r/JuniorDoctorsIreland

Hi, I’m a 6th year student finalising my cao and I am just trying to make sure medicine is the right choice.

I have wanted to do medicine for years but since starting 6th year, I’m mulling it over as it’s a major choice and I have only one chance at university so I want to choose wisely. I have a passion for medicine, I find it fascinating and the challenge would keep me stimulated. I did work experience in a hospital in the cardiology unit in 5th year and loved it. I also got to see many other departments like endocrinology, gastroenterology and the emergency unit. I was lucky enough to be taken in by a very passionate and enthusiastic cardiologist that week, who really intensified my passion.
I keep trying to push myself away from medicine as I hear the horror stories and how much you have to sacrifice. I understand not going into it for money, prestige or because your family wants you to. I genuinely love the idea of making a difference, learning about the human body, how it interlinks and treatment plans.

It is a fulfilling career but I’m only in 6th year so I don’t know the full extent and I would just like to hear others opinions on the career that are doctors. Was it worth it? Do you genuinely feel fulfilled and happy? If you could go back, would you choose medicine again?

Of course I have to wait to see if my hpat is good enough to get me in, bjt even if I do get it I really just want to be certain I’m making the right decision.

Thank you

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I’m thinking about studying Medicine in UCC and wanted to hear from people who’ve actually been there.

What’s the course like in terms of workload, teaching, placements, student life, etc.? Would you recommend UCC for Medicine, or would you choose somewhere else if you had the choice again?

Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated.

How are ye?

I am currently doing a scheme but with the cost of rent, I don't have enough cash to even live paycheck to paycheck as I have a lot of debt from GEM. I've taken calls from others but theyre hard to come by.

Can I locum on weekends when I am not rostered and during annual leave? I know that schemes don't permit it but what happens if I do the odd locum and how likely am I to be caught out?

Otherwise I might have to quit the scheme to pay off these loans.

I saw this topic on the doctorsuk sub and thought that it would be interesting to do in an Irish context. So what are your hot takes or controversial opinions.

I’ll start;

1. It should be easier to get rid of trainees off training schemes.

2. The majority of NCHD CVs are poorly laid out and generally don’t look very good. They do not compare well against CVs for law or consulting jobs.

3. There are far too many emergency departments in Ireland. The only reason that some of them are open is that it would be politically unpopular to close them.

4. Some NCHDs will never be capable of being decent consultants. We should introduce staff grade or associate specialist roles in Ireland, similar to the UK.

5. The role for private healthcare will only increase as the population ages and as the treatments get better and more expensive. It’s unrealistic to have a fully taxpayer funded public only system which will treat everyone for everything all of the time.

Hi all, just wondering what are the chances of an img getting an intern position this year? Would it be coming to absolute zero chances seeing that only very few got in last year? I’ve heard it was bad last year. Any imgs here willing to share your experience?

Hello,

Like many others, I find myself in a position where I have no concrete plan for July.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience doing locum SHO work in the Dublin area? I wouldn’t be looking to work full time, but is there much work at all out there or should I still be fully set on applying to standalones.

Have also been told it will look bad on my CV if I locum for a while, and am concerned about that too.

Thank you for any insight

If you’re a very wealthy non-eu student who graduated from an irish med school and you wanna stay in Ireland for one more year can you purchase an internship spot in Ireland for a big amount of money? Say €500k

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in Grade 11 in Canada and looking into applying to medical schools in Ireland after high school. I’m also in the process of getting my Irish citizenship (it’s coming in the mail soon), so I’ll likely be applying as an Irish citizen/international applicant.

I’ve been trying to understand the process but I’m a bit confused about a few things:

1. Do I apply to each Irish medical school separately, or is there one main application system?
2. When exactly do you take the HPAT exam? Can you take it before finishing Grade 12, and do you need the score before applying, or is it submitted later?
3. What kind of Grade 12 marks are considered competitive for Irish medical schools? I’m aiming for medicine, so I want to know what average I should realistically be targeting.

