medical school

I would like to thank Mr Greatheart for his interest in my editorial. Like Dr Finkler and colleagues, he claims that MMI correlates with producing better doctors, but provides no evidence that it does so. 

Additionally, I never suggested that having an arts background should limit one’s ability to enter medical school. When one can’t find points in an argument that one can critique it is inappropriate to apply criticism to other points that were not made. 

In an era in which the BMJ listed evidence-based medicine as one of the greatest medical advances in the last 170 years, we were startled to read Dr Day’s editorial, “So you want to be a doctor?”[1] Dr Day raises many issues that are beyond the scope of a brief response. Most surprising, however, is how strongly beliefs about student selection were expressed without apparent consideration of the published evidence on the topic.

The intent of my editorial was not to elicit a defensive response from the architects or supporters of the admission process. Nor did I anticipate that they would refer to an interview pro­cess carried out by physicians as a “lottery.” Sensitive physicians might consider that an insult to their professional abilities and judgment. 

It is a sad fact that the rationing of health care in Canada extends to the rationing of medical school places for qualified applicants. In the wake of the 1991 Barer-Stoddart re­port, BC (like many other provinces) acted to reduce enrollment in medical schools. Years later, governments began to recognize their error, and have recently increased the number of doctors in training. 

The letter from Dr Michael Alms [BCMJ 2001;43(2):68] raised a matter that should concern all medical educators. It is even more timely now that the BCMJ recently commented on the problem and the media had a field day alarming Canadians about what was going on in their medical schools. Like Dr Alms, I too have been in the patient situation and am disgusted at the non-professional, egotistical, impersonal attitude displayed by many consultants and department heads under whom patients are admitted in teaching hospitals.