Widening access to medicine: using mid-range theory to extend knowledge and understanding

This chapter aims to illustrate how a previously under-theorised field of health professions research has evolved over time by engaging with theory and more rigorous research designs and methods. The topic areas are that of widening participation (WP) and widening access to medicine; in other words, increasing the diversity of medical students. The chapter aims to provide insight into this area of research but, more generally, to use it as a vehicle to reflect on how research within a particular field shifts over time, and what can be learned from the past. WP highlights equality of opportunity and relates to improving social mobility, which can be defined as breaking the transmission of disadvantage from one generation to the next. WA focuses on the equity or fairness of the selection processes that act as a gateway to higher education.