Men should be encouraged to apply to medical school

Medical schools and the government should do more to encourage male students to apply to study medicine, the annual representative meeting of the BMA agreed last week.

The present split of about 60% female and 40% male students would lead to problems in the future when many of the women graduates would want to take time out to have children or work part-time, the representatives were told.

James Coulston, a member of the medical students committee, who was proposing the motion, said: “Welcome to the next big problem for the NHS. This is purely and simply a numbers problem.”

About 65% of the intake was now women, and in some places it was 75%. Yet it was clear that the “joys of motherhood” would call on many of …