School rankings

Started by bigchoader
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
B

bigchoader

I have searched online for Irish/British school rankings and have not found much of anything. I am really just curious, I know that there are probably only like 30 schools total, but I just was curious to see rankings.

Does anyone know where to find something like that?

Thanks

Ross
 
There are no Irish medical school rankings; The Times publishes ranking for the British medical schools. I posted this year's rankings of the medical schools on a thread in this forum a while back. Do a search for it.
 
rankings are never particularly accurate...

the following list is definitely open for debate, but as general reputation goes...

1. oxbridge
2. ucl (might rank with oxbridge due to being in london)
3. rest of the london schools
4. the others are all fairly equal, depending on what kind of education (problem based learning, systems based learning, etc etc) you like, as well as which city you prefer. beyond the top 7, reputation counts for very little - you are a doctor, and will be assessed on the quality of your work once you graduate.

in fact, oxbridge and london might open your first doors for you, but beyond that it's mostly what you do at work which counts.



i'm sure i'll piss off many london peeps with the above, but that is the impression i get from talking to people applying for training positions at prestigious locations, particularly in London, where apparently some consultants/recruiters favour Cambridge grads over even their own London grads. reason: we "bullsh*t" better, simply because of all that essay writing and being forced to understand basic science early on.
 
Depends where you're planning to eventually work.

If in the UK - completely doesn't matter where you gradute, it won't even be on the application forms anymore. Go where you think you'll like to live etc. The interesting thing about the Times ranking is to get several years worth, and see how the med schools move about. As far as I'm concerned, if the rankings are very mobile year in year out, then they're probably not that accurate.

If in the US - then you probably want to go some place that people in the US have heard of. In which case, London or Oxbridge is probably the place to go, though I guess places like Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool etc aren't unheard of... :laugh:

Speaking as a UK doc planning to stay in the UK, after about 2 weeks into the first job, no one cares where you went. All that matters is can you do the job? With the new (horrible) computerised job application system, everything is anonymised, so where you went can neither be a benefit nor a hindrance to you.
 
as an irish doctor who went through the irish med-school system i thought i should give my two cents!😀

RCSI is regarded highly and is considered to be the 'marines' of the bunch. However, it is basically a large building off st.stephens green and there is little of the 'university culture' about the place. of course as american graduates have already attended university, this shouldn't be a major issue. it is more meaningful to irish student, who go into medecine straight from secondar school (high school). Trinity is also regarded as top-class and in my opinion is in no way inferior to RCSI. of course, i am a passed trinity pupil so i may be a teeny weenie bit biased!!😛 also, the atmosphere in trinity is awesome. its a beautiful campus, right in the heart of dublin (only a minutes walk to RCSI, in case you ever have the desire to check it out). but seriously, any irish institution will give you an excellent, thorough education in medecine and, unless you have a particular city in mind, you shouldn't worry too much about rankings.
 
this isn't an indicator and is mainly a reflection on how anal things have gotten, but Trinity require the highest number of leaving cert points out of any medical school for Irish students. 2 years ago it was like 590 (out of 600 points) required for admission. Last year it was 600 (perfect score), random selection. A bit nuts, eh?
 
yes completely agree! the points are frighteningly high! the sad thing is that it eliminates so many people who love medicine and would make quality doctors, but are unable to get the high points. and its not that the points are there to separate the 'wannabes' from the 'real deal'! the points are merely based on the demand for the course. i had a few friends who had this misconcieved notion that beacuse they were able to get top marks, they should go for the top courses, regardless of whether they have a love for medecine or not, thus raising the points even further and also producing some very mediocre docs.
 
Livethedream said:
yes completely agree! the points are frighteningly high! the sad thing is that it eliminates so many people who love medicine and would make quality doctors, but are unable to get the high points. and its not that the points are there to separate the 'wannabes' from the 'real deal'! the points are merely based on the demand for the course. i had a few friends who had this misconcieved notion that beacuse they were able to get top marks, they should go for the top courses, regardless of whether they have a love for medecine or not, thus raising the points even further and also producing some very mediocre docs.
Click to expand...

