**HPAT and Medicine 2016**

Gallagher1

nandoslover wrote: »

Guys I need some advice! Really stuck here

So I accepted my offer for med from NUIG but just found out today that I got a place RCSI and not too sure what to do now. I'm from Dublin.

Like I'm loving it in Galway so far but I'm just thinking of the future. I haven't heard lots of great things about RCSI around here but its teaching hospitals are all the main Dublin ones which are better than the ones here in the West.

Does anyone have any pros and cons of either places vs the other?

Thanks!

Where you do your postgraduate training(residency) is the important bit.., where you do your 4th med rotations means jack sh*t in the grande scheme of things.

From my understanding, when people graduate they are pooled into a CAO type pool where the best candidates from around the country get their pick of internships and eventually training schemes. Just like the CAO, this matching process doesn't give a hoot where you went to medical school so the whole teaching hospital argument is a bit redundant.

Also, granted that Beaumont being the main place for neurosurgery in the country will see more unique trauma cases than others but do you really think they are gonna let Med students scrub into operations that serious?

Rotations train you to become the bottom of the ladder (interns), training schemes train you to get to the top(consultancy). Unless money is a problem with moving to Galway etc, going to RCSI on the basis of your future career makes no sense, especially if you are already enjoying Galway.

Edit: Im pretty sure that the Medical schools are sound enough regarding letting you do rotations in other places (etc UCC student doing rotations in Vincents if they happen to be from south dublin). Not that common but I'm 99% sure it occasionally happens.

randylonghorn

F.Grimes wrote: »

Just curious how that worked out, did you appeal a result or something? Do you actually have to make a choice? I would have thought that you would have have to accept you're highest placed choice.

Probably just a place opened up after Round 2 acceptances were in, if I remember correctly nandos was very close for RCSI (maybe even caught in a random selection situation?). NUIG was her next choice after RCSI, so she was offered that, but there was always a chance she would get a later offer for RCSI.

nandoslover

Thanks Gallagher! Yeah I'm just going to way up the money/convenience aspect because I think I've realised that the school doesn't really matter.

And yeah, it's a round 3 offer! I had just missed RCSI in round 1

F.Grimes

nandoslover wrote: »

Thanks Gallagher! Yeah I'm just going to way up the money/convenience aspect because I think I've realised that the school doesn't really matter.

And yeah, it's a round 3 offer! I had just missed RCSI in round 1

So do they give you the choice of RCSI or NUIG?

randylonghorn

She already accepted NUIG in a previous round.

As with all R2 or subsequent offers for which applicants later become eligible, it's up to her whether to accept the new offer (change to RCSI) or simply ignore it (no change).

It's the same way CAO has always worked?

F.Grimes

randylonghorn wrote: »

She already accepted NUIG in a previous round.

As with all R2 or subsequent offers for which applicants later become eligible, it's up to her whether to accept the new offer (change to RCSI) or simply ignore it (no change).

It's the same way CAO has always worked?

Never new this is how it worked! I would have thought that if you subsequently got an offer of a higher placed course on your CAO you would have had to accept it

randylonghorn

No, that's why it's called an "offer".

I gather you didn't go through CAO yourself!

F.Grimes

randylonghorn wrote: »

No, that's why it's called an "offer".

I gather you didn't go through CAO yourself!

I certainly did go through the CAO!

I thought the way it happened was that you could only accept an offer for your highest achieved course. I.e if you get an offer for your 4th highest preference, you couldn't accept your 5th preference. However, it would appear in this case, this is what has happened.

Say for example, the OP, had RCSI as their second choice, and NUIG as their 3rd. In the first round, the got an offer of NUIG, and thus could only accept or decline this offer. Now, in the third round, they appear to have a choice, which would allow them to decide between their 2nd and 3rd choice.

A choice which I thought was not possible to have.

randylonghorn

F.Grimes wrote: »

I certainly did go through the CAO!

I thought the way it happened was that you could only accept an offer for your highest achieved course. I.e if you get an offer for your 4th highest preference, you couldn't accept your 5th preference. However, it would appear in this case, this is what has happened.

I see where you're coming from, but you're confusing things slightly.

With the CAO, you can only move up, not down.

If you get an offer for your 4th highest course, you can't turn round and say "oh, I've changed my mind, I want my 5th preference."

However, you may get an offer for a HIGHER preference in SUBSEQUENT rounds.

Having already been made an offer, and accepted it, you now do have a choice as to whether to accept what is basically a NEW offer at that point.

Obviously, many will accept, but you won't be forced to do so. It would be very unfair if you were ... you may have contracted for accommodation etc. for the year, you may already have started your course, etc.

F.Grimes wrote: »

Say for example, the OP, had RCSI as their second choice, and NUIG as their 3rd. In the first round, the got an offer of NUIG, and thus could only accept or decline this offer. Now, in the third round, they appear to have a choice, which would allow them to decide between their 2nd and 3rd choice.

A choice which I thought was not possible to have.

Yes, they do have a choice at this point as to whether to accept the later offer or not, see above (and actually, the CAO sticky at the top of the forum may explain it better).

Someone can always accept or reject an offer of a course higher placed on their list when that offer is made in a later offer round.

They don't however have the choice to go eeny meeny with their course list, and decide to take their 4th preference instead of their 3rd (even though they may have the points for it).

F.Grimes

randylonghorn wrote: »

I see where you're coming from, but you're confusing things slightly.

With the CAO, you can only move up, not down.

If you get an offer for your 4th highest course, you can't turn round and say "oh, I've changed my mind, I want my 5th preference."

However, you may get an offer for a HIGHER preference in SUBSEQUENT rounds.

Having already been made an offer, and accepted it, you now do have a choice as to whether to accept what is basically a NEW offer at that point.

Obviously, many will accept, but you won't be forced to do so. It would be very unfair if you were ... you may have contracted for accommodation etc. for the year, you may already have started your course, etc.

Yes, they do have a choice at this point as to whether to accept the later offer or not, see above (and actually, the CAO sticky at the top of the forum may explain it better).

Someone can always accept or reject an offer of a course higher placed on their list when that offer is made in a later offer round.

They don't however have the choice to go eeny meeny with their course list, and decide to take their 4th preference instead of their 3rd (even though they may have the points for it).

yeah I get it. So essentially, your at a benefit if you get a 2nd or 3rd round offer, as you will have a choice between two courses.