Medical education in Ireland

Medical education in Ireland is the education of medical students and qualified medical doctors across the island of Ireland.

Medical Schools

There are eight medical schools in Ireland from which students can obtain a medical degree, including six schools in the Republic of Ireland and two schools in Northern Ireland. Medical schools in the Republic of Ireland are accredited by the Medical Council of Ireland, while Northern Ireland is regulated by the General Medical Council. All schools except University of Limerick Medical School offer undergraduate courses in medicine.

Republic of Ireland

Name City Established Comments Degree awarded Course entry & length Ref.
University of Galway, School of Medicine Galway 1845 Medicine was one of the original founding Faculties of the university. MB BCh BAO
  • 5 year undergraduate course
 [1][2]
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin 1784 RCSI is the only independent, not-for-profit medical school in Ireland. Medical qualifications are awarded jointly by the National University of Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, which has independent degree awarding status. MB BCh BAO LRCP&SI
  • 5 year undergraduate course
  • 6 years with foundation year for lower academic requirements
 [3][4]
Trinity College Dublin, School of Medicine Dublin 1711 Medicine was taught at Trinity College Dublin in some form since at least the early 1600s, but it was not until 1711 that the School of Medicine was officially founded. BA MB BCh BAO
  • 5 year undergraduate course
 [5][6]
University College Cork, School of Medicine Cork 1849 The first intake to the medical school was 20 students. At the time, the primary medical degree was an MD. MB BCh BAO
  • 5 year undergraduate course
  • rse
 [7][8]
University College Dublin, School of Medicine Dublin 1854 The Medical School was originally part of the Catholic University of Ireland, based in Dublin. MB BCh BAO
  • 6 year undergraduate course
  • 4 year graduate course
 [9][10]

[11]

University of Limerick, School of Medicine Limerick 2007 University of Limerick is the only medical school in Ireland based on Problem-Based Learning. It does not offer medical degrees to undergraduates. BM BS
  • 4 year graduate course
 [12][13]

Northern Ireland

Name City Established Comment Degree awarded Course entry & length Ref.
Queen's University Belfast School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences Belfast 1821 Only United Kingdom medical school to award graduates Bachelor of Obstetrics (BAO) degree. MB BCh BAO
  • 5 year undergraduate course
 [14][15]
Ulster University School of Medicine Magee College, Derry 2021 MBBS
  • 4 year graduate course
 [16][17]

Postgraduate education

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, medical education begins with a medical degree followed by a 12-month internship to achieve a right to practise medicine in Ireland. The National Doctors Training and Planning unit (NDTP) in the Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for the intern scheme. Internships are based with one of the medical schools in the Republic of Ireland and are employed by the HSE.[18]

Following the internship, basic specialist training lasts 2-3 years followed by higher specialist training of 4-6 years. Alternatively, streamlined specialist training is a continuous block of training.[18]

Northern Ireland

Foundation school

The Foundation Programme is a two-year generic programme aiming to bridge medical school and Specialist/General Practice Training. It includes a variety of placement specialities and settings. the programme is operated across the UK with a national curriculum and learning portfolio. The Northern Ireland Foundation School offers a programme exclusively within Northern Ireland.[19]

Speciality Training

General Practice

To train as a general practitioner (GP), after completing a Foundation Programme (not limited to Northern Ireland), a doctor must complete three years of speciality training (ST). This comprises a minimum of 12 to 18 months of posts in a variety of hospital specialities - often including paediatrics, psychiatry, geriatrics and obstetrics & gynaecology.[20]

Hospital Specialty

After successfully completing a Foundation Programme (not limited to Northern Ireland), doctors can pursue Core Training (CT) that lasts two to three years which depends on the specialty. After completion of CT training, doctors can enter a ST post via open competition.[21]

Alternatively, those who complete a Foundation Programme can apply for a run-through programme which lasts five to seven years.[21]

Certificate of Completion of Training

A Certificate in Completion of Training (CCT) is a confirmation that a doctor has completed an approved UK training programme and can be entered on the Specialist Register or GP Register.[22]

To qualify as a GP for example, a speciality trainee must complete the MRCGP, including the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT), Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA) and Workplace Based Assessment (WBPA). Passing these three components in addition to 36 months in GP Training allows obtainment of a CCT.[23]

Continuing medical education

Continuing professional development is now mandatory for all doctors, under guidelines from the General Medical Council.[24]

Medical career grades of the National Health Service
Year Current (Modernising Medical Careers) Previous
1 Foundation doctor (FY1 and FY2), 2 years Pre-registration house officer (PRHO), 1 year
2 Senior house officer (SHO),
minimum 2 years; often more
3 Specialty registrar,
general practice (GPST), minimum 3 years 		Specialty registrar,
hospital speciality (SpR), minimum 5 years
4 Specialist registrar,
4–6 years 		GP registrar, 1 year
5 General practitioner,
4 years total time in training
6–8 General practitioner,
minimum 5 years total time in training
9 Consultant, minimum 7 years total time in training Consultant, minimum 7–9 years total time in training
Optional Training is competency based, times shown are a minimum. Training may be extended by obtaining an Academic Clinical Fellowship for research or by dual certification in another speciality. Training may be extended by pursuing medical research (usually 2–3 years), usually with clinical duties as well

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Medicine (Surgery and Obstetrics) - University of Galway". www.universityofgalway.ie. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  3. ^ "About RCSI - Royal College Surgeons in Ireland". rcsi.ie. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Undergraduate Medicine Course at RCSI Dublin - Entry requirements". www.rcsi.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ^ "History of the School - About Us - School of Medicine : Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Ireland". medicine.tcd.ie. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  6. ^ Dublin, Trinity College. "Curriculum - Medicine | Trinity College Dublin". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  7. ^ "About Us - University College Cork (UCC)". ucc.ie. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Medicine". University College Cork. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ^ "UCD 150 Year Celebration". ucd.ie. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Medicine". UCD School of Medicine. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Graduate Entry Medicine". UCD School of Medicine. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Doctors graduate from University of Limerick's Medical School - Limerick Leader". limerickleader.ie. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Graduate Entry) | University of Limerick". www.ul.ie. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Queen's University Belfast > About Us". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
  15. ^ "Medicine (MB) A100 | Courses | Queen's University Belfast". www.qub.ac.uk. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Graduate Entry Medicine - Course Overview". 30 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Medicine at Ulster University. MBBS Full-time, - 2024/25 entry year". www.ulster.ac.uk. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Home". www.oecd-ilibrary.org. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Foundation Training". www.nimdta.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  20. ^ "CCT". www.rcgp.org.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Medical training pathway". The British Medical Association is the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Certificate of completion of training application". GMC.
  23. ^ "GP Training - ePortfolio & Exams". www.nimdta.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Continuing professional development Guidance for all doctors" (PDF).