Should I do intern year if heading abroad?

heybert

Ask the title suggests, I'd like to hear opinions from those with more experience on this than myself. Should I should stay to do the intern year in order to become fully registered with the medical council or is it common to leave for training immediately on graduation?

My situation is that I'd like to train in the US/Canada, probably in family medicine, and I intend to practice there for a number of years.

My concerns are that nostalgia may get the better of me someday and I might just want to return to Ireland. I wonder if this is made easier by completing the intern year?

Vorsprung

heybert wrote: »

Ask the title suggests, I'd like to hear opinions from those with more experience on this than myself. Should I should stay to do the intern year in order to become fully registered with the medical council or is it common to leave for training immediately on graduation?

My situation is that I'd like to train in the US/Canada, probably in family medicine, and I intend to practice there for a number of years.

My concerns are that nostalgia may get the better of me someday and I might just want to return to Ireland. I wonder if this is made easier by completing the intern year?

Many people straight after graduation - lots of Canadians/few Americans in my class matched at home and left Ireland straight away. Doing so does not make it impossible to get back into Ireland, being a graduate of an Irish medical school makes things relatively straight forward.

heybert

Vorsprung wrote: »

Many people straight after graduation - lots of Canadians/few Americans in my class matched at home and left Ireland straight away. Doing so does not make it impossible to get back into Ireland, being a graduate of an Irish medical school makes things relatively straight forward.

Thanks for that Vorsprung.

Is there anyone on here who is Irish who made the switch over to the US/Canada? I know there are plenty of American and Canadian IMG's who return from studying in Ireland but I'd love to hear about Irish graduates who have made the move.

Abby19

Apparently you are only provisionally registered with the Medical Council after your degree, and then when you have completed your pre-reg year, i.e. your intern year, then you are registered.

If you head abroad without the intern year, then when you return you are still only provisionally registered. I don't know what hoops you might have to jump through to get registered. You can probably find out from the Irish Medical Council, it's probably on their website. I think it is to do with the 50/50 medicine/surgery mix in intern year, that if you go abroad you specialise earlier, and don't meet this requirement.

What year are you in? If you are in the hospitals check with the interns or SHOs they should be able to fill you in. But apparently that is why a lot if Irish Medical students complete the intern year here and then head abroad.

n900guy

Abby19 wrote: »

Apparently you are only provisionally registered with the Medical Council after your degree, and then when you have completed your pre-reg year, i.e. your intern year, then you are registered.

It's completely irrelevant to do an intern year or any other training level post after you graduate and leave. The only thing that matters is when/if you return is if you are qualified as a specialist in whatever country you did your training.

If you leave the EU immediately after graduation and go to e.g., US or Aus/NZ and *complete* specialist training, you are a Category E applicant. You can do you specialist training anywhere in the EU and be automatically registered in Ireland, intern year or not. For example, it;s ~ 4-5 years in Netherlands.

The *only* reason to do the intern year in Ireland is to achieve the registration necessary in *Ireland* to enter a specialist training programme in Ireland.

Vorsprung

Abby19 wrote: »

If you head abroad without the intern year, then when you return you are still only provisionally registered. I don't know what hoops you might have to jump through to get registered. You can probably find out from the Irish Medical Council, it's probably on their website. I think it is to do with the 50/50 medicine/surgery mix in intern year, that if you go abroad you specialise earlier, and don't meet this requirement.

No, you can do the intern year or a recognised equivalent in another country to be eligible for general/trainee specialist registration.

spagboll

hey bert,

love the name

My friend and I were mulling over the same question, and we both think that it's beneficial to do the intern year for a wide range of reasons, including: to get Irish references, to make money for traveling

As regards the situation with trying to work as a GP in Ireland after north american training, my father's friend did just that, can't remember the exact way it worked out for him, I'll ask and get back to you on it

do you have the usmle passed?

heybert

spagboll wrote: »

hey bert,

love the name

My friend and I were mulling over the same question, and we both think that it's beneficial to do the intern year for a wide range of reasons, including: to get Irish references, to make money for traveling

As regards the situation with trying to work as a GP in Ireland after north american training, my father's friend did just that, can't remember the exact way it worked out for him, I'll ask and get back to you on it

do you have the usmle passed?

Hi,

I think I agree regarding the references and possibly the money however I'm in the grad course so the intern year isn't going to change my debt levels dramatically .

The USMLES are next year for me. Have you completed them?