Sir, – I agree with Dr Chris Luke’s view (August 29th) that graduate entry medical students bring a wealth of experience to the health system and should be welcomed. However, I do take issue with him blaming the younger “gap-year” doctors for the recruitment problems in emergency medicine.
Emergency medicine (EM) has the potential to be an attractive career choice for a newly qualified junior doctor, with its focus on practical, hands-on medicine.
However, the severe lack of consultants in EM means that not only is consultant supervision/support lacking but also, career prospects are seen as poor compared to other specialities. For example, in the Cork region, there are only five EM consultants servicing the three city hospitals, which is grossly inadequate for the number of patients attending the emergency departments in the city. This fact was a major influence on my decision to pursue a career in anaesthesia over emergency medicine, knowing that I would have regular anaesthetic consultant contact and also good career prospects at the end of my training.
I stress that as individuals, EM consultants have done tremendous things for medical education despite their lack of numbers. I acknowledge Dr Luke’s work as an intern tutor, postgraduate teaching co-ordinator as well as being an EM consultant in two busy Cork hospitals. However, we need much more than one Chris Luke to fix emergency medicine’s problems. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I could not agree more with Dr Chris Luke’s view (August 29th) that ...“the academic calibre of medical school entrants matters little compared with the calibre of care we provide to our citizens”.
From my past teaching experience at second and third levels I am convinced what matters most with regard to professions such as medicine, nursing and teaching is the ability of our students to possess the right aptitude for such dedicated professions and to communicate effectively with those they serve, bearing in mind, at all times, the welfare of patients or students as the case may be. Amassing points in the Leaving Certificate examination is not always an indication of academic excellence or should be a passport to such caring professions.
In fact, more places in the medical schools should be made available to mature graduates who are not only mature but would be much better prepared to embark on a lengthy and demanding course of study having taken their gap year, etc. As Dr Luke pointed out “..why not make mature entrants the ‘norm’ or at least the majority?” How often I have come across former students of mine who were not necessarily academically brilliant but have gone on to excel in their chosen professions because they were equipped with the necessary and most desirable skills their careers demanded.
The sooner the points system is dismantled and individual universities take direct charge of assessing the suitability of students to be admitted to courses of study such as medicine, nursing, teaching and other professions which deal with people (and need people skills), the better it will be for the society. – Yours, etc,