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Introduction/BackgroundYoung people from areas of social deprivation are faced with inequalities in both educational and career opportunities 1 University Hospital Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust offers a range of outreach simulation activities for secondary and college students faced with these inequalities The service aims to encourage students to consider an NHS career and provide them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to pursue it Summary of education programmeThe Covid-19 pandemic resulted in many students home schooling and significant healthcare pressures halting planned outreach simulation activities To accommodate these challenges we embraced virtual engagement This required our team to develop skills as faculty and develop a programme accessible to young people receiving and healthcare workers delivering The ‘Medicine Clinic’ aimed at 14–18 year olds considering medical careers offered a two-hour virtual session plus access to pre-event recorded material A live webinar exploring the application process, accessing a contextual offer at Bristol University and a personal journey of applying to medicine We then conducted a live simulation of a clinically unwell adult via a high definition camera system with live streaming capability The students communicated via the chat box function to advise us on how we should assess and treat the patient, concluding with a debrief The final part of the session facilitated students to simulate answering pre sent mock interview questions and ask the faculty for example answers We have offered the students a junior doctor mentor to support their application to medicine Outcomes100% Completion of both a pre and post session questionnaire and all students opted for mentorship All candidates found the session useful, informative and would recommend to a peer Discussion and ConclusionThe positive feedback from young people was very encouraging in terms of the content delivered however;we found the biggest issue related to technical difficulties Using a sophisticated camera system offered high quality video definition however, potentially over complicated the session The streaming capacity was limited which affected the student’s ability at times to take part in the simulation Offering more than one engagement is proven to be more effective2 which is why we are offering a mentorship program however, we plan to hold another virtual event closer to interview season RecommendationsA follow up session to enable us to offer further support and track the application journeys of studentsUtilise a webcam and simpler technology ReferencesSocial Mobility Commission State of the Nation 2018-19: Social Mobility in Great Britain London, United Kingdom: April 2019Ashwin P, McVitty D The Meanings of Student Engagement: Implications for Policies and Practices In: Curaj A, Matei L, Pricopie R, et al , eds The European Higher Education Area: Between Critical Reflections and Future Policies Cham: Springer International Publishing 2015 343–59 doi:10 1007/978-3-319-20877-0_23
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