DOI":"10.3109\/01421590903193570","volume":"31","author":"F Rapport","year":"2009","unstructured":"Rapport F, Jones GF, Favell S, Bailey J, Gray L, Manning A, et al. What influences student experience of graduate entry medicine? Qualitative findings from Swansea school of medicine. Med Teach. 2009;31(12):e580\u20135.","journal-title":"Med Teach"},{"key":"8193_CR27","unstructured":"Australian Council for Educational Research. GAMSAT: Australian Council for Educational Research. 2023 [Available from: https:\/\/gamsat.acer.org\/university-admission\/universities"},{"key":"8193_CR28","unstructured":"University of Warwick. Work experience: University of Warwick. 2023 [Available from: https:\/\/warwick.ac.uk\/fac\/sci\/med\/study\/ugr\/applying\/entryreqs\/workex\/"},{"key":"8193_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"r1204","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.r1204","volume":"389","author":"J Dobson","year":"2025","unstructured":"Dobson J. Training bottlenecks and unemployment\u2014bad for doctors, patients, and the public purse. BMJ. 2025;389:r1204.","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"issue":"1171","key":"8193_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1136\/pmj-2022-142099","volume":"99","author":"A Beard","year":"2022","unstructured":"Beard A, Gill B. Medical registrar bottleneck. Postgrad Med J. 2022;99(1171):370\u20131.","journal-title":"Postgrad Med J"},{"key":"8193_CR31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"r1180","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.r1180","volume":"389","author":"D Oliver","year":"2025","unstructured":"Oliver D. David oliver: bottlenecks in postgraduate medical training are an abject failure of medical leadership. BMJ. 2025;389:r1180.","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"issue":"1","key":"8193_CR32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2118121","DOI":"10.1080\/10872981.2022.2118121","volume":"27","author":"EL Rees","year":"2022","unstructured":"Rees EL, Mattick K, Harrison D, Rich A, Woolf K. I\u2019d have to fight for my life there\u2019: a multicentre qualitative interview study of how socioeconomic background influences medical school choice. Med Educ Online. 2022;27(1):2118121.","journal-title":"Med Educ Online"},{"issue":"8","key":"8193_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"815","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2923.2007.02798.x","volume":"41","author":"J McHarg","year":"2007","unstructured":"McHarg J, Mattick K, Knight LV. Why people apply to medical school: implications for widening participation activities. Med Educ. 2007;41(8):815\u201321.","journal-title":"Med Educ"},{"key":"8193_CR34","unstructured":"Council MS. Work experience 2025 [Available from: https:\/\/www.medschools.ac.uk\/for-students\/applying-to-medical-school\/work-experience\/"},{"issue":"2","key":"8193_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.5694\/mja2.50877","volume":"214","author":"B Griffin","year":"2021","unstructured":"Griffin B, Horton GL, Lampe L, Shulruf B, Hu W. The change from UMAT to UCAT for undergraduate medical school applicants: impact on selection outcomes. Med J Aust. 2021;214(2):84\u20139.","journal-title":"Med J Aust"},{"key":"8193_CR36","unstructured":"UCAS. Undergraduate End of Cycle Data Resources 2024 2025 [Available from: https:\/\/www.ucas.com\/data-and-analysis\/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports\/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2024"},{"key":"8193_CR37","unstructured":"British Medical Association. Medical staffing in England: a defining moment for doctors and patients. 2021."}],"container-title":["BMC Medical Education"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]],"date-time":"2025-12-18T09:57:15Z","timestamp":1766051835000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12]]}},"alternative-id":["8193"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12909-025-08193-5","relation":{},"ISSN":["1472-6920"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1472-6920","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]]},"assertion":[{"value":"14 May 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"21 October 2025","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"18 December 2025","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Ethical approval for this project was sought and received from the University of Warwick Biomedical & Scientific Research Ethics Committee (BSREC, approval number: BSREC-CDA-SSC2-2023-1). Research was conducted according to the guidelines established by the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed to consent to participate in the study was gained from all participants.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Obtained from participants.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"1700"}}