SHOULD WE JUST ALLOW ANYONE WITH THE RIGHT A LEVELS TO TRAIN AS A DOCTOR?

If a solicitor cocks your case up for you it could have major implications on your life. But still there is just one profession that literally holds the life or death of people in their hands - the medical profession! The medical profession can attract some very dangerous people who thrive on having power and control over others. Those that have serious personality disorder - like Dr Shipman - a psychopath with no moral reasoning power. His own mother tragically died so why not kill many other people's mother's and why not steal their property and jewellery as well. Such people have no emotional intelligence because they did not develop it as normal children do. So they have a callous lack of empathy that does not allow them to feel any remorse when acting violently by taking someone's life or dishonestly bv taking their money and property. Dr Shipman even forged the will of one of his victims leaving a substantial legacy in his favour. This was his undoing as this woman's daughter was a solicitor and started to investigate. ... Dr Shipman also had a serious substance misuses problem - an addiction to pethidine - a derivate of diamorphine commonly known as "heroin". People with serious personality disorders often do abuse substances to block out bad thoughts - perhaps about their own unhappy childhoods. Very early on in his career his addiction was known but still he was allowed to continue practising - producing one of the worse serial killers in history. Society was just not protected from this man as it should have been. Someone should have asked the question - why is this man addicted to pethidine - what is wrong with him? Let us get him assessed and seriously consider whether he is fit to practice. How many lives would that have saved?

We also had Nurse Allitt who seriously harmed or killed several young children on a hospital ward.

Then there is the interesting case of Blackwell, a very clever young man who had passed all A levels needed to start training as a doctor. He brutally murdered his parents and was found to be suffering from narcisstic personality disorder - see interesting link explaining :
http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/thepsychologist/search-the-psychologist-online.cfm?fuseaction=inc_psychologistdet&ID=904&Publication_ID=1&ShowHTML=true

Another very dangerous serial killer also diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder is Peter Sutcliffe who maimed or killed 13 women by hitting them over the head with a hammer (and worse) believing they were "prostitutes" - only some were. Interesting dissertation to catch a killer you have to think like one:
http://dissertations.port.ac.uk/213/01/KennedyA.pdf

I suppose by now you all see the link I am making to the McCann case - how can we trust people like Kate and Gerry McCann to make honest decisions that may well involve financial consideration affecting people's health? Say Kate McCann had become a budget holder for a GP practice ? Who would have come first - her bank balance or patient health. It is the same scenario really as they displayed with little Madeleine - what comes first - our bank balance and need to go out and have fun or our own little children. And yet, these two people who cannot even prioritise care of their own children (and likewise their friends) are responsible for patient care. This absolutely terrifies me - just how many Shipmans, Allits, Blackwells and McCanns are there in the medical profession? Is it not time for all aspiring medical students to be subjected to a battery of psychological and pschiatric tests to ensure that they are suitable people to be responsible for our lives? As we have seen time and time again, pure academic intelligence does not necessarily equate with emotional intelligence, honesty and moral reasoning power. I would argue that these attributes are just as essential a quality in any doctor.

Viv