Training after medschool

chanste

Kinda felt the education forum could do with this thread. Feel free to add questions or information about all postgrad training here whether it be in Ireland or otherwise.

To kick things off, I was wondering if it matters when I'm applying for intern placement in the next few months what order I do my rotations in. I'm pretty sure I'd like to go down the general internal medicine route as opposed to surgery or anything else.

The dilemma arises when I spotted a rotation in a hospital I like with 4 modules that would be interesting (2 x med, and 2 x surg). This placement is basically listed 4 times as rotation a, b, c, d then b, c, d, a then c, d, a, b etc. 2 of the 4 listed rotations have medical placements 1st. 2 have surgical rotations listed 1st.

So at what stage of intern year do I have to apply for SHO schemes, and does it matter if I'm applying to a medical scheme if I have not done any medicine at that stage yet?

sillymoo

chanste wrote: »

Kinda felt the education forum could do with this thread. Feel free to add questions or information about all postgrad training here whether it be in Ireland or otherwise.

To kick things off, I was wondering if it matters when I'm applying for intern placement in the next few months what order I do my rotations in. I'm pretty sure I'd like to go down the general internal medicine route as opposed to surgery or anything else.

The dilemma arises when I spotted a rotation in a hospital I like with 4 modules that would be interesting (2 x med, and 2 x surg). This placement is basically listed 4 times as rotation a, b, c, d then b, c, d, a then c, d, a, b etc. 2 of the 4 listed rotations have medical placements 1st. 2 have surgical rotations listed 1st.

So at what stage of intern year do I have to apply for SHO schemes, and does it matter if I'm applying to a medical scheme if I have not done any medicine at that stage yet?

Really good question. When I applied for my intern places, I ranked the jobs in the sequence I wanted to do them most higher on my list. This is because you will start applying for SHO schemes Dec/Jan. For example, if you want to do a medical scheme, might be best to do your 2 medical rotations first so when you apply for the scheme, you may have medical references and lots to talk about in interview. This might be important if your going for schemes like paediatrics etc and were lucky enough to get a place on one if the intern posts. In reality I don't think it really matters what order things are in, but I thought it would be good to do it the way I did.

his_dudeness

At the end of the day, the jobs you can be made irrelevant if you arrange some "extracirricular" work for yourself in the area you want to go in to. If you want to go into General Medical training, even if you're appointed to work as a Intern for a surgical team, find a physician who's involved in research or at least has some ideas on projects you can do. Arrange this early on so you can get a project done and submitted for presentation at a conference or better still, for publication in a journal.

Make sure you do your day job well too. A lot of the references are "tick-box" format and get scored by secretaries in the offices of the PostGrad bodies, so it doesn't matter if you have a high flying Prof so-and-so signing you off or a general physcian in a county hospital, scoring is "relatively" blind. To stand out, you have to show you want it, being good at your job isn't good enough.

That said, the bar for what an intern applying for a scheme would be expected to have done, would be much lower than for someone with a few extra years under their belt or transferring from a different scheme.

Some of the intern programmes are making some research element compulsory for the year anyway, so that will help

Cream_crackers

Hi. I am considering Gradmed and found this useful post
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76265488

As lots of NCHDs and those finishing internship are leaving for posts abroad, should it be any easier for those left to get the SHO/ Basic specialist training on first application and then SpR on first application? Can any doctors who've been through this advise on the level of competitiveness?
As I am a late starter, I don't have too much time to waste and I don't want to be knocking about a hospital as a NCHD for more than the internship year and 2 year SHO without getting a SpR.
Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

his_dudeness

Depends what you want to do. The bottle neck shifts depending on the speciality.

Speaking on the surgical side, the powers-that-be will keep the standard of their trainees for SpR particularly high, with an unwritten requirement of at least a full-time MD required as well as a good BST and favourable reports.

Research isn't as important in other specialties, but will put you ahead of your colleagues if you have some done and could expedite your career progression.

That said, if Reilly wants to fill his "500" new posts, standards for appointment may fall.

Piste

Does anyone know if after the Intern year in Ireland you're eligible to apply for Foundation Year 2 in the UK without doing FY1?I've found it terribly difficult to get an answer to this online, I think I read somewhere that it's possible, but I'd like to know for sure.

Captain Albection

Piste wrote: »

Does anyone know if after the Intern year in Ireland you're eligible to apply for Foundation Year 2 in the UK without doing FY1?I've found it terribly difficult to get an answer to this online, I think I read somewhere that it's possible, but I'd like to know for sure.

I was told by an English final med that it's not possible.

They'd looked into coming here first and then going back over and were pretty certain that it would involve coming back to start FY1.

Dr Nic

Is it a fools errand to stay in Ireland and commit to hospital medicine or surgery? Is your life effectively over for 10+ years with no guarantee of a consultancy post? And if you get it will it ever pay your bills?

Has anyone on here done cardiology in Ireland?