Medical Dilemma

Drcecilia

Hi I'm a 4th year medical student, originally from Scandinavia but currently living in Dublin and Studying at Semmelweis University in Budapest. I read so many stories about how "impossible" it is for foreign students to get into the irish system, is this a fact or have people actually suceeded???
I would like to get into cardiology (not surgery or GP) any pointers for getting in to the irish hospitals etc??? or should I just leave for Sweden/Norway?? I really love Ireland and would fight hard to stay put, I also have the advantage that I dont need an internship place I can just apply directly for a basic specialist training post (are these extremley hard go get into??? and how is the situation for cardiology, I know it's an desirable specialty)???
Would really appriciate some answers??

locum-motion

Brian,

Thanks for taking the time to answer the poster's question.

However, your reply was illegible due to the use of text speak.

We don't expect literary masterpieces, but we do ask that you write in legible English, and 'txt spk' is specifically banned.

I'd really appreciate it, and I'm sure the OP would too, if you could please re-post your reply.

Thank you,
L-M.

dissed doc

It's not impossible at all. You will need to complete MRCP/BST training first here as a regular SHO. Getting these jobs is not as competitive, and will be easier outside of Dublin.

BUT, there will be a huge bottleneck when it comes to cardiology speciality training for the SpR. There are few places, and many candidates. At this stage, although the BST is only 2-3 years for MRCP, many will have been doing MD, PHDs, etc., to boost chances of getting on the Cardiology SpR. It's not impossible, but it's very hard whether from ireland or not.

briankirby

Youd think mods would give u a warning before deleting ur entire post,but i guess im not surprised anymore:rolleyes:

Anyway,the problem u face is that when u return to ireland you cannot apply for an intern post as you come back a sho.This means you are competing for jobs with people who have 1 years experience to your none,which makes it impossible to get a job.Im actually applying to semmelweis this yhear so i wz hopin u could answer a query i have?
Do you find it difficult to diagnose and communicate with patients seein as hungarian is not your first language or do the doctors help translate at all.
Thanks a lot:)

sam34

briankirby wrote: »

Youd think mods would give u a warning before deleting ur entire post,but i guess im not surprised anymore:rolleyes:

it is a site wide rule that textspeak is not permitted, as it is infuriating to try and decipher it.

you'd think posters would familiarise themselves with the rules before posting :rolleyes:;)

briankirby

sam34 wrote: »

it is a site wide rule that textspeak is not permitted, as it is infuriating to try and decipher it.

you'd think posters would familiarise themselves with the rules before posting :rolleyes:;)

Clearly youv never sent an sms:pac:
Fair enough though,i just thought 1 post with txt speak wouldnt kill someone

sam34

briankirby wrote: »

Clearly youv never sent an sms:pac:
Fair enough though,i just thought 1 post with txt speak wouldnt kill someone

i send texts all the time, in fact i've sent over 200 in the last ten days alone :eek:

i find text speak in them - aside from something like "u" - to be equally annoying

it wasnt me who made the decision re boards though, its a sitewide policy brought in by the higher powers

for what its worth, when i saw your post originally, and saw all the text speak, i didnt bother trying to decipher it, i just ignored it. as mod, i should have read it, to make sure it wasnt any dodgy medical advice or anything, but it just seemed too much like hard work :pac:

Drcecilia

dissed doc wrote: »

It's not impossible at all. You will need to complete MRCP/BST training first here as a regular SHO. Getting these jobs is not as competitive, and will be easier outside of Dublin.

BUT, there will be a huge bottleneck when it comes to cardiology speciality training for the SpR. There are few places, and many candidates. At this stage, although the BST is only 2-3 years for MRCP, many will have been doing MD, PHDs, etc., to boost chances of getting on the Cardiology SpR. It's not impossible, but it's very hard whether from ireland or not.

Thank you so much all the info is much appreciated. I know that cardiology is hard to specialize in no matter what country your in. However I might actually try to get diploma work in it here in Budapest where they have a very well respected department, just to boost my chances for later on. I guess an impressive CV is the way to go.
I had another question for you, do u know if I have to sit the PRES test or not, since we have our own board exam here at the end of the internship year, and it sounds like it's very similar to the PRES. However if I'm to sit the exam where can I get any info about it ??? I would like to really ace that one since it's going onto the CV and really is the make or break for cardiology.
Thanks a mill for all the help, there is some hope for an Irish career after all :D and if cardio dosent work I might actually consider Endocrinology...:)

Drcecilia

briankirby wrote: »

Youd think mods would give u a warning before deleting ur entire post,but i guess im not surprised anymore:rolleyes:

Anyway,the problem u face is that when u return to ireland you cannot apply for an intern post as you come back a sho.This means you are competing for jobs with people who have 1 years experience to your none,which makes it impossible to get a job.Im actually applying to semmelweis this yhear so i wz hopin u could answer a query i have?
Do you find it difficult to diagnose and communicate with patients seein as hungarian is not your first language or do the doctors help translate at all.
Thanks a lot:)

Hi there...I know that not doing the internship in Ireland might not be the best decision but I will try to at least get one or two rotations in Ireland since I know it looks better on paper and it will set me up in the system when Im applying for Basic specialist training..so if u have any connections I would be more than happy to do 9 weeks of Internal Medicine at any of the teaching hospitals during the summer of 2011;);), and who knows I might be able to set u up in Sweden.
Regarding your question: Yes in order to communicate with patients u have to know some basic Hungarian, we usually walk around with little books where we have questions about complaints,symptoms,family history etc.However I cant say that Im an expert at the language and I doubt if any in the english program is fluent at it. And yes teachers will help u, they know that we are only there for a limited time period so they are not really strict about it, even if u never will master the hungarian language u surely will become an expert at body language...hoped it helped...:)

Traumadoc

Why do you want to train here?
Training here takes about 12 - 15 years in Cardiology with about 50% of trainees not getting public jobs in Ireland ( Private or emigrate for the other 50%).

