Medical Education in South Africa - Europe - Ireland

Ireland

See also: List of medical schools in Ireland

There are six medical schools in Ireland. They are at Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Dublin, University College Cork, University of Limerick and the National University of Ireland, Galway (the National University of Ireland is the degree-awarding institution for all except the University of Limerick and Trinity College). Training lasts four, five or six years, with the last two years in the affiliated teaching hospitals (UCD - St. Vincents University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital) (Trinity - St. James's Hospital, Adelaide and Meath Hospitals incorporating the National Children's Hospital) (UCC - Cork University Hospital)(RCSI - Beaumont Hospital, Conolly Hospital, Waterford Regional Hospital). For Programmes that are six years in length, entry is based on secondary school qualifications. Programmes that are four years in length require previous university degrees. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the University of Limerick were the first medical institutions to offer Graduate Entry Medicine of four years in duration in the Ireland. This is now also offered in University College Dublin and University College Cork. The National University of Ireland, Galway will launch a graduate entry programme in 2010.

Medical education is regulated by the Irish Medical Council, the statutory body that is also responsible for maintaining a register of medical practitioners. After graduation with the degrees of BM BS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) or MB BCh BAO (Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus in Chirurgia, Baccalaureus in Arte Obstetricia), a doctor is required to spend one year as an intern under supervision before full registration is permitted. Graduates of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland also receive the traditional "Licenciate of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians in Ireland" (LRCP&SI), which was awarded before the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland became an Affiliate of the National University of Ireland and thus was allowed grant degrees, under the Medical Practitioners Act (1978).