Focusing on the progressive increases in the admission of medical students from widening participation backgrounds, specifically those who are from first in family to access university, the study captures unique experiences during the early years of medical education at a research-intensive university. The study contributes to the theorisation of transition and considers how these hitherto underrepresented students might be effectively supported.
The purpose of exploring the personal transitional experience of first in family medical students was three-fold. Firstly, recognising continuous increases in this demographic, and secondly, challenging previous research deploying deficit models (O’Beirne et al., 2020; Curtis et al., 2021). Deficit models suggesting that students lack social and cultural capitals (Bourdieu, 1973) which impact on their preparedness for success in higher education. Thirdly, the need to develop theoretical explanations of transition which recognise the personal lived experiences of first in family students to access medical education. The existential methodology recognises transition as a phenomenon, with longitudinal semi-structured interviews exploring ongoing changes in learning and identity through a form of reflective dialogue.
Findings of the study over two years reveal stories of transition in first in family students, which demonstrate higher levels of social and academic preparedness for higher education than some earlier studies examining inequities in access suggest. Increased agency in students, through reflection and narration of their own story of transition, has potential to create a sense of a transformative self. Recognising students’ individual subjectivities, as a means of them owning the contextual situations in which they learn and ‘become doctors’, could additionally work towards increasing positive self-esteem and wellbeing.
A more nuanced conception of transition as a plural construct, which contests previous socio-structural models, might invoke new inclusive educational practices for the benefit of more socially diverse students. Transition is more usefully envisaged as a uniquely, personal life-transforming concept, rather than socio-structural definitions between levels of education or specifically defined stages of change. An internal locus of control is pertinent for students (Bean and Eaton, 2001) being provided through opportunities to reflect, increase agency, and internalise personal adaptations to learning and the transitional process itself.
