Should we care that 50% of state schools didn't produce any medicine applicants in 3 years?

Hi legallady:

My understanding is that the 'professions' are largely becoming 'hereditary' - e.g. if Daddy was a doctor you're likely to be one. If Mommy was an academic you're likely to be one.

The UK is apparently does not do well in terms of social mobility: www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/may/22/social-mobility-data-charts

So no - I'm not surprised by the data - but I think that this increasing divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots' is not healthy or a good thing long term.

The reality is we are now entering an era where children are less likely to have the same level of income/ standard of living/ pension that their parents did/ do: www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/12/middle-class-young-people-future-worse-parents

I also wonder if part of the reason A-Level students aren't opting for a career in medicine (I'll include dentistry in that) - is that it obviously is a jolly hard degree involving a lot of work/ long hours.

GoodKing you won't get the best if the applicants are drawn from a narrow demographic. (Btw most newly qualified Drs are female, was 50% 10 years ago)

Not all academic high achievers wants to study medicine. My niece got the grades and could easily chosen medicine, her A levels were maths, physics, chemistry and biology, she has chosen a Bachelor in biology and environmental studies. Her assignments on migrant sea creatures sound fascinating! This planet needs really bright marine biologists too!

Does a doctors demographic really matter to how he heals his patients?

Poor chemistry A level teaching has been suggested by my doctor friend - not taught well in many schools apparently.

Alright legallady, I know what you’re trying to say but when I first saw your heading, I thought you meant all state schools including grammars too.

Coming back to the gist of your post, if you think about it. . . if 50% of state schools didn’t produce any medicine applicants in 3 years, then the other 50% would have done so. Considering 93% of all schools are state schools out of which half of them did produce medicine applicants, then there are indeed lots of doctors out there who are from state schools. So no fear that our future qualified doctors will come from a very narrow demography.

But what does really matter is that we need absolutely first class doctors - whether they come from the private or state sector is quite immaterial so long as they can heal your ailments and/or pull you back to life from the edge and make you healthy again.

If 30 % of secondary state schools are not good enough, according to Sir Michael Wilshaw, it is highly likely the people most likely to be Doctors avoid these schools. Some of them will of have 6th forms either. It also suggests, that intelligence and aspiration to the medical profession is not spread around all state schools and,in disadvantaged areas, this should come as no surprise.

My DN appears to be very good at Maths and Sciences. It has been suggested to her that she becomes as Nurse. Her results,so far, are definitely good enough for her to consider becoming a Doctor but she has had no encouragement whatsoever- apart from me of course! This is the problem - low aspirations and people thinking that a lower qualifications good enough and also not understanding that medicine requires relevant work experience and considerable effort. My DN does not necessarily get the required impetus from her parents and therefore if the school is not bothered, who else can raise her aspirations? There are far better role models and aspirations in the best schools. If you have the misfortune to only have the local mediocre school available and your parents cannot be bothered, believe me,it is hard to escape from low aspiration.

A bit misleading, your heading. . .

Aren't grammar schools state schools too?

Not an answer to your question but a note that the recently discussed report, 'state school pupils do better at university than privately educated pupils with the same A levels grades' excludes all medical, dentistry and veterinary graduates (plus any others on courses lasting longer than 4 years) from the study, thereby excluding a sizeable percentage of very bright, privately educated pupils.