Question about Ireland

[pushkin]

I'm thinking of applying through Atlantic Bridge, and I'm wondering--are Americans who graduate from the Irish schools then able to practice in Ireland or elsewhere in the EU? Or are there work-permit/visa issues that make this difficult? How is residency (or post-grad training) structured in Ireland, and how saturated is the market for doctors?

I know a lot of people who apply to Irish schools are interested in coming back to the States or Canada to do their residencies, and I'd certainly want to have that option, but one of my biggest reasons for going to Ireland would be to open up some opportunities for me to eventually work in Europe. Does anyone have any info or advice on this?

Thanks in advance!

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[pacman_76]

Initially its all hunky dory...no prob getting a job as an intern and then SHO but will encounter partiality towards the irish as u go up the ladder...ie senior reg or consultant posts. U might not be able to get jobs in the BIG hospitals in dublin and might have to go down to the sticks.

As far as working in other EU countries is concerned...language is a problem unless u r fluent in french/german/spanish etc. UK will only accept EU nationals from irish med schools...others will have to do the PLAB exam.

 

[roo]

Can work as intern, and probably in the big cities. Rules are citizens get priority, as it is in most countries. And EU law saws that laws of a citizen of a country in things like this extend to all EU citizens.

It's a tough and long climb up the ranks to get to consultant, but as elsewhere it depends on the discipline. At the easier end is psyche (they actually skip one of the ranks, I think it was SHO and go straight from intern->registrar) and anesthetics, and at hard end is probably optho, etc. There is competition at pretty much every rank upgrade as the pack thins out.

There is a disappointly high amount of racial intolerance in Ireland over the last few years, which increases in intensity as the distance from the ivory towers of the university to the workplace. Visible candidates from Africa and Middle East have the most difficultly, and individuals from a Pacific Rim and Oriental background also have difficulties. There is some outdoor ad campaigns by the Irish government every once in a while, but doesn't seem to have much of an impact currently.

There is adequate number of doctors in Irleand (except for some fields like psyche which is why they are easier to get into. As an aside, the psyche care in Ireland is quite good, in my opinion). Alot of expatriates have returned to Irleand now that the economy is so strong and there is so much wealth in the country in addition to their own yearly output, that the market is close to saturation. (This is part of the reason why Ireland can train some people that won't be working in their country: because they already have enough, and can now export).

 

[rgerwin]

are there websites explaining irish residencies. I'm interested in psych. However, I keep getting the UK when I try to search the internet.

Thanks!

 

[deleted21609]

There aren't residencies in Ireland. You do an intern year followed by an SHO post. As I understand it, you then have to pass exams to advance to Registrar, Specialist Registrar, and Consultant levels. This takes variable amounts of time and also depends on availability of jobs.

If you are foreign it is extremely unlikely that you would ever reach the consultant level since there are too many Irish doctors going for those jobs, much less foreign docs.

The other thing is that whatever time you spend as an intern or SHO will not count toward your residency if you move to the US or Canada.

 

[deleted21609]

There aren't residencies in Ireland. You do an intern year followed by an SHO post. As I understand it, you then have to pass exams to advance to Registrar, Specialist Registrar, and Consultant levels. This takes variable amounts of time and also depends on availability of jobs.

If you are foreign it is extremely unlikely that you would ever reach the consultant level since there are too many Irish doctors going for those jobs much less forign docs.

The other thing is that whatever time you spend as an intern or SHO will not count toward your residency if you move to the US or Canada.