US Atlantic Bridge Program 2014

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congrats to all those who got in so far! I've been waiting anxiously for the last couple weeks but I finally got my acceptance letter from fedex today!! 😀 I'm not sure if I'm going though, it's very expensive for me to afford and i might want to come back to north america... I'm from canada btw and got into the 6 year program for rcsi
 
Hey guys, for those of you that got in and had your acceptance FedEx'd, was there a charge on your card that you put on your ABP application? I'm not holding on to a ton of hope now that I see what the competition is, but as of today I still haven't recieved anything from any of the schools I applied to. I'm sure I didn't get into RCSI since I didn't get an interview.
 
Just got my acceptance to GEP for RCSI this week! I have to admit i'm super happy, but I don't know if i'm going all the way to Ireland. The 2 interviewers I had were profs who seemed like they were trying real heard to be intimidating. It was way worse than any of my US interviews. I'm kind of weary about schools that are obsessed with PR... any RCSI students here? What do you think about the environment?
 
KJames3526 said:
Just got my acceptance to GEP for RCSI this week! I have to admit i'm super happy, but I don't know if i'm going all the way to Ireland. The 2 interviewers I had were profs who seemed like they were trying real heard to be intimidating. It was way worse than any of my US interviews. I'm kind of weary about schools that are obsessed with PR... any RCSI students here? What do you think about the environment?
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I'm a first year RCSI student. I'm enjoying every moment of it, but I also work really hard. I always keep in mind that I'm here in a mission and not in vacation.
The professors here are very professional, knowledgeable and to the point. Bear in mind that if you choose a career in medicine, then you have to have the passion and the commitment, but it is a rewarding career after all. Good luck.
 
Has anyone noticed that there are more Canadians accepted than Americans? I know there are more Canadian applicants, but do the schools give Canadian citizens preference over American applicants?
 
Charlotte Haley said:
Nah I've given up at this point I'm not going to hold out
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Hey Charlotte! I am really sorry to hear that too. Don't give up hope yet.. it seems like TCD, UCD, and UL still have to reply! Anyways who really wants to blow that much on tuition! haha 🙂
 
MikeGir said:
I'm a first year RCSI student. I'm enjoying every moment of it, but I also work really hard. I always keep in mind that I'm here in a mission and not in vacation.
The professors here are very professional, knowledgeable and to the point. Bear in mind that if you choose a career in medicine, then you have to have the passion and the commitment, but it is a rewarding career after all. Good luck.
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do you think you could let me in on how the classes are like and such? I want to make sure I'm ready for this first before I pay heaps of money haha
 
Does anyone know if it is possible to receive additional acceptances? I am fortunate to have received one from UCC but I would prefer to go to a school in Dublin if possible.
 
CharlestonMD said:
Charleston, SC USA. No regrets, if all else fails I'll be learning polish this fall at Jagiellonian. Additionally they offer a potential to perform your last year clinicals in CA or NY. Always an added bonus.
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Do not go to Poland unless you're Polish, it's not the same as Ireland/UK/Australia/ and North America. Kind advice.
 
Fire-Medic said:
Has anyone noticed that there are more Canadians accepted than Americans? I know there are more Canadian applicants, but do the schools give Canadian citizens preference over American applicants?
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apparently Canadian med students are surviving more than US students there, so they're accepting more Canadians than Americans this year. =)
 
I honestly think it's because Canadian students who tend to not get into Canadian med schools are stronger applicants than the Americans who do not get into American med schools (this is in general, I'm not saying it is always the case). This is due to Canadian med schools having hard cutoffs of 3.8 and MCAT hard cutoffs of 10/10/10.
 
