BASIC trust (not to be confused with the new whizzo NHS administrative

variety) is the principal contractual relationship between patient and

doctor, which is why the unfortunate Brian MacKinnon was given the elbow

by Dundee University, but the puzzling feature of the whole affair was

his zeal to study medicine.

Are there similar obsessions, we wonder, for law or accountancy

degrees? It was the second public exposure of Glasgow's medical faculty,

following the challenge to its admissions policy at the Court of Session

in August.

Failure at Edinburgh's medical school, however, naturally selects one

for a proper job and real fame. You only have to look at that Charlie

Darwin, best known for his Aussie pop-star biography, the Origin of the

Bee Gees.

Enterprise zone

* INTENSE media interest is what we hacks euphemistically call it. It

translates to having assorted raincoats camping outside, endless flash

guns, and strange notes through the letter box offering untold wealth.

It either illustrates our lack of an adequate privacy law or the

downside of having a free and unbridled press.

At least it gave opportunities for the enterprise culture,

particularly among younger children, who were being offered fivers by

Her Majesty's Press in exchange for any titbits on you know who. Trouble

was that he'd left the school before they had even started. Twice, in

fact.

Nero me impune

* STILL on the medico-training theme, by far the best put-down last

week was from Dr Ian Banks plugging the BMA's argument on why fewer

doctors were volunteering for general practice. ''This is a Government

which works on the maxim: when in Rome, burn it.''

But Ian's media skills are well honed . . . he worked as a TV repair

man in Liverpool for many years before jacking it in to study medicine.

Try winning

* INTERNATIONAL rugby referee Ray Megson is also one of Edinburgh's

best-known solicitors. For many years his firm has been known simply as

Megson and Co, but now he has been joined by a new partner, Peter

Winning. With commendable modesty, Mr Megson thought it would be

slightly presumptious, if not tempting fate, to call the new partnership

Megson Winning. Even so, Winning Megson has a quite a ring to it. Let's

hope the firm lives up to its name.

Rambling routes

* WHERE would we be without judges who had never heard of the Rolling

Stones or think that the rhythm method is making love to the sound of

the James Last Orchestra?

Lord Allanbridge is the latest among Her Majesty's Judiciary to have

trouble with the vernacular, dealing with a case of assault from

Bathgate where four of the lieges emerged from a pub to be confronted

with another group of four.

The witness said that in the course of a conversation between the two

groups, the question was posed ''Do you want a rumble?'' Lord

Allanbridge interrupted to urge the witness to speak more clearly as

both he and the shorthand writer had to take notes of the evidence.

''Now you say they were inviting you for a ramble,'' his Lordship

resumed. The witness explained that the proposal involved a punch-up,

rather than a gentle stroll in the Bathgate hills.