What is this point system? Is it for incoming students or to from the med school?
 
The Leaving Certificate, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert, is the final course in the Irish secondary school system and culminates with the Leaving Certificate Examination. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Certificate Examination. Most students taking the examination are aged 17-19; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam, although between socio-economic groups this varies greatly. Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission.

School leavers who want to attend undergraduate courses in Irish colleges and universities have to enter the clearing house run by the Central Applications Office (CAO). Admission is based solely on examination results, usually from the Established Leaving Certificate. Six subjects are scored for the purposes of admission, each grade is translated into "points" - this can vary from 5 to 100 such points depending on the results thus a maximum of 600 can be obtained. Institutions can also set minimum grade requirements in specific examination subjects for each of their courses.

The points for each specific course are not based on how difficult it is but merely the demand for the course.

Points grid
 
I am currently attending Trinity in 1st Med and i have got to say that i love the atmosphere there. It definitely feels like a community, even with it being right in the middle of Dublin. Plus we have the Pav .... for those that know what that is nothing more needs to be said.

Nothing wrong with the education although in this year it might seem a bit slower for some north american students who have previously taken bits and peices of certain courses. Should pick up next year.
 
The Guardian also has its league table which ranks medical schools according to its own (different from the Times) criteria. I think its website is education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide2006 or something like that. The ranking list is quite different.
 
What are the facilities like at Trinity? 2006, minimum points for medicine at Trinity was 580 http://www.tcd.ie/Admissions/ which is the same for UCD I believe.

For those looking at UCD, the beautiful new Health Science Building just opened with a nice library. I like the new dissection rooms and I look forward to the day I get to use the big plasma screen TVs at each cadavar bed. Also there is a clinical examination wing with beds, monitors, etc. which is pretty cool. Also, the laboratory building (Conway) is newly built too and for those who are experienced in research will appreciate the quality of the facility.

UCC also has a new Health Science Building which is similar. I take it that the Dublin schools have a similar curriculum but Cork is different. They are more clinical skills oriented and have more practical exams. They do more history taking and various physical exams for different diseases. First years use their stethoscope for heart, lung sounds already but we just grab a few of our classmates and do it ourselves 😛. Also, they get to practice their suturing as early as foundation year if they wanted to which is pretty cool.

There are pluses and minues in both schools but I would seriously consider UCD and UCC when the time comes for a choice. UCD sends out acceptances first. If you opted for the courier service, you can hear as early as mid-February.
 
i'm fairly sure TCD ended up being 600 random selection last year, although 580 could have been the minimum for applying. Regardless, doesn't really affect us. Facilities at Trinity aren't like that 🙂. Remember, Trinity is more architecturally traditional than the other schools. Some people wouldn't want that, I personally find it rather charming. For instance, the Anatomy building is one of the oldest on campus and there's still the wooden rounded amphitheatre and wooden dissection room.

Research-wise, there is a new neuroscience building with collaborations with clinical physicians. Trinity is still the leading research institute in Ireland, although other universities have made fantastic advances with good quality projects. Trinity specific, there are very significant projects which will be unveiled in the coming spring/year.

Clinical skills-wise, I know that other clinical skills programs have been modeled off the one that has been developed at TCD. Students don't begin until 2nd-3rd year (whatever the new 5 yr system correlates to), except for the minor bp/taking, minor skills which are 1st year. Proper clinical skills (suturing, cannulation, catheterization, surgical equipment, etc.) are taught in these sessions, along with opportunities to practice on SimMan (simulation guy who mimics different scenarios with different breath sounds, murmurs, etc. He's cool, you can actually make him hit on a nurse. you can also make him die). i have to say though, that unless you keep practicing that you forget it all.


UCC have the hardest examination system of all the Irish colleges, in that in final year, all four parameters of examination happen all at once (i.e. you have to do obs/gyne, paeds, medicine, surgery all at the same time) - that is a really tall order, so kudos to them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.