Getting into Medicine?

deise boy

Hey, I have a problem someone on here might be able to help me with. I am in college and doing an unrelated subject, however, I want to do medicine. I have not just decided this after watching an episode of ER. I have been contimplating this for a number of years and have finally decided to give it a go. What are my best options? I see it as follows
1. I go back to school, i really dont want to do!!
2. I go abroad and pay huge fees and stay in a foreign country. I have thought about this an I am willing to do it but I wonder if there is another option. There are schools in the cech rep and russia which do english speaker courses.
3. I try to enter as a mature student/graduate. What are the specifications of entry. Do you have to have a degree in a related field? What quaifications/ courses would help?

Any input helpfull

Kernel

I just bought my medical degree for $50 through a hotmail advert. Gaining the experience is just as important (which the degree allowed me to do), although expect high casualties with patients for the first few years until you find your feet.

rugbug86

can i get that link??? :rolleyes:

Winning Hand

deise boy wrote:

Hey, I have a problem someone on here might be able to help me with. I am in college and doing an unrelated subject, however, I want to do medicine. I have not just decided this after watching an episode of ER. I have been contimplating this for a number of years and have finally decided to give it a go. What are my best options? I see it as follows
1. I go back to school, i really dont want to do!!
2. I go abroad and pay huge fees and stay in a foreign country. I have thought about this an I am willing to do it but I wonder if there is another option. There are schools in the cech rep and russia which do english speaker courses.
3. I try to enter as a mature student/graduate. What are the specifications of entry. Do you have to have a degree in a related field? What quaifications/ courses would help?
Any input helpfull

1. If you have the points, reapply under the CAO scheme. Only drawback is that you will have to pay fees for the years the government paid for your first degree.

Deal with point 3 now.
Graduate entry to medicine is a difficult task right now. Spaces are very limited and usually go to outstanding performers from other medical/science fields. Keep an eye out though, limerick is looking for a med school that will cater for graduates, whether or not it they will get it or not it has put the ideal of more graduate spots on the map for other schools.

2. Going foreign if you are dedicated to pursuing medicine and have no alternatives here is a worthwile venture- your EU registration will allow you to return to ireland or travel europe the same as graduation from here (although the GMC have their own conditions attached). Word of warning about the english language courses though, very few of them are certified by the state of California medical board meaning that if you decide to go to the states afterwards you may encounter some licencing issues with some of the english courses. You can find out much more information about this route of getting a medical degree (as I am not THAT well informed) here www.valuemd.com

Repli

Winning Hand wrote:

1. If you have the points, reapply under the CAO scheme. Only drawback is that you will have to pay fees for the years the government paid for your first degree.

Just thought I'd mention, the fees for medicine are a lot higher than standard college courses (Think it's around €7000 / year), which you will have to pay for the first x years (x being the number of years you have done in your current degree)

deise boy

No I dont have the points. Actually the fees are more like 30,000 Euro per year but that is not so much the problem if you had read the original post! I was asking for clarification on the graduate entry not how much it costs!!

Winning Hand

deise boy wrote:

I was asking for clarification on the graduate entry not how much it costs!!

No, you asked what your options are for going into medicine. Not knowing your situation I gave you a list of them. As for the graduate entry try contacting each of the medical schools to see what their requirements exactly are. As far as i know, right now the dublin schools are most receptive to graduate students, but it is still a hard task.

edit/ here is the medical councils latest recommendations regarding the medical schools in ireland http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/education/schools.asp?NCID=35 in which it strongly advocates the introduction of more graduate places.

DrIndy

Graduate entry will come on stream in a couple of years. The plan is to use an scholastic aptitude test to distinguish between applicants for entry.

Be wary of going outside the EU for training. You will have to do TRAS (certification exams) by the medical council before working here.

Thephantomsmask

Winning hand,
the only college in the country that offers graduate entry medicine (into first year or otherwise) is the RCSI. I graduated in october with a degree in anatomy which I did intending to use it as a stepping stone to medicine since I didn't get the points in my leaving. I've rung every admissions office for colleges that offer medicine in the country and every one of them has told me "it's only possible to enter medicine through the CAO since it is a competitive course, we don't allow graduate applications" I was told the same thing at the post graduate fair in NUI Galway by the universities attending.

angeldelight

deise boy wrote:

No I dont have the points. Actually the fees are more like 30,000 Euro per year but that is not so much the problem if you had read the original post! I was asking for clarification on the graduate entry not how much it costs!!

