Sir, – In many discussions concerning entry to medical school, there is an implication that achieving a large number of points in the Leaving Certificate and being a well-rounded person, suitable for a medical career, are mutually exclusive. In the course of my life I have had the need to interact with many dozens of junior doctors and the vast majority of them have been bright, polite and sensitive people. However, the demands of actually working as a junior doctor probably causes some of them to become less sensitive as they progress up the ranks.
There are many problems with the Leaving Certificate but there is no evidence that those who achieve a high points score are more likely to be people with poor interpersonal skills. Given that intelligence is a crucial aspect of being a doctor (although many people seem to forget this), I suggest that we should think very carefully before changing the current entry system. – Yours, etc,