Art & Anatomy runs special art sessions in schools looking at and drawing the human body inside and out. Photograph: Ali Cleary Photography
As trainee plastic surgeon Meg Anderson paints a string of shapes representing finger bones on to the hand of a 12-year-old pupil in the art room of a Yorkshire comprehensive school, she grins at the confident answers the youngster gives to questions she might face if interviewed for a place at medical school.
You are really amazing, says Anderson, filling in a bone shape in white, after the girl has explained how she would break bad news to the family of a child who was not going to recover. That is exactly the kind of answer that a medical school would be looking for.
This is a special art session at Holy Trinity academy in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, designed to inspire pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds there to take up a career in medicine, by looking at and drawing the human body inside and out.
A few giggles ripple round the art room as Anderson motions to her international aid worker partner Mark Dickson to remove his sweatshirt, to reveal a torso shes painted on to with a high-definition anatomical image, as if his chest were open to reveal his heart, lungs and other organs.
I want you to draw what you can see, instructs Anderson, radiating enthusiasm. If you can draw it, you can probably operate on it. As heads go down and pencils scuffle busily on paper, aspiring paramedic Emily Hitchen, 16, is appreciating the chance to look at biology in a new light. She says: It must be nice to look at someone and think I know what is going on in your body.
Anderson, 29, who works as a clinical researcher in burns and plastic surgery at the Canniesburn plastic surgery unit in Glasgow, has initiated this school session with mainly 15 and 16-year-old art students, because shes passionate about breaking down the barriers stopping pupils from considering studying medicine. Youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds are consistently underrepresented at medical school.
A study by Dundee and Central Lancashire universities of applications to 22 medical schools shows that 80% of medical students came from households containing professionals or those in higher managerial roles, and more than a quarter from private schools.
Anderson herself came from a low-income family in nearby Wakefield, where she was advised at school to consider being a gardener. A combination of outstanding exam results and encouraging parents won her a place at Manchester University Medical School. A keen artist from school days, she found sketching and drawing an invaluable boost to her memory during her undergraduate medical studies.
This anatomy workshop plus career talk at Holy Trinity comes under the umbrella of Art & Anatomy Ltd a not-for-profit organisation Anderson runs with Dickson. They run workshops to teach anatomy to medical students and other health professionals, through anatomical drawing, including drawing directly with poster-type paints on to the body. Many medical schools no longer provide formal teaching in anatomy. Profits are used to run workshops in schools like Holy Trinity. A number of schools in the area, including primaries, are interested in the workshops.
The art room at Holy Trinity is buzzing. To Andersons surprise, and that of Holy Trinity teacher Chela Wilson, 12 out of the 14 in the art group have revealed in a questionnaire that they would consider a career in medicine. Year 7 pupils have been invited to sit in on the class if they are interested in healthcare, and are drawing Dickson with intense concentration.
One boy has filled a page with detailed sketches of Dickson and says: I want to become a master of anatomy.
Many medical schools such as Manchester University have programmes to encourage pupils from less-privileged backgrounds to consider medicine. Some of the Holy Trinity pupils in Andersons workshop are taking part in Sheffield Universitys outreach and access to medicine scheme, which reserves 60 places for pupils who may be the first in the family to go to university.
Aston University launched the Sir Doug Ellis pathway to healthcare programme in November 2016, to prepare more than 100 16 and 17-year-olds from non-traditional backgrounds in the West Midlands to enter medical school and other healthcare professions.
Holy Trinity science teacher Sarah Watts believes the biggest barrier her pupils face is the lack of role models, which keeps their career aspirations low. She hopes Andersons example will help change that. Watts says: My pupils say they could not achieve what I have because somehow I am different, but I come from a background similar to theirs in the north-east.
Over lunchtime, pupils queue up to bombard Anderson with questions about her route into medicine and many of them leave saying they want to try it too. She says: I hope that medicine as a career now seems less intimidating and seems like something these pupils could achieve if they want to do it.
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Drawn from experience: art inspires poorer students into medicine - The Guardian