Well that's if you're not an EU citizen. If you are then the fees are around 7/8 thousand. Your best bet for graduate entry is RCSI cause they reserve places for graduate entry. THey also take in a few graduates who have a degree which is unrelated to medicine, but generally you'd need to have to A) done well in your primary degree and have done something recently that is in some way science/medicine related!

Winning Hand

Thephantomsmask wrote:

Winning hand,
the only college in the country that offers graduate entry medicine (into first year or otherwise) is the RCSI. I graduated in october with a degree in anatomy which I did intending to use it as a stepping stone to medicine since I didn't get the points in my leaving.

I attend UCC and there are 2 irish grads (not including returning dents) in my class both high fliers in medical related fields (physio). Like I said earlier spaces are very limited but RCSI are perhaps the most accomadating with regards to graduate entry right now.

Thephantomsmask

Did they get accepted by applying directly to the college or by re-applying through the CAO? If they applied before december which is the cut-off date for graduates and/or mature students who may be eligible for round zero offers in august, then their degree would probably be taken into account and not just their original leaving cert points.

The RCSI have a specific number of places reserved each year for graduates which can be applied for online to gain access to the 5/6yr courses.

Thephantomsmask

Sorry graduates can apply to the CAO right up until the late entry date which is the first of May but it is obviously a better idea to submit an early application.

wheresthebeef

i am doing nursing next year hopefully. what are the chances that a student with a B.Sc Cur in Nursing from Trinity will be accepted in RCSI over a student with a biological science course, per sé. Anyone know how many places RCSI have to play with?
I always wanted to do medicine but the points these days are just so unfair. You need to be almost perfect. I dont know how some of them get the points cos you see them in the hospitals and some dont know their occipital region from their rectum.

Repli

Graduate entry will come on stream in a couple of years. The plan is to use an scholastic aptitude test to distinguish between applicants for entry.

Do you know any websites that can provide me with more information on this? I read an article in the independent a good while ago saying that UL are pushing to open a graduate school of medicine, but haven't heard anything since. I ask because my girlfriend is repeating her Leaving Cert this year to get into medicine, but if she doesn't get it again she is going to settle for science and hope to get into a graduate medicine course after the science degree.

fiddlechick

Trinity also take a number of mature students - the ones in my class from totally different backgrounds - IT, nursing, engineering (x2), science degrees (x2) and pharmacy.
Interviews tough though.

Check out the UK universities - can't remember which but there are some that offer a postgrad 3/4 year course to mature students.

BEAT

I too decided to go into medicine at a later age, to leave my Art behind and do something else...though I will still do my art in my off hours just not as a carreer...until I am discoverd anyway

it works for me as a mature student, I didnt have the attention span or patience as a younger student, which is why I dropped out of medschool when I was young. Now that I have gotten some life experiences and lessons out of the way I can concentrate on my studies, my prioroites.
good luck.

ergo

In terms of Graduate Medical degrees it might be worth consideriing Australia

I know in Queensland Med is a 4 year graduate entry program, they take international students, not sure what the cost is like though, could be pricey,

as far as I know towards the end of their undergraduate degrees students do an entrance exam, think it's call the GMSAT or something and then there is an interview process

here's a link, I would pull out all the stops to be able to study in Brisbane having lived there for a year

link to University of Queensland med school thing

also you say you have researched it, well it's a huge decision to make, I know an awful lot of disillusioned junior docs, think there was a survey where 40% of junior docs said they would choose something else on CAO if they were given a choice

what kind of doctor do you want to be? if you have a burning desire to do x. y or z then sure go for it but think it through carefully and talk to junior and senior docs before taking the plunge, especially if you want to stay in Ireland cos some options just aren't available here except to the brightest of the bright meds and not the bog standard journeyman 580 point meds

Dicksboro_man

Does anyone how many points do u need to get in the leaving cert to do medicine?:)

eth0_

Dicksboro_man wrote: »

Does anyone how many points do u need to get in the leaving cert to do medicine?:)

This thread is FOUR YEARS OLD, and if you're not smart enough to do a search on the CAO website to find out the answer to your question, I would suggest that you are not able for such a taxing degree.

Dicksboro_man

Wow. Could u not just tell me the number of points or just write nothing instead of that?

yanav

apparently not!

somewhere between 570 and 590, varies a bit for university and year

Dicksboro_man

Great. Thank u.
But isnt there a way in if u get about 480 as well? some kind of test?

WaldenByThoreua

Look man its called the HPAT exam and it took place already this year, and will take place every year.....a simple search would have told you that.

Just because you get 480 and do the test in no way means you're going to get medicine...You'll still need high points and a good HPAT, which is quite hard to get.