We are a group of Graduate-Entry Medicine (GEM) students working with the University of Oxford's Development Office to create a need-based bursary for future students on the GEM course. GEM students are not eligible for many of the bursaries offered by the university, and given the expense of the course and of living in Oxford, those without family support often struggle to make ends meet.
To make our course more accessible, we are in the process of raising the £125,000 it will take to endow a £5,000 pa need-based bursary. We call this project AccessGEM, and so far we have raised approximately £37,000. On Saturday 1 April, a group of us will be undertaking the 3 Peaks Challenge as a fundraising initiative. We’ll climb Snowdon, Scafell Pike, and Ben Nevis, all in 24 hours! At least some of the hiking will be in the dark, and the whole thing is a slightly mad endeavor, but it’s been done before and we can’t wait to give it our best effort!
If you’re interested in learning more about AccessGEM, please join our mailing list.
And if you’d like to donate to our cause, please visit the Development Office website.