Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Post intern career options

  • 02-08-2020 12:00pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭


    I'm trying to figure out how career paths generally progress post graduation. From detective work I think there are approx 1200 graduates but only 700 odd internships? Then there seem to be only 250 approx taken for HST ( I'm not sure for BST ).

    What do the 500 other graduates do for internship and the few hundred that do BST but don't get on HST do? Do thry move abroad?

    Are there jobs available in public or private sector domestically that are non training posts as SHO or reg and can people stay in those indefinitely?

    How many actually go on to consultant level and why are there so many empty consultant posts in Ireland?

    I'm not sure I'd want to be a consultant, so much responsibility for training etc but never say never. However if one completes BST or HST can you work in your subspecialty as a reg/senior reg with stability or are they all temp contracts?

    Thanks for anyone practicing who can fill us in, its hard to get career information from the outside!


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 23 DivaDanto


    I'm just applying this year so those who are already qualified would be better placed to answer some of your questions, but two family members are working as SHOs in Dub hospitals so based on lots of chats with them, my impression is that pretty much all Irish students will be offered an intern position in Ireland. I imagine the 500 shortfall on intern jobs relates to the international students who head back to Canada or America after graduation and other EU students who may wish to pursue training in the USA from the off.

    After intern year, people apply to either GP, basic med training, basic surg training, paeds, ED, psych (think there are one or two more options here too). You have to interview to get on each of these basic training schemes and number of applicants generally outweighs number of jobs so comes down to who is more competitive applicant. Those who do not get on a scheme can apply for stand-alone jobs in a field of interest and reapply next year etc. So technically you could float about doing stand-alone jobs indefinitely but I imagine that looks bad for career advancement at interviews.

    Re the basic and higher training - basic is a 2 year contract generally, higher is a five or six year contract culminating in a certificate of completion, at which stage you would be eligible to compete for consultant posts if you have done your fellowship and research. GP scheme is 4 years and you can go into it directly from intern year (if you beat off the competition) so that's quite attractive to a lot of people I think.

    I don't really know why there are unfilled consultant posts in Ireland- I imagine it's because the salaries here don't compare with those in Aus or the States/ Canada and people are reluctant to take on the extra responsibility if the remuneration doesn't match up. However hard to know how this will change in a few years if Slainte Care comes in.

    That's my take on your questions but I have not even been offered a place in GEM yet so I will bow to the superior wisdom of those who are more experienced and knowledgeable if I am wrong on any of these!


  • Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭taxignorant


    Thanks diva I'm in the same boat as you, I have a 62 gamsat and first class honours degree so I'm hoping to get a spot this year.

    I have two friends who are consultants, one in the UK who did undergrad up to BST and then did the HST in the UK because it was much quicker and she said better supervision and work life balance there. The other works here. Both have discouraged me from pursuing medicine and said they probably wouldn't do it again themselves. Which is kind of sad.

    At this point I don't mind if my career doesn't advance all the way to consultant but also I'm wondering if wanting to be helpful and being interested in medicine is a bit of a folly if I stay at reg level earning not much more than I'm already on. I will probably go ahead anyway because I'm not financially driven primarily but there are sacrifices on so many levels, medical legal litigation, working hours, the moving all over the place every few months ... I think it's a sensible case of cold feet on my part. I think your supposed to start as scrubs would indicate, with a Bambi like naivety that only slowly bleeds out rather than starting a bit cynical hehe


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,924 ✭✭✭Anita Blow


    The UK has career reg posts (called Staff Grades), however we do not. There's no obligation to progress to consultancy but there isn't really any such thing as a permanent reg post so you will be interviewing & re-interviewing every 6-12 months. That brings some degree of job uncertainty and might negatively affect you for the likes of loans and mortgages.
    The Senior Reg scale only applies to psychiatry also, so you'll be capped at the last point of the reg scale.


  • Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭taxignorant


    Thanks Anita, thankfully mortgage and loans not needed.

    If you have a minute could I bother you further to know the difference between reg and specialist reg?


  • Registered Users Posts: 23 DivaDanto


    A reg is someone who has finished their 2 SHO years but idnot on a scheme whereas a specialist reg is on a higher training scheme progressing towards consultancy in a certain specialty I think!


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭taxignorant


    DivaDanto wrote: »
    A reg is someone who has finished their 2 SHO years but idnot on a scheme whereas a specialist reg is on a higher training scheme progressing towards consultancy in a certain specialty I think!

    Thanks Diva, that makes sense. A lot of things don't necessarily make sense in public sector subculture so thanks for clarifying. For example the senior reg scale being only applicable to psych isn't immediately obvious ... Everyday is a school day!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,924 ✭✭✭Anita Blow


    The reason for psychiatry is because there is no such thing as a psych SHO. Those on the psych BST are registrars, and those on the psych HST are then senior registrars.


  • Registered Users Posts: 34 PhoenixD15


    This is an interesting thread. I am a 40 yr old mother of two and just beginning GEM. I am fairly certain that had I gone into medicine straight after secondary school I would have gone into surgery but the uncertainty of the training path, the need for frequent selection interviews, research, rotations coupled with really demanding hours can't be ignored. I am eager to learn more about emergency medicine as well as ICU, trauma and rehabilitation but I am not sure that my rotations while at university (UCD) will offer much exposure to these. I wonder are certain specialities/training paths better or worse catered for in Ireland. There is an HSE document which alarmed me as it details the undersupply of training places for each speciality. I will to find it and post a link here. GP/locum GP seems like the obvious choice in terms of eventual life balance but I am hoping that rotations over the next few years will allow me to make a more informed choice and a least give an idea of what I might be closing the door on. I know several doctors who applied for a wide array of training places and whose choice was based purely on which field they were offered a place into. This and the very high percentage of people who change field or do not complete training are concerns of mine which only frequent, upfront conversations can mitigate.


  • Registered Users Posts: 538 ✭✭✭PhoneMain


    Anita Blow wrote: »
    The UK has career reg posts (called Staff Grades), however we do not. There's no obligation to progress to consultancy but there isn't really any such thing as a permanent reg post so you will be interviewing & re-interviewing every 6-12 months. That brings some degree of job uncertainty and might negatively affect you for the likes of loans and mortgages.
    The Senior Reg scale only applies to psychiatry also, so you'll be capped at the last point of the reg scale.

    You have unofficial career reg posts here but they're generally filled it seems by foreign doctors. I dont think they have to keep reapplying, that might be more a peripheral issue v a teaching hospital issue and lack of available staff etc. But I think itd be awful to be a career reg, lot of responsibility and on frequent call for the rest of your career basically.e.g. being on a 24 hour call nearly every week if you're on a 1 in 6 rota etc


  • Registered Users Posts: 538 ✭✭✭PhoneMain


    Anita Blow wrote: »
    The UK has career reg posts (called Staff Grades), however we do not. There's no obligation to progress to consultancy but there isn't really any such thing as a permanent reg post so you will be interviewing & re-interviewing every 6-12 months. That brings some degree of job uncertainty and might negatively affect you for the likes of loans and mortgages.
    The Senior Reg scale only applies to psychiatry also, so you'll be capped at the last point of the reg scale.

    You have unofficial career reg posts here but they're generally filled it seems by foreign doctors. I dont think they have to keep reapplying, that might be more a peripheral issue v a teaching hospital issue and lack of available staff etc. But I think itd be awful to be a career reg, lot of responsibility and on frequent call for the rest of your career basically.e.g. being on a 24 hour call nearly every week if you're on a 1 in 6 rota etc


  • Advertisement
Advertisement