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Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
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WORK HARD, PLAY HARD!
- AZHAR ALA (25 March 2006)
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Authors' Correction
- Janet Yates, David James (20 April 2006)
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A struggler responds
- Stephen M. Taylor (28 April 2006)
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Gender and Extracurricular Passions in Nigeria
- Seye Abimbola (28 April 2006)
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Racial Differrences?
- Jayaprakash Ayillath Gosalakkal (30 April 2006)
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Strugglers Are Around To Stay
- Simon P Lammy (5 May 2006)
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Chemistry may not be king
- Antony L Natt (16 May 2006)
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AZHAR ALA, GP REGISTRAR London SW17 7HS
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As a male doctor of Indian origin these findings are not suprising to me. Throughout my time at medical school it had occured to me and several of my fellow students that a majority of those who failed their exams were male,from an ethnic minority, or both. Both these groups may be afflicted by their inability to balance work with extracurricular activities. Girls are statistically better at exams in Secondary education and there is simply an extension of this at University. Perhaps they are better at organising their lives. From my personal experience I think a number (although not the majority) of those from the Indian subcontinent experience significantly more freedom at University, away from the parental home, than they have been used to. Balancing the freedom away from home with the responsibily of studies can take time. Some are better at this than others. Competing interests: None declared |
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Janet Yates, Research Fellow, Medical Education Unit University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, David James
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There is a minor typographical error in Table 2, for which we apologise. In the line of data which describes 'Lower MEG at GCSE science', second column, relating to control students, the number 35 is correct but the percentage figure should be 7.5 instead of 18.4 as shown. This does not affect the validity of the resulting statistic. Competing interests: None declared |
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Stephen M. Taylor, Physician University of North Texas Health Science Center Fort Worth, Texas
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As a teacher of medical students and residents for my whole career, I can appreciate the conclusions of this study. However, has the end purpose of medical training been kept in mind? What about the qualities that we don't measure, like empathy,honesty and trustworthiness? I have always told my more idealistic and emotionally available charges (who usually are strugglers) that caring is necessary but that only caring informed by academic dedication is sufficient to be a good doctor. One quality without the other can lead to either a popular quack or a technician that patients only go to because they have no choice. So I wonder about this study and what kind of physicians these "strugglers" will become, if they make it. My guess is that they will have just as good a chance at becoming good doctors as the academic stars. Each will struggle with the difficult realities of practicing medicine in this new century. After years of practice, I have seen these divergant approaches merge in physicians with the technocrats become more caring and the strugglers becoming proficient in practicing academically based medicine. In the end, taking proper care of people is what we all wanted when we started down this road, even those of us who struggled. Competing interests: None declared |
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Seye Abimbola, Medical Student/International Student Advisor, studentBMJ. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
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I want to draw the attention of BMJ readers to an article of mine published in the studentBMJ where I gave some explanations for gender differences in the performance of Nigerian medical students in the preclinical and clinical years. The responses of medical students and teachers from accross the world is also very informative. See article at: http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/05/11/reviews/438a.php I'd like to see more responses. Competing interests: None declared |
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Jayaprakash Ayillath Gosalakkal, Cnsultant Paediatric neurologist UHL Leicester
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"We were unable to test the impact of ethnicity for the whole group as data were unavailable for overseas students." Yet another study to raise questions about the abilities of students from ethnic minority background! There was an earlier "scientific” study from Leeds about differential IQ, S.Has anybody carried out a study of variations in marking based on tests involving direct contact (interviews, Viva etc and those where the identity of the candidate is unknown)? Could there be an element of subjectivity in selections, exams etc and would the ethnic minority suffer due to that? The rise in such studies showing ethnicity itself as a criterion for presumed poor performance and the campaign of the BNP against ethnic doctors all cause considerable disquiet, Some might say it is all in the cause of science-but then so did the people involved in the Tuskegee experiments. Competing interests: None declared |
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Simon P Lammy, 3rd Year Medical Student: Medical Students' Officer: University of London Union Royal Free & University College Medical School WC1E 6BT
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The article (Predicting the "strugglers": case control study of students at Nottingham University Medical School; BMJ Volume 332) despite exploring another avenue for predicting success at undergraduate medicine by utilising negative predictors of success has not added significantly more to what is already used as predictors for the success required to endure medical school. The authors state that British ethnic minority students do not perform as well as their British non-white counterparts. As this sadly is an established fact a thorough examination of the way medical education is executed in this country needs to be compared to its execution in the very same countries from which most of these British ethnic students lineage descends from so that we can thoroughly establish whether medical education in this country is unintentionally racially biased. If no such bias can be found than further probing may be needed to establish whether such students are studying due to the stereotypical image of parental pressures and what ways the admissions procedures can weed out such students who are "forced" to study medicine. Concerning male sex as a possible factor for underperformance it would be interesting to ascertain what the ethnic origin of such students is especially in context with the above. However one thing is certain; there has always been strugglers at medical school. The prevalence of such strugglers may increase especially with the recent and ongoing modifications to postgraduate medical education and its serious implications for undergraduate medical education (i.e. just consider the furore surrounding the MDAP process). The increased intensity of competition during postgraduate training may be reflected at an undergraduate level with the obvious repercussions of increased anxiety and stress being manifested as failure. Competing interests: None declared |
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Antony L Natt, General Practitioner St Lawrence Road Surgery, North Wingfield, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S42 5LH
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The findings of James et al would seem to contradict a long held belief that mastery of Chemistry [A level], in preference to the other sciences is the essential prerequisite for success at medical school. This year, of 28 UK medical school accepting applications to study medicine, 13 demand Chemistry A level and one other science, 13 demand both Chemistry and Biology, 1 demands Biology whilst the last requires one unspecified science. Yet James et al demonstrate that strugglers at Nottingham University Medical School were signifigantly less likely to have achieved an A grade in Biology A level as compared to an A grade in Chemistry A level.The possible implications of this observation to the present selection criteria for medical school may be significant, should these findings be confirmed by others. Academic excellence at A level may well predict success at medical school but the devil may be in the detail. Maybe excellence in Biology, and not Chemistry is the key to success. Competing interests: None declared |
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