BMJ Open (Aug 2025)

Socioeconomic and demographic predictors of extracurricular achievements among UK medical students (FAST study)

  • ,
  • Jessica Lo,
  • Anna Collins,
  • Sophie West,
  • Daniel MaGee,
  • Sara Ali,
  • Tomas Ferreira,
  • Anson Wong,
  • Kavyesh Vivek,
  • Freya F Semple,
  • Benjamin French,
  • Riya Patel,
  • Guilherme Movio,
  • Andreas Stavrinou,
  • Tushar Rakhecha,
  • Alexander M Collins,
  • Oliver Feng,
  • Maeve K Mulchrone,
  • Heather A Lewis,
  • Sara Kidher,
  • Erin Fitzsimons-West,
  • Meghna Sreekumar,
  • Olivia King,
  • Malvi Shah,
  • Samantha Burley,
  • Basma R Khan,
  • Vaishvi Dalal,
  • Brandon S H Low,
  • Safa Razzaq,
  • Hugo Bernie,
  • Luke Dcaccia,
  • Olivia Rowe,
  • Ananya Jain,
  • Arthur Handscomb,
  • Sudhanvita Arun,
  • Alfaiya Hashmi,
  • Hannah Layton-Joyce,
  • Matilda Gardener,
  • Emily R Finbow,
  • Sakshi Roy,
  • Bilal Qureshi,
  • Khyatee Shah,
  • Mia Mäntylä,
  • Momina Iqbal,
  • Katie Appleton,
  • Yasmin Owadally,
  • Amelia Dickson,
  • Jack M Read,
  • Chiamaka Anthony-Okeke,
  • Rida Khan,
  • Michael E Bryan,
  • Shama Maliha,
  • Catherine L Otoibhi,
  • Sophie Kidd,
  • Muhammed Asif,
  • Tawfique Rizwan,
  • Aleksandra Dunin-Borkowska,
  • James Brawn,
  • Ayeza Akhtar,
  • Medha Pillaai,
  • Sakshi Garg,
  • Ria Bhatt Ben Sweeney,
  • Cameron Thurlow,
  • Alyssa Weissman,
  • Chloe Milton,
  • Samuel Foxcroft,
  • James A Cairn,
  • Leah Njenje,
  • Daniel C Chalk,
  • Jessica Sinyor,
  • Ryan White,
  • Krishnika Vetrivel,
  • Muhammad Hamza Shah,
  • Emily Bolton,
  • Amelia Fortescue,
  • Ella Plumb,
  • Megan Fallows,
  • Ioan Valnarov-Boulter,
  • Hsuan-Tung Kuo,
  • Aryan A Sagdeo,
  • Bethany McDermott,
  • Michael Y Luo,
  • Sharon Yuen Shan Ho,
  • Lubana Hemayet,
  • Dora Pascoe,
  • Leya Luhar,
  • Rakeem Khalid Basith,
  • Mayisha Samiha,
  • Molly Doyle,
  • Flora E MacInnes,
  • Yasmin Al-Rawi,
  • Manuel Giardino,
  • Maisha Hayat,
  • Anjali Cyril,
  • Rivya Mathews,
  • Ashleigh Stirling,
  • Adam Mohamed Capdevila,
  • Laura AE Munn,
  • Zulaikha Bibi,
  • Mackenzie F Garlick,
  • Lily Chadwick,
  • Fariha Hasan,
  • Zoe Mary Constantinou,
  • Beray Berkay,
  • Joseph Nicholson,
  • Louis R Dowland,
  • Tan Jit Yih,
  • Dev Ranka,
  • Kajoke M S Avolonto,
  • Elliot Skittrall,
  • Madison Gill,
  • Humaira Khanom,
  • Jonathan Craven,
  • Harini Elankhumaren,
  • Hannah Glover-Adams,
  • Ishagit Kaur,
  • Maia C Letts,
  • Hesham Zalghana,
  • Urja Ashish Mhatre,
  • Nikita Sanctis,
  • Ahamed Hafeezul Nashith Ahamed Rizwaan,
  • Carys M Francis,
  • Sundaramoorthy Balasubramanian,
  • Saimathusan Sivakandarajah,
  • Sourab Chand Surana,
  • Rosemary M Davis,
  • Daria Maria Bageac,
  • Ibrahem Al-Obaidi,
  • AliHamed Mahmood Al-Nakeeb,
  • Subham Roy,
  • Mohammed Suhaib Amin,
  • Tessa Yau,
  • Pakhi Goel,
  • Abderrahmane El Guernaoui,
  • David Gringras,
  • Soo Sun Chong,
  • Aaliyah J Bax,
  • Rachelle Thevathas,
  • Ajwa Fayaz,
  • Pranjil Pokharel Vera Onongaya,
  • Phoebe Hatrick,
  • Rhiannon Tanner,
  • India R Barrons,
  • Louis Naraine,
  • Artemis Prevot,
  • Muaawiyah Shaheen,
  • Farah Ahmed,
  • Mathumetha Rubaratnam,
  • Harsh Sai Modalavalasa,
  • Sushmhitah Sandanatavan,
  • Anhukrisha Karthikeyan,
  • Saarah Saanan Khan,
  • Gregory A Rowland,
  • Alexa McCloskey,
  • Nidhi Sachidananda,
  • Lydia Melaku,
  • Vyom Patel,
  • Iliyah Shahbeik,
  • Jui Kanetkar,
  • Hannah Bolton,
  • Timo L Kuerten,
  • Emily Carver,
  • Mairi C Docherty,
  • Nabilah Ali,
  • Shereen Ahmad,
  • Shiksha Guru,
  • Anushka Pujari,
  • Sydney L A Barnes,
  • LI Tommy Wai Kei,
  • Khadijah Khan,
  • Sewa A Badejo,
  • Ellena K Briggs,
  • Raghad A F Sallama,
  • Emma Marsh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-103062
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 8

Abstract

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Objective To investigate the relationship between demographic characteristics and extracurricular achievements among UK medical students.Design National, cross-sectional survey.Setting All 44 UK medical schools recognised by the General Medical Council.Participants 8,395 medical students.Outcomes Binary indicators of extracurricular engagement, including PubMed-indexed authorship, academic presentations, quality improvement projects, leadership roles and academic prizes. Logistic regression models were used to explore associations with demographic and extracurricular achievement predictors.Results Logistic regression analysis showed that students from private schools (OR 1.35, CI 1.20 to 1.53, p<0.0001) and those with a parent or sibling in medicine (OR 1.38, CI 1.12 to 1.69, p=0.002) had notably higher odds of participation in research. Ethnic disparities in raw extracurricular attainment were evident, but largely disappeared when adjusting for other predictors. Males were more likely to hold leadership roles and deliver oral presentations, but no gender differences were seen in publication rates.Conclusions Significant disparities in extracurricular achievement exist among UK medical students, principally associated with gender, private schooling and familial links to medicine. Apparent ethnic differences were largely attenuated after adjustment for other variables, indicating socioeconomic factors as stronger predictors of engagement. Given the role of these achievements in postgraduate selection, targeted interventions by medical schools and professional bodies to widen access to funding, mentorship and structured guidance for all students, regardless of perceived advantage, may support equitable opportunity without undermining merit-based standards.