Volume 189 - Issue 4
Selecting medical students
Author: David A Powis
Med J Aust 2008; 189 (4): 235-236. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb02001.x
Published online: 18 August 2008
Published online: 18 August 2008
In reply: I am sorry Arnold considers that, in the context of selecting medical students based on their suitability to be a doctor, interpersonal relationship skills are qualities necessary only for general practitioners and psychiatrists. He is presumably unaware that the most frequent complaints made by patients about doctors of all kinds concern the very absence of such skills.
I agree with his statement that medicine is a broad church, with many professional pathways to suit individual preferences and skills, but that doesn’t mean that anybody is suitable to fill the positions, or indeed fit to be any sort of doctor.1,2
In any country, medical boards and medical indemnity insurers could give many examples of inadequate practitioners. We should remember that all of these practitioners were admitted to medical school, passed their exams and graduated as fit to practise medicine. If there is any chance of identifying such individuals before they start their medical training, then it would be unethical not to do so.1 This means we have to select students based on more than their academic achievements at school, and a suitably structured interview has been shown to be a reasonably effective tool in this context.3,4
References
- Lowe M, Kerridge I, Bore M, et al. Is it possible to assess the “ethics” of medical school applicants? J Med Ethics 2001; 27: 404-408. 0_CBBFHAID
- Bore M, Munro D, Kerridge I, Powis D. Selection of medical students according to their moral orientation. Med Educ 2005; 39: 266-275. 0_CBBIAIFG
- Powis DA, Neame RL, Bristow T, Murphy LB. The objective structured interview for medical student selection. BMJ 1988; 296: 765-768. 0_CBBCGBBJ
- Wilkinson D, Zhang J, Byrne GJ, et al. Medical school selection criteria and the prediction of academic performance. Evidence leading to change in policy and practice at the University of Queensland. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 349-354. 0_CBBGAHCD