Medical school applications

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7381.161/a

BMJ 2003;326:161 ( 18 January )

Letters

Medical school applications

Pool of potential medical students needs to be enlarged

Compensating factors do not compensate for poor A level performance

Applications have increased again for second year running

Medicine and myth need to be separated

Pool of potential medical students needs to be enlarged

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ McManus says that the only way to increase the pool of medical school applicants is to lower A level requirements orto increase the pool of A level chemistry candidates.¹ We arguethat a better pathway to recruiting successful medical studentsis to appeal to a much larger pool both of able school pupilsand of mature, older graduates and health professionals. Selectionfrom this enlarged pool should be based on overall academic ability,which predicts both the likelihood of staying the course and ultimatesuccess more powerfully than having science A levels and assessmentof the personal qualities required to be a good doctor.^2-4

The real challenges are of affirmative action (making medicine seem an attractive career to the many young people who havethe appropriate potential but are not currently considering it)and of tailoring undergraduate curriculums to meet the needs ofstudents with the necessary . . . [Full text of this article]

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Medical school applications $---$ a critical situation: I C McManus
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