Midlife medicine

What is the fascination with medicine? Why do we choose to pursue this career in an era when patients are dissatisfied and stories in the media paint a picture of doom and gloom?

Recently, a 46 year old woman was accepted to study a new medical degree course at the University of East Anglia.1 The decision was inevitably criticised. The university justified its decision by saying that a person's contribution to medicine should not just be judged on the length of time that they can contribute to the NHS, as many older applicants can bring a great deal of life experience to medicine.

With this in mind, the admission of Ged Garbutt, a 41 year old former professor of health science into the graduate entry course at Leicester Warwick Medical School must be a step in the right direction. Or is it?

Ged managed a staff of 40 at the health sciences department at the University of …