Reflecting on 5 Years of Medics&Me

By Dr Megan Pode - Founder

This month marks 5 years since we started Medics&Me as enthusiastic third year medical students in my draughty uni house. As we have studied through clinical years of placement, prepared for finals, graduated, moved, become doctors and emerged out the other side of the foundation years, it has been there beside us. The charity is growing and developing in ways we could never have imagined back on Zoom, during COVID in November 2020.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this period and some stand-outs for me, from building a community of 1000+ medical students over the years, to our team, partners and at the heart of everything we do- our mentees.

BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY

When I told Frank (co-founder) about my idea and we started mentoring, the idea was simple: our friends who were medical students would support my friend Tara’s pupils with their medicine applications.

Having mentored my healthcare assistant colleague’s brilliant daughter in her medicine application and watched her progress in real time, we had the blueprint. As we gathered emails and started arranging mock interviews, we were struck by the impact these small interventions had and how quickly our other friends were keen to get involved.

Some early scribbles developing our idea from school's feedback 2021

Fast forward to September 2021 and our first ever committee meeting- 8 medical students from Aberdeen to London on a zoom with a shared vision: to enable, support and inspire students from non-selective state schools to get into medicine.

I vividly remember peering into the waiting room and trying to wrap my head around the fact we had a team of people I’d never met ready to join the mission. I didn’t know this yet, but on the call we had Lauren, who would later become Managing Director... and my most minutes spoken to on the phone 5 years running! Also Maddy and Lucie, who would change the face of the events programme and run Meet the Doctor for years to come with enormous success (a highlight being the Deputy Chief Medical Officer!).

The first ever committee meeting! September 2021

From this point we continually developed the charity together, bouncing ideas, delegating workloads during exams and excitedly sharing big updates- notably becoming a registered charity in Summer 2022. Rhiannon (our incredible now Managing Director) joined during this period and the charity grew from strength to strength. An in person meet up in April 2022 was surreal putting zoom/ slack/ WhatsApp names and faces to life and seeing the team we have so often chatted to but never met!

Central to our growth, which now sits at 33 regional leads, 40 schools leads, 120+ committee members and 500+ mentors, with 900+ in the wider community, is a shared vision and commitment to widen access; mentoring those in the years below, whilst being supported by those in years above.

This was encapsulated for me recently at a regional leads training day. I have often prided myself on my enthusiastic delivery and pep talks to the team- however the charity has now reached a size where others are experts in their own roles and training. On this day our exceptional Directors of Regional Leads Kelley (Y2 Leicester) and Charlie (Y4 Glasgow) planned, organised and brought together over 20 medical students from Glasgow and Aberdeen to Brighton and Exeter. It ran seamlessly, they perfectly encapsulated what the charity is and who we identify as, explained the role and also offered exceptional insight and reflection- proactively identifying potential issues and offering their support. I was blown away and beyond proud- safe in the knowledge that if this is the future of Medics&Me we are in very safe hands and that future is extremely bright!

Kelley and Charlie (Directors of Regional Leads) running a one-day training course for the new cohort (September 2025)

SUSTAINABILITY

This brings me onto the subject of sustainability… in March 2021 when we (aged 6 months) pluckily applied for an incubator scheme with the HLA we were asked

“So, when you graduate, apply to specialities, have big exams, more responsibilities and less time, how does this not all disappear?”.

I indignantly replied we were extremely passionate and that would absolutely not be the case! However, we quickly learnt that whether it was med school exams, F2 on call rotas, resits, job uncertainty… for the charity to be successful Medics&Me had to be bigger than any one individual or group of people. This was a new concept to me, as we were medical students with our feet firmly planted on the training conveyor belt with clear pathways to progression. It was hard to comprehend how to ensure our thriving idea lasted the test of time.

The model of “Medics&Me” was built here… to ensure our growth alongside sustainability, relying completely on volunteers, we need them to want to stay.

We started working out how we could nurture and support our volunteers as they in turn supported our mentees. This brought the second phase of our mission; outreach, community and opportunity- as our volunteers did the outreach work we would ensure they were surrounded by supportive communities in person at their medical schools.

We created opportunities in leadership, teaching, research, QI, audit and networking. From 15+ national posters at conferences to coveted appointments on the SFP, a medical elective in Peru to invitations to a ball at Cambridge, safeguarding courses and medical school prizes, opportunities to speak on panels at conferences and securing competitive speciality places- using evidence and skills built within the charity. This enabled our exceptional and talented team that give their time for free to be recognised externally, a source of great joy and pride within the charity.

Award winning poster presentations from the team following their project within the charity (Summer 2025)

Perhaps more importantly, on a weekly basis I see the bonds and connections made through the charity and the impact this has on our volunteers. Beyond the opportunities, the community we have at the heart of the organisation and the mutual support of our members is incredible. This being one of the most discussed aspects in our recent meet the volunteer series on social media is testament to the Medics&Me team!

I am proud to say Medics&Me is not only there for your application but subsequent medical school journey, foundation years, speciality applications, higher speciality training and any challenges along the way.

COLLABORATION

Professor Simon Carley once said on a Meet the Doctor talk that within medicine, research and your career- “collaboration is king”. This could not be more true and we are honoured to work with a wide variety of institutions, charities, individuals and organisations.

Early in our growth we were delighted to work with the HLA and meet a long time mentor of the charity Dr Ali Jawad. We are privileged to support the aspiring medics within The Elephant Group Charity. A highlight in our growth was being recognised by UCAS in the application to medicine section. We are also honoured to be recognised and continue to work closely with the Medical Schools Council and National Widening Access Forum. More recently we partnered with the GMC to train our foundation volunteers to deliver a teaching programme. Pastest have been unwavering in their support, from annual awards to funding in person events- bringing our community together and celebrating them.

We would not be where we are without our trustees; Poppy Kevelighan, Ching Wa Chung and Hems de Winter. Previously we worked with Ben Ryan, a pioneer in WP at Manchester university and published researcher within the field. We are delighted we now have Professor Enam Haque formally on board within the charity, a nationally recognised figure in the field of widening access.

Some of the team at the National Widening Participation Forum Conference in July 2025

I would also like to take this moment to thank all of the doctors who support our volunteers with guidance, opportunities and have given their time to meet the doctor talks. To name a few of our contributors and supporters over the years Ms Sonia Basson, Mr Janardhan Rao, Professor Simon Carley, Ms Georgia Layton and Dr Anna Foat.

Finally, Frank, the co-founder of Medics&Me, has worked tirelessly behind the scenes on the conception, development and operational aspects of the charity. From the original name to charity commission documents, zoom subscriptions to running events, representing at conferences and taking every new exciting idea/ project in his stride. There is no doubt the charity would not be what it is today without him.

OUR MENTEES

At the centre of everything we do is our mentees.

It is well known that getting into medicine is a challenge, when you add on being the first in your family to apply to university, caring responsibilities, English being a second language, not knowing any doctors or attending a school with no previous applicants it can feel insurmountable. Our mentees regularly show through their exceptional commitment and engagement that they have the capabilities and potential to not only get into medical school but become the next generation of leading doctors and surgeons treating, caring for and representing their patients.

As a team, charity and community we have achieved incredible things in the last 5 years to start to narrow the gap and widen access to medicine.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done and we are only just getting started... bring on 2026 and the next 5 years of Medics&Me!