Sir, - The medical establishment is widely regarded as one of the most powerful in the State. Why, then, does it not take steps to control admission to its profession in the way that the legal establishment does?
I refer, of course; to the filling of our medical schools by random selection of those who have already achieved huge numbers of points in the Leaving Certificate - an examination which is in no way designed to assess suitability for the practice of medicine.
I am writing this letter in the light of the experience of a parishioner of mine who, as a mature student, gained six A grades (540 points) in the Leaving. He was left without a place (other than in the hugely expensive College of Surgeons) until, by good luck rather than by good selection, he was offered a place in the UCG Medical School by random selection in the second round.
What a way to recruit the doctors of the future! - Yours, etc.,
Provost of Tuam, The Rectory, Taylor's Hill, Galway.