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NEWS: Pat Sidley The long road to the top BMJ 2005; 331: 1104 [Full text]

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The long road to the top

oscar,m jolobe   (12 November 2005)

The long road to the top 12 November 2005
oscar,m jolobe, retired geriatrician 1 The Lodge, 842 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2EN Send response to journal: Re: The long road to the top	Not only was the allegation of racial bias on the part of the examiners in the South African Fellowship exam unfair, but it was also unworthy of publication. As far back as 1967, when I obtained the South African Fellowship in Medicine, there were already a number of "non-white" candidates who had been succesful in the South African Fellowship exams, not only in Medicine, but also in Surgery, and in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and some took pride in the fact that, having succeeded in the quite demanding South African exam, they subsequently found higher exams in other countries a "cake walk" by comparison. I, myself, subsequently took the MRCP(UK) in 1974, following a six and a half year spell in general practice, and passed at the first attempt, although it had taken me two attempts to succeed in the FCP(SA) Competing interests: None declared