KJames3526 said:
Just got my acceptance to GEP for RCSI this week! I have to admit i'm super happy, but I don't know if i'm going all the way to Ireland. The 2 interviewers I had were profs who seemed like they were trying real heard to be intimidating. It was way worse than any of my US interviews. I'm kind of weary about schools that are obsessed with PR... any RCSI students here? What do you think about the environment?
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I'm in the exact same boat, got accepted to RCSI and it's not like i have any other options but for some reason I'm just not super excited to go lol. Also, my interview was the same. I had these two old gentlemen who really seemed entirely unimpressed with everything I said lol. I posted earlier (I think it was on this thread) that they try incredibly hard at making it seem "conversational" and maybe it is for the high school applicants but for the GEP program it totally is not. It is an entirely formal interview with questions and answers and they do seem to be expecting a right answer. Not to make anyone nervous but just take the time to really think over your answers when you head in, and dont be afaid of waiting a quick moment before you answer.
 
Can I just say, I really hate how so many applicants make these Irish Medical Schools their second choice. I so wish the Irish admissions counselors read this blog so that any of these idiots who literally made their schools second place would get rejected.
 
mpcolon said:
Can I just say, I really hate how so many applicants make these Irish Medical Schools their second choice. I so wish the Irish admissions counselors read this blog so that any of these idiots who literally made their schools second place would get rejected.
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Honestly, I don't think the Irish schools care because should said applicants receive an offer they prefer, the schools still get to keep the deposits which are substantial amounts (5000 USD compared to 100 USD refundable deposits for American med schools.) You should also bear in mind that the tuition fees are equal to or even more expensive than US medical schools with lower chances of matching compared to an AMG. Furthermore, it is really difficult to do residency in Ireland so there's a chance such students end up with debt and no license to practice. This is explicity stated on the acceptance letter.

Both sides are doing it for their own reasons. It is only logical that applicants would apply to safety schools such as DO, Carribean, European etc. It is rash to assign fault to either party and impolite to call these applicants idiots.
 
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Raiden2012 said:
Honestly, I don't think the Irish schools care because should said applicants receive an offer they prefer, the schools still get to keep the deposits which are substantial amounts (5000 USD compared to 100 USD refundable deposits for American med schools.) You should also bear in mind that the tuition fees are equal to or even more expensive than US medical schools with lower chances of matching compared to an AMG. Furthermore, it is really difficult to do residency in Ireland so there's a chance such students end up with debt and no license to practice. This is explicity stated on the acceptance letter.

Both sides are doing it for their own reasons. It is only logical that applicants would apply to safety schools such as DO, Carribean, European etc. It is rash to assign fault to either party and impolite to call these applicants idiots.
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Well said.
 
What are the match rates for the 4 year programs in Ireland? How do they stack up against the Big 4 in the Caribbean?
 
Raiden2012 said:
Honestly, I don't think the Irish schools care because should said applicants receive an offer they prefer, the schools still get to keep the deposits which are substantial amounts (5000 USD compared to 100 USD refundable deposits for American med schools.) You should also bear in mind that the tuition fees are equal to or even more expensive than US medical schools with lower chances of matching compared to an AMG. Furthermore, it is really difficult to do residency in Ireland so there's a chance such students end up with debt and no license to practice. This is explicity stated on the acceptance letter.

Both sides are doing it for their own reasons. It is only logical that applicants would apply to safety schools such as DO, Carribean, European etc. It is rash to assign fault to either party and impolite to call these applicants idiots.
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1) To say Irish schools shouldn't care is truly an assumption on your part. You don't know what they do and do not care about and I can say, personally, if I was someone's second choice, screw them, I'll go with someone who had me as their first. Either way they get the money and I'd rather loose $5K from someone who is just using me.
2) Who cares about tuition fees and "lower" chances of matching? If you are going to Ireland to study medicine you should be making a conscious decision to be doing it for (1) the experience and/or (2) the ability to be a better doctor with a more well rounded global background and not just so you can return to the U.S. and be a doctor here. For that, re-take the MCATs, better your application and reapply to medical school here. Don't waste the Irish people's time. They are taking a chance on you so that you can take what you learned and be different from doctors just in the U.S..
3) Yes, there is logic to apply to different schools, but to suggest that the Irish schools are simply a "safety" for you and not a first choice compared to the American and/or the Canadian schools then, perhaps it is best you don't apply and instead just go to a DO school in the U.S..

