Sir, like L. Westcott (BDJ 2006: 200: 125) I, too, applied to Cambridge University to further the education provided by GKT (although it was still Guy's when I gained my BDS in 1978). Cambridge is well-known for a certain lack of cohesion and uniformity when it comes to decision-making, and I am a little surprised that advice appears to have been taken from one college admissions tutor only.

In 1992 I applied to Cambridge for enrolment on an M.Phil degree course, to be told the same thing by the head of the department I was applying to: that is, that the equivalent of an upper second degree was required, and that dentistry was not a classified degree. I was, however, also told that this was not a problem — I would simply need to get two academic references relating to my time as a BDS student. This I duly did, supported most enthusiastically by the delightful A. H. R. Rowe, and gained entry to my chosen college (Sidney Sussex) with no problem at all. My postgraduate education, which became a Doctorate and a pathway to writing, was admittedly within the History Faculty, not the Faculty of Medicine. But as far as admission to the University goes, I can't see how this would make any difference.