Irish student in need of advice

[GDM]

Hi, I'm new here. I live in Ireland and I'm in my last four weeks of secondary school. I have applied to the CAO here in Ireland for both a General and a Psychiatric Nursing Degree course, I know getting the near 600 Leaving Cert points would be almost impossible for me and my mother has been a psychiatric nurse for 26 years so nursing seemed like a good option.

Now what I would really like to do is train to become a psychiatrist.

What I hope to do is get the nursing degree and then re-apply to the CAO as a mature student and try get a place in a med school.

I have been in contact with several people in colleges here and some have advised me not to try get into medicine this way while others have stressed that it would be hard to get a place here as a mature student but at the same time have encouraged me to try it.

Has anyone here tried this either here in Ireland or anywhere else.

Would I be able to use the nursing degree to gain any credit on a medicine course in Ireland, the UK or the US (I know medicine is a post-grad course in the US) and thereby shorten the training time. If I got a place in Ireland it would cost me roughly €38,000. How much would it cost in the UK or the US.

Also I have heard that as a nurse I could go to the US and it would only take me eighteen months to become a doctor. Is this actually possible and how much might it cost me. I haven't been able to find any concrete information on this subject.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[Sage880]

As far as I know, you can't shorten med school anywhere for any reason. No matter what, it will take you 4 years in the US.

My advice to you is to train for what you want to do. If you'd like to be a nurse, go to nursing school. If you really don't want to, and want to go to med school, take a biology/chem program somewhere that will prepare you for American med school so you can apply to both America and here in Ireland.

There are a fair amount of mature Irish students in my class so I don't think it'll be a problem getting in if you want to come here.

Lastly, I don't know how true this is, but I heard a rumor somewhere that it's tough for nurses and other health care workers to get into school in America because the adcoms don't want to feel like they're taking someone out of the system. Especially since I think the demand for nurses is quite high. That might be total BS though - don't remember where I heard it.

Anyway, just my advice - might be garbage. Good luck!

Hi, I'm new here. I live in Ireland and I'm in my last four weeks of secondary school. I have applied to the CAO here in Ireland for both a General and a Psychiatric Nursing Degree course, I know getting the near 600 Leaving Cert points would be almost impossible for me and my mother has been a psychiatric nurse for 26 years so nursing seemed like a good option.

Now what I would really like to do is train to become a psychiatrist.

What I hope to do is get the nursing degree and then re-apply to the CAO as a mature student and try get a place in a med school.

I have been in contact with several people in colleges here and some have advised me not to try get into medicine this way while others have stressed that it would be hard to get a place here as a mature student but at the same time have encouraged me to try it.

Has anyone here tried this either here in Ireland or anywhere else.

Would I be able to use the nursing degree to gain any credit on a medicine course in Ireland, the UK or the US (I know medicine is a post-grad course in the US) and thereby shorten the training time. If I got a place in Ireland it would cost me roughly €38,000. How much would it cost in the UK or the US.

Also I have heard that as a nurse I could go to the US and it would only take me eighteen months to become a doctor. Is this actually possible and how much might it cost me. I haven't been able to find any concrete information on this subject.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GDM]

Thanks for the info.

Where are you studying?

 

[Sage880]

No prob, any time.

I'm at UCC.

Thanks for the info.

Where are you studying?

 

[GDM]

No prob, any time.

I'm at UCC.

How many mature places do they generally have at UCC. In most of the Dublin colleges they only have 2 or 3.

I reckon I'm only going to get about 400 points in the leaving so I would imagine even with any kind of nursing degree my chances of getting a place in any Irish med school are pretty slim.

 

[john182]

Hi, I'm new here. I live in Ireland and I'm in my last four weeks of secondary school. I have applied to the CAO here in Ireland for both a General and a Psychiatric Nursing Degree course, I know getting the near 600 Leaving Cert points would be almost impossible for me and my mother has been a psychiatric nurse for 26 years so nursing seemed like a good option.

Now what I would really like to do is train to become a psychiatrist.

What I hope to do is get the nursing degree and then re-apply to the CAO as a mature student and try get a place in a med school.

I have been in contact with several people in colleges here and some have advised me not to try get into medicine this way while others have stressed that it would be hard to get a place here as a mature student but at the same time have encouraged me to try it.

Has anyone here tried this either here in Ireland or anywhere else.

Would I be able to use the nursing degree to gain any credit on a medicine course in Ireland, the UK or the US (I know medicine is a post-grad course in the US) and thereby shorten the training time. If I got a place in Ireland it would cost me roughly €38,000. How much would it cost in the UK or the US.

Also I have heard that as a nurse I could go to the US and it would only take me eighteen months to become a doctor. Is this actually possible and how much might it cost me. I haven't been able to find any concrete information on this subject.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A few important points:
1. The requirements for medicine are going up every year. It used to be high, now it's obscenely high. The longer you leave entering medicine the harder it will be
2. The proposal for a few years time is to have medicine as a graduate degree - you will need a science degree first and then go into medicine like the US. Nursing doesn't count for this in the US nor would it in Ireland. This is what Mary Harney is talking about, etc., . It is the only way to stop the never ending points spiralling up to 600 and probably will happen within 3-4 years.
3. If you are going to get 400 points but want medicine, then I would say resit the Leaving in 2006 and study like HELL for the year, getting all the grinds, etc., . Once you're in, you're in but putting it off for 4 years to do nursing is only putting it off! Places for mature students I would say will go down as the whole medicine as a post grad degree comes in.
4. Some degrees from irish colleges shortens the 6 years of medical school in Ireland. This is usually in relevant areas: pharmacology, pharmacy, biochemistry, etc., . AGain, the most you could expect in Ireland is to skip premed with one of those degrees.
5. It will cost you a ****load to pay for medicine if you do it after nursing - you only get your first degree paid for by the government.


