How to recruit the next generation of generalists

摘要

The Labour peer and esteemed clinician-scientist Robert Winston sparked debate earlier this year. He avoids hiring graduates who have achieved high first class degrees to work in his laboratories, he said, because experience has taught him that they are less likely to be well rounded and good team players. Many hard working and gifted students may feel aggrieved by his approach, but it is refreshing to see public acknowledgment that recruitment strategies must assess more than just academic ability. A similar debate has also resurfaced about medical school admissions, with senior clinicians and medical educators reiterating the need for a holistic application system to identify the most promising future doctors. A prevailing problem is how to decide on a uniform description of the traits that should be sought in future doctors. After all, graduates from medical school are expected to go on to pursue careers in specialties as diverse as neurosurgery, dermatology, and microbiology. Clearly, these require different skills and personality types. So can a single recruitment strategy identify a generic set of desirable traits for doctors?