Look at Scandanavian training first. It may be quicker.

briankirby

Traumadoc wrote: »

Why do you want to train here?
Training here takes about 12 - 15 years in Cardiology with about 50% of trainees not getting public jobs in Ireland ( Private or emigrate for the other 50%).

Look at Scandanavian training first. It may be quicker.

hey traumadoc,i wz wondering if youd say that the healthcare system in the states is better than the irish one.Like,iv read some horrifying posts on boards about the hse and would you personally think that there would be a better quality of life in the states with less training?
Cheers

Traumadoc

I cannot say if the US system is better, but you do not have US doctors coming over here for the great training, you have plenty of Irish cardiologists training over there.
( Less of the text speech please)

Drcecilia

Traumadoc wrote: »

Why do you want to train here?
Training here takes about 12 - 15 years in Cardiology with about 50% of trainees not getting public jobs in Ireland ( Private or emigrate for the other 50%).

Look at Scandanavian training first. It may be quicker.

Hi there thank for the input...yes I know that the Irish road for cardio is no doubt harder than the Swedish but the thing is that I love the Irish mentality and lifestyle and most important my fiance is Irish and dont speak a word of Swedish. However I was speaking to a Swedish doctor , he got an invitation to practice in australia as ortho specialist and since he came as a specialist and didnt really have any previuos contacts etc he didnt earn any money (becuase didnt get any private clients) he got the worse cases, the other doctors (that lived and worked in Oz for the entire life) basically got to pick and choose and he was left with the leftovers. Therfore his recomendation was to start from scratch in the country that your intrested in and dont move back and fourth...I dont know if this applies to Ireland as well????

Really appriciate your opinion in this case:):)

DrIndy

In fairness - swedish is an easy language to learn - scandinavian languages lack the complex grammar structure of other germanic languages and so long as you can get past the dialects (particularily in norway) you can learn quickly. My mum learned to speak swedish well simply by living there.

Jumping ship whilst training can result in difficulty as the good jobs are not always immediately available - so if you do start out in one place - finish it. The exams structures are different - but the final training qualification to a consultant are all internationally recognised and broadly equivalent.

Its not easy - but ireland is messy at best and this may become more problematic in the future.

Drcecilia

DrIndy wrote: »

In fairness - swedish is an easy language to learn - scandinavian languages lack the complex grammar structure of other germanic languages and so long as you can get past the dialects (particularily in norway) you can learn quickly. My mum learned to speak swedish well simply by living there.

Jumping ship whilst training can result in difficulty as the good jobs are not always immediately available - so if you do start out in one place - finish it. The exams structures are different - but the final training qualification to a consultant are all internationally recognised and broadly equivalent.

Its not easy - but ireland is messy at best and this may become more problematic in the future.

So would ure recomendation be to start and finsih in Ireland, instead of becoming a specialist in Sweden and then moving back to Eire??
The big diffrence as well between Sweden and Ireland is that in Sweden u dont earn as much money and basically the tax packages of 50%-60% is a joke...:)

Traumadoc

What is your native language?

imported_guy

Drcecilia wrote: »

So would ure recomendation be to start and finsih in Ireland, instead of becoming a specialist in Sweden and then moving back to Eire??
The big diffrence as well between Sweden and Ireland is that in Sweden u dont earn as much money and basically the tax packages of 50%-60% is a joke...:)

my 0.02$ are, finish your education, sit your USMLEs (do step 1 right now if you havent already), do your rotations in ireland/USA, do step 2 ck/cs, apply for residency, train in america, do internal medicine residency, then apply for cardiology fellowship, come back to ireland, apply for consultant positions as they open up (if they do that is), so the training time is only 3 years of residency + 2 years of fellowship, if you train in ireland it will take anywhere from 10 to 20 years, jag alskar svensk folk

Drcecilia

Traumadoc wrote: »

What is your native language?

Swedish

Drcecilia

imported_guy wrote: »

my 0.02$ are, finish your education, sit your USMLEs (do step 1 right now if you havent already), do your rotations in ireland/USA, do step 2 ck/cs, apply for residency, train in america, do internal medicine residency, then apply for cardiology fellowship, come back to ireland, apply for consultant positions as they open up (if they do that is), so the training time is only 3 years of residency + 2 years of fellowship, if you train in ireland it will take anywhere from 10 to 20 years, jag alskar svensk folk

Thanks for that, especially the last part . well the thing is I really really don't wont to go to the US, dont like their medical system and don't really like the country (if you are allowed to say that), then I would rather go to Sweden, New Zeland ,Australia or Uk, but most off all I want to be in Ireland, since thats the country I want to live in..but thanks anyways for the tip...:D