Am I SCREWED?

[captcrunch]

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Here's the problem. I applied to all the Irish school's of the Atlantic Bridge Program. I checked off that I was interested in the five year path. The Atlantic Bridge Program then sends me back my money telling me I am only eligible for the five year program with UCD and RCSI because I am yet to finish my undergrad. All is good those are the two schools I want anyway. Long story short. I am a Junior in college in the U.S. have outstanding grades, volunteer work up the ass, clinical training, research, clubs. EVERYTHING.. I am a stacked applicant as they call it. SO RCSI grants me an interview.. the DAY AFTER I TAKE THE MCAT.. A little stressful weekend i assure you. Anyway I get to the interview and they are the ones confused. They can't understand why I would give up my senior year to want to go and start medical school. ( I guess medicine is a calling that should wait!) After practically arguing with them and telling them how much I want to go there they tell me I'm not even eligible for the five year program. No I didn't get the money question, and yes it's because they already knew I could afford it. So who thinks Im totally screwed? If I wasn't eligible for the five year program why in the world would I apply to the six year program to retake the classes I have already taken?? I think someone screwed up in this application process besides me?? Oh and I already got rejected from UCD with no explanation what so ever. I am starting to believe some of the horror stories I have read on this message board, but I have always wanted to practice medicine in Ireland. So what do I do now? By the way I am really pissed off..

 

[Ratan1982]

I think RCSI is really poor in terms of their interview process. when they interviewed me, they were reading over my application as they were talking to me. they made me come all the way from San Francisco. They were completely uninterested in anything that i was saying. basically they made me fly over to San Francisco at great expense just to give me the cold shoulder. i dont' doubt most of what i hear about the school by posters like Jammer, Choda and Bateman.

 

[NIQ]

You do not want to practice medicine in Ireland. Trust me.

 

[Jammer]

.....I am a Junior in college in the U.S. have outstanding grades, volunteer work up the ass, clinical training, research, clubs. EVERYTHING.. I am a stacked applicant as they call it.....I am starting to believe some of the horror stories I have read on this message board, but I have always wanted to practice medicine in Ireland. So what do I do now? By the way I am really pissed off..

What do you do now??? Count your blessings, buy a lottery ticket and hit the local bar because, with your luck, you may just have a shot at meeting someone.

Why in the hell would you want to practice medicine in Ireland??? Have you ever been in an Irish Hospital; have you ever even been in any hospital? However, by posting your 'outstanding' CV, you have demonstrated that you at least have the right cocky attitude to fit in at an Irish Hospital, and if you've been reading other posts, you'll know that RCSI will guarantee at least one thing and that is that you will take it in the rear, but then again, your volunteer work was taking it 'up the ass', so you'll probably fit right from that perspective, too.

Do yourself a favor, tough out your last year at college and apply to get into a reputable medical school --- a US medical school.

 

[r3boot]

Here's the problem. I applied to all the Irish school's of the Atlantic Bridge Program. I checked off that I was interested in the five year path. The Atlantic Bridge Program then sends me back my money telling me I am only eligible for the five year program with UCD and RCSI because I am yet to finish my undergrad. All is good those are the two schools I want anyway. Long story short. I am a Junior in college in the U.S. have outstanding grades, volunteer work up the ass, clinical training, research, clubs. EVERYTHING.. I am a stacked applicant as they call it. SO RCSI grants me an interview.. the DAY AFTER I TAKE THE MCAT.. A little stressful weekend i assure you. Anyway I get to the interview and they are the ones confused. They can't understand why I would give up my senior year to want to go and start medical school. ( I guess medicine is a calling that should wait!) After practically arguing with them and telling them how much I want to go there they tell me I'm not even eligible for the five year program. No I didn't get the money question, and yes it's because they already knew I could afford it. So who thinks Im totally screwed? If I wasn't eligible for the five year program why in the world would I apply to the six year program to retake the classes I have already taken?? I think someone screwed up in this application process besides me?? Oh and I already got rejected from UCD with no explanation what so ever. I am starting to believe some of the horror stories I have read on this message board, but I have always wanted to practice medicine in Ireland. So what do I do now? By the way I am really pissed off..

My advice is if you really want to do it one extra year won't make that big a difference.

As far as the whole RCSI thing goes I didn't even get interviewed and I still got in (barely). The extra year is pretty easy and may be a complete waste of time or an oppertunity to get used to the place depending on whether your a glass is half full or half empty type of person.

The whole thing with the money is true, bottom line like most things in medicine its a business and people have to make money at the end of the day.

The training as far as I'm conerned is not as bad as some people make it out to be and is the same "style" whether you are in trinity RCSI or UCD although I think that ucd students are slightly more confident on wards.(they scare me most days truth be told !)

having said that if you plan to work in the US at the end of the day you should try to get into a school there.

I'm sure that Jammer will give you the other side of the arguement regarding the training, money, premed year, etc.

 

[Choda]

if you are a stacked applicant as they say.... you must be smart enough to realize that if you want to practice in the US... GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN THE US. holy ****!!! that wasn't so hard was it?

trust me... there's one idiotic canadian here who was doing well in undergrad (back in canada) for a couple years then came here... he will realize that he f*cked up big time when it comes down to residency matching... oh well... live and learn...
I'm here because i had no choice left... smoked a little too much indonesia in college if you know what i mean... 👍

 

[brightblueeyes]

if you are a stacked applicant as they say.... you must be smart enough to realize that if you want to practice in the US... GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN THE US. holy ****!!! that wasn't so hard was it?

Sure. In general, there are fewer obstacles if you attend a med school in the country you want to practice in. A foreign degree will make some American residencies difficult to obtain and rule some out altogether.

trust me... there's one idiotic canadian here who was doing well in undergrad (back in canada) for a couple years then came here... he will realize that he f*cked up big time when it comes down to residency matching...

Perhaps. But if this "idiotic" Canadian is such a good student, he might be able to land postgraduate training in Ireland. If so, this training would be perfectly acceptable to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and he wouldn't need to participate in a Canadian match.

I don't think students who choose a good European school over Canadian and American med schools are necessarily stupid. Unless you know this guy pretty well you probably don't know his real motivation for doing this.

Frankly, regional barriers at most Canadian schools ensure that even good students have a limited selection of schools which are accessible to them. And if a student thinks he can get a better medical education elsewhere then that's really his choice. I know very little about Ireland but I think there are some European med schools that are at least as good as most North American med schools.

All the above aside, I'd encourage the OP to stick it out for another year at his school.

Good luck.