If anyone has gone through this process (especially Canadian/international students or Irish applicants), I’d really appreciate any advice or timelines you followed.

Thanks!

Looking for a viable out; ie not "I became a dog walker and now make minimum wage" type replies (nothing wrong with if it floats your boat but but not for me)

Finances aren't a big issue in the short/intermediate term but are a factor longer term so technically have scope to retrain in something else

What did ye do?

I hope everyone is doing well,

I'm a 3rd year non-EU med student and Ireland is on the top of my list of countries i wanna work in after grad. I've read that doing USMLE step 1 and step 2 is equivalent to doing PRES 2 and so exempting you from doing it. Do you guys think its worth it to do the USMLE during my medicine years so that my application process isnt as long/i wont have to spend an extra however many months preparing for PRES 2 in addition to its waiting time?

Many thanks

I am starting my training coming July, relocating to Cork with my family of 3 (small baby).

Seeking advice - does anyone know of :

• useful WhatsApp/Facebook rental groups,
• reliable letting agents,
• or optimistically, if someone has a rental offer please DM me

Many thanks!

Update from my previous post. Firstly, thank you all so much for the kindness, advice, DMs and support. I honestly didn’t expect such a response and I’ve spent most of the weekend overwhelmed reading through everything. 13k people viewed my last post, which is crazy. I am so grateful for the donations I've already received to my fundraiser.

I wanted to give an update to outline where things currently stand.

Since my original post, I have:

• contacted the university regarding my fees
• reached out to my Student Union
• contacted the Dean
• contacted Minister James Lawless regarding the wider GEM funding issue
• applied for further loans
• contacted my local and health service staff credit unions
• spoken with other doctors/graduates for advice
• and set up a GoFundMe as an absolute last resort

At the moment I’m waiting to hear back from a lot of people. Because it’s the weekend, I know realistically this will take some time, but I am at a really critical point and I’m terrified that I won’t secure funding in time for graduation and intern year. Really I think I need to sort this by the end of the week.

I was very reluctant to set up a fundraiser, but after encouragement from people here and from people I know personally, I decided I had to at least try everything possible before giving up on graduating this summer and starting work.

If anyone would be willing to support and/or share my fundraiser in any groups/chats/social media spaces where people might see it, I would genuinely be so grateful. I don’t have a large platform or social media following, so even sharing my story could make a huge difference.

Thank you all again for the kindness people have shown me already. It has genuinely meant more than I can explain. Also, if anybody has any further advice, anyone I can contact for help, please let me know. I appreciate everything.

https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-me-pay-my-final-fees-so-i-can-graduate-medical-school

We are finishing up our exams in medical school, I was speaking informally to a consultant who mentioned that standalone jobs are getting huge numbers of applicants this year and currently employed irish qualified doctors who are interns/SHOs are facing down the barrell of unemployment in July, the likes of which the consultant has never known in Ireland… unemployment for a doctor in Ireland never crossed my mind before.. is this real or just nonsense?

Should we get media involved regarding the lack of jobs available for doctors in Ireland?

Irish doctors coming home from Australia to no jobs.

Huge numbers applying for stand-alones.

Hi, Ill be relocating to letterkenny to work as an SHO in the hospital come July, I haven’t been able to find many rental options suitable for me online (studio/ 1bed). It would be great if someone who is working there currently or have worked there previously could provide some insight on how to go about finding housing in the area and if there any groups for healthcare workers to find accommodation near the hospital ie. Other NCHD’S moving out after contract ends or rotations. I would also like to find out a bit more regarding on how the hospital works and how the departments run to get a bit more familiarized. Do let me know. Cheers.

I worked in SVUH and SJH and my teams were always sufficiently staffed.

I’m now in the South East and the staffing is just atrocious. The regs look completely worn out as they’re being stretched in ten different directions and can’t support SHOs sufficiently.

Now there’s going to be another hiring freeze, and overtime payments are being cited as one of the reasons for it. How ridiculously short sighted is that?

This country has too much money and too little vision. Literally all you have to do is copy what they do in Oz where we are haemorrhaging our staff to.