Great to see this article about the Dr Mike King Trust in The Portsmouth News this week:
A CONSULTANT has set up a trust, (administered by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation), in memory of a friend to help students from state schools get into medical school.
Friend Manish Patel, a gastroenterology consultant at St Mary’s, has set up the Dr Mike King Trust to help students get into medical school in his name.
Manish said: ‘Mike and I both grew up in Portsmouth and we met when we went to medical school. Growing up, my mother worked in a take-away and my father was a driver.
‘People from places like Portsmouth, with areas of deprivation, tend to be under-represented in the medical profession.
‘I had always wanted to set up a trust to support young people in the city who come from a non-clinical background to have the skills and confidence to successfully take on the process.
Dr Patel contacted Portsmouth College and he started helping five students through the process, giving tips on personal statements, sharing exam techniques and he also arranged for the students to shadow doctors and nurses at St Mary’s.