Sir, Copies of Junior Dr McLoughlin's attack on nurses (November 4th) should be pasted to the doors of every hospital ward in the country to remind everyone what it means to work in an undervalued occupation. Dr McLoughlin's belief that the high points requirements for medicine are somehow relevant to the nurses' strike is especially ridiculous. Dogs in the street know that points are a reflection of supply and demand, not a gauge of the intelligence required for a subject. Dr McLoughlin seems not to have recovered from the thrill of doing a successful Leaving Cert, something that usually wears off after a few months at university.
The letter contains all the stupidity and resentment of which Dr McLoughlin accuses, and seems to me an excellent argument for adopting the American model of medical training. Over here, students come to medical school only after they have had the chance to grow up a bit in college. - Yours, etc., Kieran Healy,
Department of Sociology, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.