I stand by what I said, they are "idiots" and second rate applicants who I hope the Irish see through.
 
mpcolon said:
1) To say Irish schools shouldn't care is truly an assumption on your part. You don't know what they do and do not care about and I can say, personally, if I was someone's second choice, screw them, I'll go with someone who had me as their first. Either way they get the money and I'd rather loose $5K from someone who is just using me.
2) Who cares about tuition fees and "lower" chances of matching? If you are going to Ireland to study medicine you should be making a conscious decision to be doing it for (1) the experience and/or (2) the ability to be a better doctor with a more well rounded global background and not just so you can return to the U.S. and be a doctor here. For that, re-take the MCATs, better your application and reapply to medical school here. Don't waste the Irish people's time. They are taking a chance on you so that you can take what you learned and be different from doctors just in the U.S..
3) Yes, there is logic to apply to different schools, but to suggest that the Irish schools are simply a "safety" for you and not a first choice compared to the American and/or the Canadian schools then, perhaps it is best you don't apply and instead just go to a DO school in the U.S..

I stand by what I said, they are "idiots" and second rate applicants who I hope the Irish see through.
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Hey mpcolon,
I understand your frustrations in the application process to med school. It's a grueling journey filled with challenges, complications and not least of which rejections. we've all been through it and we appreciate the fact that sometimes the whole freaking show can seem like a bit of scam. That being said, I think you might be missing the point of Raiden. What he meant was that first of all everyone has a preferred school to go to. Be it some local school to stay close to the family, something across the state to save money, Harvard because its the fanciest or some school in Australia because we just want to get as far away from our folks as possible lol. Everyone has a favorite and anything short of that would be a "second choice" does that mean that Tufts medical school should not accept the students that didn't make the cut for Harvard and Yale just because those applicants applied and possibly preferred to go to some Ivy league school and might be considering themselves "settling"? There's nothing wrong with covering all your bases and seeing all your options.
Secondly, I completely agree that you cant go through life worrying about the cost of everything and appreciating the value of nothing. Unfortunately however, medical school education (as is most private post secondary education) represents a huge financial burden on those pursuing it. An unfortunate truth is that far too many undergrads have to drop out not from a lack of performance but because of financial stress, let alone their inability to fund their medical education if they wanted to after. I knew a guy who got into Michigan state dental school, but the banks wouldn't give him the loan he needed. It's heart breaking but the truth is, people need to eat and tuition gets in the way of that. These schools are not running a charity, they are providing a service and for a pretty penny, 300k of debt and moving to Ireland is something that is reasonable to worry about especially if there is a possibility of not being able to practice and pay off those huge loans.
Third, you mentioned about the competitiveness of the applicants thinking about going to Ireland. While surely some applicants have options in North America, some like me don't, and I will be first to say that is because my application is less attractive to schools in Canada. However, just because the schools here refuse to see my value does not mean I am willing to give up on my dream, and my dream is to be a practicing physician in NA. I'm sure the Irish experience will have enumerable treasures and stories for me to tell along the way but me and everyone like me out there have a singular goal in mind, and that is to come back. Med school is a moment in the possible 30-40 year career you could hope for as a doctor I'm sure you can see why people might perceive it as a stepping stone over an end point.
Anyways this is just to say that we know what you're going through buddy, I've got my fair share of rejections and we all hope that you get your dream regardless of what it is. I absolutely don't want to ignore your anger and frustrations because you have every right to feel that way but we also have the right to not be ashamed of our hopes and dreams too. Best of luck man, we're all rooting for ya
 
No offense but everyone has safety schools. Wether they are Ireland or low tier MD schools (which don't exist in Canada unfortunately), everyone has them. So what your saying is people should not have safety schools, which is inaccurate.
 
Let me start by saying -- Dredge, you have the gift. Well-spoken and compassionate.