I would advise you if you really want medicine to repeat the Leaving and study like never before. It will get you into medicine quicker, without doing 4 years of something that you don't really want to do. It will be cheaper in the long run.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

A few important points:
1. The requirements for medicine are going up every year. It used to be high, now it's obscenely high. The longer you leave entering medicine the harder it will be
2. The proposal for a few years time is to have medicine as a graduate degree - you will need a science degree first and then go into medicine like the US. Nursing doesn't count for this in the US nor would it in Ireland. This is what Mary Harney is talking about, etc., . It is the only way to stop the never ending points spiralling up to 600 and probably will happen within 3-4 years.
3. If you are going to get 400 points but want medicine, then I would say resit the Leaving in 2006 and study like HELL for the year, getting all the grinds, etc., . Once you're in, you're in but putting it off for 4 years to do nursing is only putting it off! Places for mature students I would say will go down as the whole medicine as a post grad degree comes in.
4. Some degrees from irish colleges shortens the 6 years of medical school in Ireland. This is usually in relevant areas: pharmacology, pharmacy, biochemistry, etc., . AGain, the most you could expect in Ireland is to skip premed with one of those degrees.
5. It will cost you a ****load to pay for medicine if you do it after nursing - you only get your first degree paid for by the government.


I would advise you if you really want medicine to repeat the Leaving and study like never before. It will get you into medicine quicker, without doing 4 years of something that you don't really want to do. It will be cheaper in the long run.

1) A nursing degree is a science degree (BSc Nursing). We also have a few nurses/physiotherapists/pharmacists in our class. The system for entry to medicine is still undecided so a lot could change over the next few years. However, if someone does nursing and then quits to medicine, an interviwer may question their loyalty/perseverence (i.e. why should we make you a doctor when you bailed on being a nurse?)

2) UCC has a 5 year course for everyone now.

3) My advice is the same as above, repeat your leaving cert! You'll save around 3 years of your life and over €30,000 in fees at the very least.

4) I'm reaching a stage where I'm sick of being a student and want to start work and I'm only 23. Do you really want to be 27/28 and still in college?

 

[Sage880]

I'm not so sure about the points going up every year. They were steadily on the rise in America after ER came out but have been lower in the last couple years. I think things like that fluctuate with interest like everything else.

 

[john182]

I'm not so sure about the points going up every year. They were steadily on the rise in America after ER came out but have been lower in the last couple years. I think things like that fluctuate with interest like everything else.

I disagree: the CAO lists are up to what 570 points now, basically 5 As and a B. It's really high requirements and basically a good grind school will get you it but it means $$$.

Apologies to the above - I didn't know that the nursing degree was a BSc. I've known people with say a BSc in pharm and so on get skipped of premed, but no nursing people.

Best bet is to take this year as a learning experience and just make it work next year. You'd be just like probably 1/3 of the class who repeated for it anyway!! 1 year now seems like a lot but down the road it isn't really.

 

[medgirl20]

If you're close to the points or haven't done enough studying for the past two years then by all means repeat but if in your heart you know you have put in 100% aand you're in the 400's to early 500's I wouldn't repeat. I personally know people who put in the effort 1st time got eary 500's and then repeated for medicine but only went up a few points ie5-10. If you're really close ie within 10-20 points I'd say go for it but just be aware that it's going to be a really tough year.
As regards applying as a graduate student most Irish med schools look for research experience they mightn't say it in their requirements but I knowpeople who were told go away do a few years research and then we'll accept you.

Good luck with whatever you choose

 

[GDM]

If you're close to the points or haven't done enough studying for the past two years then by all means repeat but if in your heart you know you have put in 100% aand you're in the 400's to early 500's I wouldn't repeat. I personally know people who put in the effort 1st time got eary 500's and then repeated for medicine but only went up a few points ie5-10. If you're really close ie within 10-20 points I'd say go for it but just be aware that it's going to be a really tough year.
As regards applying as a graduate student most Irish med schools look for research experience they mightn't say it in their requirements but I knowpeople who were told go away do a few years research and then we'll accept you.

Good luck with whatever you choose

I had planned that if I was going to try get in through the nursing route I would continue on to Masters level in Nursing or Masters in Science.

The other thing I was considering was applying to the Police in England (another career I've considered for a good while), while there sit the A Level maybe in Law, Biology and Chemistry and then apply to colleges in the UK and Ireland. That way I would have some money saved and with A level points being much higher than leaving cert points and having already done the leaving A levels subjects wouldn't be that hard. It's like walking four miles in one direction just to get across the road but I would either get a job in the police,save money, do A levels and apply to med school, I could continue in that job for life or I could use the money I save to go do a law degree. Decisions decisions.

 

[miochaine]

hiya, here is my two cents on the matter. i was also schooled in ireland and didn't make the points to get into medicine and decided to persue another degree. after i completed an honors degree in neuroscience i was still torn that i didn't go into medicine. i made the decision to go to a caribbean medical school (st. matthew's university), and there are a few of us irish here and we are really enjoying it. the benefit to doing our schooling here is that we are done in 3 years vs. the 5 to 6 years that it would take in ireland. we attend school all year instead of taking the summer months off. there are many options available to you.
best of luck in your decision.