GP training programmes

Across the UK, GP training programmes are struggling to fill places.¹ As fewer trainee doctors go into general practice, the existing workforce is stretched and the idea of becoming a GP becomes less appealing. I wonder if part of the problem is the selection of students for medical school? The grades required to get into medical school have increased while other attributes remain consistently hard to assess, particularly if interviews are not part of the process. As far as I am aware few GPs sit on medical school interview panels or mark admissions applications in comparison with hospital doctors and university staff. Is part of the problem that we are selecting too many people more suited to hospital medicine? If more GPs were on selection panels, would they be more likely to pick out candidates with traits well suited to a career in general practice?