Joining the Army Reserve (medical corps)?

Yixian

Hi there,

I'm a 23 year old medical student studying in the UK. I have Irish citizenship and am interested in working a doctor on missions with the UN Peacekeepers later in my career - obviously this requires being enlisted in a national army.

I understand that this would be possible by joining a medical corps of the IDF Army Reserve, preferably in Dublin. I believe that would be Medical Company, 62 Reserve Logistics Battalion.

The only problem is, I can't for the life of me get in touch with them! I have tried contacting IDF recruitment, the Army Reserve recruitment and the battalion directly but with no response. Does anyone know why this might be or how I might go about enrolling?

I will fly over from the UK to do it if needs be.

EDIT: Also, studying in the UK and only really having summers+easter free, how would be the best way to fit in training? Would it be possible to do it bit by bit over a period?

Thanks for your help guys,

Cryos

Hi Yixian,

Applications must be in person, also you must attend regular training or else you will be deemed ineffective and you must reside within the state.

Hope this clarifies (going through the process at the moment with 62nd Field CIS atm).

blondie83

Cryos wrote: »

Hi Yixian,

Applications must be in person, also you must attend regular training or else you will be deemed ineffective and you must reside within the state.

Hope this clarifies (going through the process at the moment with 62nd Field CIS atm).

Hi Cryos - are 62nd CIS recruiting at the moment? I've been trying to get in contact for a while but no luck! I'd drop in to see them, but not sure what days they train on.

Cryos

blondie83 wrote: »

Hi Cryos - are 62nd CIS recruiting at the moment? I've been trying to get in contact for a while but no luck! I'd drop in to see them, but not sure what days they train on.

There is a few of us going through clearance at the moment. Pop up tuesday at 8pm and have a chat with the ma'am.

concussion

As mentioned, you need to be resident in the country in order to enlist. The DF do take on doctors as Direct Entry applicants - you must be practicing for at least 3 years and will be taken on for one years service. It has happened that MD's in the Reserve have been taken on these contracts and served overseas but this is incredibly rare. Your best be would be to contact the Competitions Section for more info (maybe leave it a few weeks until the Cadet Competition is finalised)

Lo Call 1890 4265 or
00353 1 8042194


A big thing to note is that if you serve with a PK force overseas your main focus will be the health of Irish troops and not the local population. Perhaps the ICRC or MSF may be worth looking into; AFAIK you can volunteer with them as a med student as well as after you qualify.

Yixian

Hey guys, thank you all for your informative replies! The military.ie website didn't really make a lot of this clear.. like you say I suppose my best bet would be to get in touch directly (after the cadet competition) and see if anything can be arranged individually given my medical background.

Working with MSF and the ICRC requires the same 3 years experience as a qualified doctor as do the Peacekeepers, particularly work with MSF involves being in extremely dangerous parts of the world and they wouldn't dream of taking a student along haha But yes I am interested in working with them in the future also.

I have always wanted to work for the UN and for the IDF, and gain some military experience, which are my reasons for wanting to join. I want to understand what it is to be in the midst of and directly involved in conflict rather than just working around it.

arybvtcw0eolkf

concussion wrote: »

A big thing to note is that if you serve with a PK force overseas your main focus will be the health of Irish troops and not the local population. .

Just to add slightly to that.

In my experience while the work of the medical per's on an oversea's mission is primarily the care of Irish per's (or those serving alongside us) that care is also provided to the local community.