My two cents:

Ireland SHOULD be a second choice for any North American that is able to qualify for a North American school. The cost is significantly more, for a start. That is not a deal-breaker. Consider, though, the degraded state of the healthcare system in Ireland. The recession hit very hard, and cutbacks have been extreme. Experienced, Irish consultants have seen their public sector pay cut nearly in half, and are leaving their positions in significant numbers. The resulting vacancies in hospitals are being filled by for-profit agencies, with these junior physicians being paid more per hour than the remaining consultants that supervise them. One can only imagine that it is demoralizing. Family physicians in Ireland have watched as their once busy clinics have quieted. In difficult times, the public are choosing not to allocate their thinner financial resources to a physician visit. The family physicians have seen their incomes dwindle as a result...most of them carrying mortgages on properties bought during the peak of the boom. The governments most recent healthcare solution was to mandate that family physicians provide free care to children under 6. Yet another blow. NUIG recently struggled to find adequate clinical placements for its growing number of foreign students, the consequence of which was great dissatisfaction on the part of the students.
Who will be acting as our preceptors as we make our way through our Irish education?

Now the positive.
Ireland is a great little country.
5 years in 20 types of rain still tops 5 winters.
Nature is always at your back door.
The pubs are cozy.
The standard of classroom education is higher than many schools in North America.
The air is fresh.
The fish is fresh.
The food is local.

There is an opportunity to realize a dream of a medical career.

Personally, if I could get into a North American school, I would. The reality is, I am not sufficiently competitive. Ireland, therefore, is my second choice. I am not bothered by that. Neither are the Irish. Universities all around the world depend on foreign students to pay unsubsidized amounts in order to attend their school. It is one of the foundations of university funding.
 
Ireland SHOULD be a second choice for any North American that is able to qualify for a North American school. The cost is significantly more, for a start. That is not a deal-breaker. Consider, though, the degraded state of the healthcare system in Ireland. The recession hit very hard, and cutbacks have been extreme. Experienced, Irish consultants have seen their public sector pay cut nearly in half, and are leaving their positions in significant numbers. The resulting vacancies in hospitals are being filled by for-profit agencies, with these junior physicians being paid more per hour than the remaining consultants that supervise them. One can only imagine that it is demoralizing. Family physicians in Ireland have watched as their once busy clinics have quieted. In difficult times, the public are choosing not to allocate their thinner financial resources to a physician visit. The family physicians have seen their incomes dwindle as a result...most of them carrying mortgages on properties bought during the peak of the boom. The governments most recent healthcare solution was to mandate that family physicians provide free care to children under 6. Yet another blow. NUIG recently struggled to find adequate clinical placements for its growing number of foreign students, the consequence of which was great dissatisfaction on the part of the students.
Who will be acting as our preceptors as we make our way through our Irish education?

Now the positive.
Ireland is a great little country.
5 years in 20 types of rain still tops 5 winters.
Nature is always at your back door.
The pubs are cozy.
The standard of classroom education is higher than many schools in North America.
The air is fresh.
The fish is fresh.
The food is local.

There is an opportunity to realize a dream of a medical career.

Personally, if I could get into a North American school, I would. The reality is, I am not sufficiently competitive. Ireland, therefore, is my second choice. I am not bothered by that. Neither are the Irish. Universities all around the world depend on foreign students to pay unsubsidized amounts in order to attend their school. It is one of the foundations of university funding
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Thanks a lot man! So if I understand it right, Ireland doesn't have a public healthcare system for it's citizens and works on private insurance like in the States?
 
It has a combination of private and public. It's two-tiered. There are public hospitals for everyone; you do not have to fall under a certain income to be eligible for the public hospitals. If you have private insurance, you have the choice to attend the private hospital.
 
There are also base charges for certain services. If I recall correctly, a visit to the GP is around 30? euros.
 
Hey guys. I called ABP today and they said that UCD and TCD have not sent out any offers yet! So we have to stay patient… even though they are cutting it really close with the offer acceptance deadlines for Galway and Cork.
 
EverOnward said:
There are also base charges for certain services. If I recall correctly, a visit to the GP is around 30? euros.
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That's good to know. So you're going/went NUIG? how are you liking/liked it? I don't mean to be a bother but I was just wondering if you could tell us about the residency prospects for someone starting the Irish school thing in september. Thanks!
 
magnimopus said:
Hey guys. I called ABP today and they said that UCD and TCD have not sent out any offers yet! So we have to stay patient… even though they are cutting it really close with the offer acceptance deadlines for Galway and Cork.
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Did they say when the deadlines are? Because that means before that date letters from the other schools will arrive at ABP.
 
