One of the first doctors to graduate from a landmark scheme designed to widen access to medical school says he is "so grateful" to have been able to pursue his dream career.

Joshua Hewitt, 25, is now a junior doctor in his first year of training at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, and hopes eventually to specialise as a paediatric consultant.

However, he would never have had the chance to study medicine were it not for an initiative launched by Glasgow University in 2017 to increase the intake of students coming from more deprived areas.

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The Glasgow Access Programme (GAP) - since renamed the Gateway to Medical Studies - is credited with ensuring that a fifth of the Scottish-domiciled students enrolled at Glasgow University's medical school come from postcodes which rank among the 20% most deprived areas, making the intake more representative of the general population.

Dr Hewitt said: "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for GAP. I would have been doing something else - something I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much, and that I didn't really want to do.

"Medicine was always the thing I wanted to do, so I'm just so grateful that I got that opportunity.

"I think it's important that everyone has an equal opportunity so that we create a workforce that is more diverse and reflects the population.

"People can relate more to you, I think, if they can see doctors that are more like them as patients."

Then-Health Secretary Shona Robison (second from right) visits Glasgow University in 2017 as it launched the Glasgow Access ProgrammeThen-Health Secretary Shona Robison (second from right) visits Glasgow University in 2017 as it launched the Glasgow Access Programme (Image: UniversityofGlasgow)

The one-year programme - the first of its kind in Scotland - was set up by the university to "level the playing field" for entry into medical school.

This typically requires at least five A's at Higher, which disproportionately favours pupils from more affluent backgrounds who are much more likely to achieve these grades.

Instead, the GAP targeted pupils from schools in disadvantaged areas who had missed the entry requirements for medicine - but were considered to have academic potential - and gave them the opportunity to spend a year at Glasgow University studying subjects such as biology, chemistry, physiology, and anatomy in class sizes of around 20.

They were also given training in communication skills and exposure to clinical environments to let them evaluate whether a career in medicine was definitely for them.

Those who opted out at the end of the course could choose to go straight into the second-year of a life sciences degree instead, but to date 89% of the students who were recruited via the GAP/Gateway scheme have gone on to study medicine.

Of the 200 enrolled so far, 20 have since graduated from the medical school to embark on their training as junior doctors.

Course leaders have welcomed evidence that there is little difference in the retention rates and academic performance between the Gateway and non-Gateway medical students.

Prof Matthew Walters, head of the medical school, said it was 'gratifying' to see so many GAP graduates now training as doctorsProf Matthew Walters, head of the medical school, said it was 'gratifying' to see so many GAP graduates now training as doctors (Image: YouTube)

Professor Matthew Walters, who heads up the medical school and was instrumental in forging the initiative, said: "We're really proud of that, but it's testament to the calibre of the people.

"For all that we don't have the same requirements in terms of school leaving grades, it's still a pretty robust process. The students applications are robustly assessed and we select high calibre people.

"They may not have five A's a Higher, but it's still people who have a lot to offer.

"I don't think we as teachers can take the credit - these are just good, committed, hard-working young people who do what's needed, and succeed.

"Last year we had our first cohort graduate, and some of these guys are now on the wards.

"That's really gratifying to see because these are people who wouldn't otherwise have been able to get into medical school now practising successfully as doctors - and there's many more coming behind them."

Dr Hewitt had considered studying pharmacy instead after missing out on the grades needed for medical schoolDr Hewitt had considered studying pharmacy instead after missing out on the grades needed for medical school (Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)

Dr Hewitt, who attended Springburn Academy - a comprehensive in north Glasgow - had dreamt of becoming a doctor since he was 14.

He completed five Highers in 5th Year, including chemistry, maths and physics, and went on to gain Higher biology in his 6th Year along with Advanced Higher chemistry and maths.

However, he fell short of the grades required and had been on the verge of accepting a conditional offer to study pharmacy instead when he first heard about the GAP programme.

He successfully applied and says it was a "great" experience.

He added: "I really enjoyed it. It was a good stepping stone into university, and a good chance to meet like-minded people in a smaller group rather than going straight into 300 in a year group.

"There were about 22 of us. We're still good friends and we meet up when we have GAP events.

"It's nice to have been the first cohort together.

"There's people all over the country who are more than capable of doing medicine, who've got a calling to help people, but just because of grades they wouldn't have got in."