“… Is the Leaving Cert a better predictor of who will mature into a good doctor? There is no exam which can tell us this. The Leaving is however a decent test of secondary school academic achievement, itself a mix of two essential attributes in a doctor, intelligence and hard work. I have long been an advocate for graduate entry. Our medical schools are partially moving in this direction, but are still giving most places to school leavers. If we choose to have a crazy system which makes students decide at the age of 14 or 15 whether they want to be doctors (yes, this is the age at which they make the crucial subject choices for the Leaving Cert) then we should use the Leaving …” (more)
[John Crown, Independent, 23 August]