In this paper, we examine issues relating to the enduring nature of elitism and exclusion in medical education by exploring the changes in social and policy influences on the admission and inclusion of women and disabled people to undergraduate medical courses and the medical profession. The widening participation imperative in the United Kingdom has impacted on medical education in that a traditional, elite, white, middle-class profession has been forcibly required to open its doors to "non-traditional" students. Only since the 1970s have women been admitted in increasing numbers, then people from ethnic minorities, but active recruitment from a wider range of social classes and other disadvantaged backgrounds remains an issue, with the most recent challenge being the inclusion of disabled people. (Contains 1 note.)