Positive discrimination favours no one

Equal access, outreach schemes, helping the disadvantaged, increasing ethnic minority representation, or whatever you want to call it, has come to dominate UK general and medical politics recently. Looking around at medical school, the medical profession in waiting does not reflect the populace as a whole. Certain ethnic minorities are over-represented, others under-represented, and, as for men, they seem to be a dying breed.

What has been a principal focus of government recently is a perceived need to increase the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in medical school—a laudable aim. Few could argue that …