No, I'm in the same boat as most here -- I have my application in for Ireland and am waiting to hear.
I lived in Galway during some time away from University...just before the crash. A few of my friends were med students (Irish nationals) at the time, now in practice. I keep in touch and still read the Irish news and listen to RTE.
I can't personally tell you anything about NUIG except that it is just across the bridge from town centre. The city of Galway is a lovely little town...less than 100,000 people, lots of bedroom communities. Terrible traffic. Bus service is so-so. Easy connection to Dublin by g0-bus or train. It is a college town, great arts scene. Loads of tourists June-Sept. Dreadful weather if you like sunshine.
I do have a physician friend here who attended UCC. He graduated ~4 years ago and says that 70% of his Canadian classmates matched to Canadian residencies right after graduation. The remaining 30% matched after a year of internship in Ireland.
 
Charlotte Haley said:
Did they say when the deadlines are? Because that means before that date letters from the other schools will arrive at ABP.
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No they said they haven't heard anything from either school. NUIG deadline to accept offers is April 2nd and I think UCL is April 7th . So I don't think we will hear from them by tomorrow.
 
magnimopus said:
No they said they haven't heard anything from either school. NUIG deadline to accept offers is April 2nd and I think UCL is April 7th . So I don't think we will hear from them by tomorrow.
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Did they say whether NUIG and UCC will definitely extend second round offers or even third round?
 
EverOnward said:
No, I'm in the same boat as most here -- I have my application in for Ireland and am waiting to hear.
I lived in Galway during some time away from University...just before the crash. A few of my friends were med students (Irish nationals) at the time, now in practice. I keep in touch and still read the Irish news and listen to RTE.
I can't personally tell you anything about NUIG except that it is just across the bridge from town centre. The city of Galway is a lovely little town...less than 100,000 people, lots of bedroom communities. Terrible traffic. Bus service is so-so. Easy connection to Dublin by g0-bus or train. It is a college town, great arts scene. Loads of tourists June-Sept. Dreadful weather if you like sunshine.
I do have a physician friend here who attended UCC. He graduated ~4 years ago and says that 70% of his Canadian classmates matched to Canadian residencies right after graduation. The remaining 30% matched after a year of internship in Ireland.
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Hi ever onward
I see that you know a lot about NUIG, do you know anything about RCSI....How is rcsi? Do most students get resedency matches in canada?? Do you know anyone in rcsi? Do they like it? What are the pros and cons of rcsi??

Thanks
 
hessam100 said:
Hi ever onward
I see that you know a lot about NUIG, do you know anything about RCSI....How is rcsi? Do most students get resedency matches in canada?? Do you know anyone in rcsi? Do they like it? What are the pros and cons of rcsi??

Thanks
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Hessam, I don't know anyone that has attended RCSI. I have only heard -- from Irish folk -- that it is a highly regarded institution there. There is a Mike fellow who posts on here that is a first year student at RCSI and has said he is willing to answer questions! "MikeGir" is his name.
Good luck!
 
mpcolon said:
1) To say Irish schools shouldn't care is truly an assumption on your part. You don't know what they do and do not care about and I can say, personally, if I was someone's second choice, screw them, I'll go with someone who had me as their first. Either way they get the money and I'd rather loose $5K from someone who is just using me.
2) Who cares about tuition fees and "lower" chances of matching? If you are going to Ireland to study medicine you should be making a conscious decision to be doing it for (1) the experience and/or (2) the ability to be a better doctor with a more well rounded global background and not just so you can return to the U.S. and be a doctor here. For that, re-take the MCATs, better your application and reapply to medical school here. Don't waste the Irish people's time. They are taking a chance on you so that you can take what you learned and be different from doctors just in the U.S..
3) Yes, there is logic to apply to different schools, but to suggest that the Irish schools are simply a "safety" for you and not a first choice compared to the American and/or the Canadian schools then, perhaps it is best you don't apply and instead just go to a DO school in the U.S..

