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Doctor criticises UK medical awards system

MeSci

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
Doctor raises serious questions about medical awards system

'Club culture' in British medicine must be replaced, argues senior heart doctor

The system that awards national and academic honors to doctors is called into question by a senior doctor writing in The BMJ this week.

Consultant cardiologist, Peter Wilmshurst, tells the story of Anjan Kumar Banerjee, a surgeon who spent the years 2002 to 2008 erased from the medical register for serious professional misconduct related to research fraud, financial misconduct, and substandard care.

Yet in 2014 he was awarded an MBE "for services to patient safety."

More here.
 
B

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Why so many Dames and Sirs? I'm not sure which titles are earned and which are a matter of
happenstance. Are the sirs the same as being knighted by the queen, if that's what it's called?

Do these titles help one get on a committee? I think I have an idea of the answer but it would be just a guess.
 
sarah darwins

sarah darwins

Senior Member
Messages
2,508
Location
Cornwall, UK
barbc56 said:
Why so many Dames and Sirs? I'm not sure which titles are earned and which are a matter of
happenstance. Are the sirs the same as being knighted by the queen, if that's what it's called?

Do these titles help one get on a committee? I think I have an idea of the answer but it would be just a guess.
Click to expand...

And you would be right ;-)

A knighthood (what a sir or a dame has been granted) opens all kinds doors. It's an honorary, lifetime title (ie. not hereditary) and much sought after by the status conscious. And yes, a sir or a dame will have been 'dubbed' by Her Maj or a representative thereof.

The UK's honours system is a terrible racquet, with most of the decision-making going on behind closed doors. Occasional half-hearted attempts are made to reform the system and make it more meritocratic but in truth it remains much more who you know than what you've done. Reforms are never likely to stick because the system is in the hands of people who have already benefitted from it (or know they stand to do so in future).
 
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