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_______________THAT ONE RIDICULOUS PALM BY ANNE LAM0TT (01/15/99)
	Apparently the powers that be at Salon believe that Anne Lamott's Seinfeldesque columns about nothing were not enough. Now, in addition to her musings about the most piffling of minutiae and what they have to do with Jesus (Jesus and the car salesman, Jesus and the man walking his dog, Jesus and the newspaper rack), we now learn that some none-too-discerning publishing house employee thought that the self-indulgent tale of Lamott's journey to credulity would make an interesting book, and Salon has compounded this error by serializing it. Why are the purveyors of otherwise interesting and thought-provoking material continuing to indulge Lamott's dreary, sniveling, self-absorbed ramblings? -- Ben Walsh San Francisco
_______________ONLY THE NEARLY PERFECT NEED APPLY BY JENNIFER KING (01/15/99)
	I really enjoyed Jennifer King's article on the competitive state of medical school admissions. I graduated from med school four years ago and spent a year on the admissions committee of my medical school. I was often frustrated with the same issues in King's article. With massive numbers of applicants, each applying to dozens of medical schools, admissions committees need to screen applicants just to find a reasonable number to "get to know." Minimum GPA and MCAT are the easiest way to hone the field to that reasonable number. In the end, I can attest that individual characteristics and interview actually get the applicant admitted. I must also point out the necessity of this "weeding out" process: We don't need all the doctors we produce, and the oversupply is getting bigger every year. I am glad that many top applicants are rejected from medical school and find satisfying careers in areas we need people in, like public health. When I talk to pre-med applicants I encourage them to think creatively and find a career they will enjoy, not just jump on the pre-med bandwagon. There are a million ways to "help people" in health care, teaching, social work, public policy, international and so on. These areas need the "best and the brightest" too. -- Jennifer Anders, M.D. While Jennifer King's article about the difficulties of getting accepted to medical school was accurate, it implied something that is definitively not true: that those who fail to get in are more "well-rounded" or "better people" than the nerdish few who take tests well and got that "A" in organic chemistry. As a third-year medical student who has degrees in history and religion, I'm surrounded mainly by creative, well-rounded and surprisingly diverse people. While, yes, some are nerdish medicine wonks, most of use are no different than those who did not get in. -- Leo Hamilton
_______________BAD CHEMISTRY BY LORI GOTTLIEB (01/13/99)
	Lori Gottlieb's article just confirms the conclusion that I made after four years as a chemistry major (with peers who were pre-med) and one year teaching chemistry to pre-meds (and others) at a major university: Nothing should frighten us about the future of medicine more than the people who are going into it as a career. There are, of course, wonderful, smart and ethical people who go into medicine. In my experience, however, they are in the minority. Gottlieb's partner was just the sort of person who I don't want treating me. I also have my doubts about Gottlieb, who was willing to turn a blind eye to outright fraud. Hopefully she won't be so forgiving in the real world. -- Ivan Baxter SALON | Jan. 20, 1999

R E C E N T L Y+| LETTER FROM OCCUPIED NEW YORK BY JOHN LEONARD

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