Should all medical students be graduates first? Yes

doi:10.1136/bmj.39283.476725.BE

BMJ 2007;335:1072 (24 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39283.476725.BE

Feature

Head to head

Should all medical students be graduates first? Yes

Ed Peile, professor of medical education

Institute of Clinical Education, Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

ed.peile@warwick.ac.uk

Most people enter medical college straight from school. Ed Peileargues that changing to a single system of graduate entry medicalschools would provide the diverse multiskilled workforce neededfor the future, but Charles George thinks that there is insufficientevidence to make this a criterion of entry

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

We must stop the headlong rush of pupils going straight fromschool into five year long medical courses. Bright teenagersare encouraged by teachers and parents to maximise their potentialby aiming for the kudos and earning power of medicine. As consultantsin their 20s, they will have little more breadth to their lifeexperience than when they were studying during the week andspending their weekends meeting the unwritten requirements forschool leavers to get into medical school—by working incare homes, hiking for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards, andpractising for grade VIII cello.

If we do what we have always done, we will always get a nichemedical workforce. Selection is a different matter when studentshave had a chance to prove themselves independently, meetingthe challenges of a university setting, and perhaps those ofthe workplace.

Diversity of the medical workforce has been hampered for . . . [Full text of this article]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike Add to Complore Complore Add to Connotea Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us Add to Digg Digg Add to Reddit Reddit Add to Technorati Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Bad for state school applicants: Andrew D Beggs
BMJ 2007 335: 1169. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Should all medical students be graduates first? NO: Charles George
BMJ 2007 335: 1073. [Extract] [Full Text]

The course left out in the cold: Toby Reynolds
BMJ 2007 334: 1246-1248. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

A levels and intelligence as predictors of medical careers in UK doctors: 20 year prospective study: I C McManus, Eleni Smithers, Philippa Partridge, A Keeling, and Peter R Fleming
BMJ 2003 327: 139-142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Graduate students are more challenging, demanding, and questioning: Peter McCrorie
BMJ 2002 325: 676. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Beggs, A. D (2007). Bad for state school applicants. BMJ 335: 1169-1169 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Graduate medical courses disadvantage state school applicants: Andrew D Beggs
bmj.com, 25 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Students entry to Medical School: Moyra F Guthrie
bmj.com, 28 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Re: Students entry to Medical School: David R Warriner
bmj.com, 29 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Flexibility: Robert WATSON
bmj.com, 29 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Working class background: Judith A Langfield
bmj.com, 30 Nov 2007 [Full text]
similarities between medicine and law: oscar,m jolobe, et al.
bmj.com, 7 Dec 2007 [Full text]
Graduate entry into medical school: Harish P Janardhan
bmj.com, 15 Dec 2007 [Full text]
Priming Period: Minnie Faith
bmj.com, 17 Dec 2007 [Full text]