Should a convicted murderer ever be allowed to become a doctor?

Lawrence Altman writes about the strange situation in the NY Times, where, after a convicted murderer was expelled from Sweden’s most prestigious medical school, was admitted to a second medical school.

Dr. Altman also points to another case, where a medical student, convicted of rape, was only expelled after exhaustive court action.

What’s going on over there?

Apparently, Sweden is a society that is sympathetic to criminals, and, after having served their time, treats convicts like ordinary citizens. Additionally, Swedish universities are prohibited by law to do background checks on medical school applicants.

So, students are finding themselves debating these seemingly straight-forward issues: “If a rapist or a murderer with neo-Nazi motives can study to become a doctor, that causes a crisis that affects the entire medical profession.”

Really.

Why Sweden lets this even become an issue is beyond me. Convicted murders and rapists shouldn’t be given the chance to become doctors, no matter where you are in the world.