I stand by what I said, they are "idiots" and second rate applicants who I hope the Irish see through.
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I did not assume anything. I was expressing an opinion. Neither you nor I can claim to know what they care about BUT my opinion is heavily influenced by observation. Regardless of whether the schools believe applicants consider them first choice, the fact of the matter is most schools will always choose candidates with better credentials before considering anyone else. This is no different from how US admissions work. I know of a top applicant who had already gotten his first choice and yet still chose to attend a mid-low tier interview because his air ticket had already been paid for. You can safely assume that he did not express enthusiasm during the interview day and guess what, he still got an acceptance. Surprise, surprise. Considering most of the Irish med schools don't even conduct interviews to assess candidates, I'm fairly certain that they are aware they are safeties. It may be unfair to say this but Carribean schools operate on the same principle. There's demand for medical education and there are those who are willing to provide that service for a fee.

Now one would ask why would such institutions with such rich history and traditions be willing to go along with this? One of the posters above has already alluded to the answer. Money. It is a fact that non-EU students are subsidizing the tuition fees of their EU counterparts. Considering the Irish health service is in the red financially, it will be difficult to continue training future local physicians without substantially raising fees for local students. And where would that lead to? Just because it sounds wrong doesn't mean it's harmful. After all, both sides benefit with the Irish schools continuing to groom future local doctors and North American applicants having another chance to fulfill their dreams.

Unfortunately, there will be those who truly want to attend Irish med schools (individuals like yourself) who will be sidelined by other applicants who consider them as safeties. But then again, I'm fairly certain people with your ideals are few and far between. Your sentiments are admirable but unfortunately incompatible with the world of med school admissions. Good luck with the cycle.
 
Raiden2012 said:
I did not assume anything. I was expressing an opinion. Neither you nor I can claim to know what they care about BUT my opinion is heavily influenced by observation. Regardless of whether the schools believe applicants consider them first choice, the fact of the matter is most schools will always choose candidates with better credentials before considering anyone else. This is no different from how US admissions work. I know of a top applicant who had already gotten his first choice and yet still chose to attend a mid-low tier interview because his air ticket had already been paid for. You can safely assume that he did not express enthusiasm during the interview day and guess what, he still got an acceptance. Surprise, surprise. Considering most of the Irish med schools don't even conduct interviews to assess candidates, I'm fairly certain that they are aware they are safeties. It may be unfair to say this but Carribean schools operate on the same principle. There's demand for medical education and there are those who are willing to provide that service for a fee.

Now one would ask why would such institutions with such rich history and traditions be willing to go along with this? One of the posters above has already alluded to the answer. Money. It is a fact that non-EU students are subsidizing the tuition fees of their EU counterparts. Considering the Irish health service is in the red financially, it will be difficult to continue training future local physicians without substantially raising fees for local students. And where would that lead to? Just because it sounds wrong doesn't mean it's harmful. After all, both sides benefit with the Irish schools continuing to groom future local doctors and North American applicants having another chance to fulfill their dreams.

Unfortunately, there will be those who truly want to attend Irish med schools (individuals like yourself) who will be sidelined by other applicants who consider them as safeties. But then again, I'm fairly certain people with your ideals are few and far between. Your sentiments are admirable but unfortunately incompatible with the world of med school admissions. Good luck with the cycle.
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so are folks with NUIG acceptances with a deadline of April 2nd, going to pay the deposit? And then find out later next week that they have acceptances to UCD or TCD? and then pay another deposit?? vicious cycle and loss of money?
 
EverOnward said:
No, I'm in the same boat as most here -- I have my application in for Ireland and am waiting to hear.
I lived in Galway during some time away from University...just before the crash. A few of my friends were med students (Irish nationals) at the time, now in practice. I keep in touch and still read the Irish news and listen to RTE.
I can't personally tell you anything about NUIG except that it is just across the bridge from town centre. The city of Galway is a lovely little town...less than 100,000 people, lots of bedroom communities. Terrible traffic. Bus service is so-so. Easy connection to Dublin by g0-bus or train. It is a college town, great arts scene. Loads of tourists June-Sept. Dreadful weather if you like sunshine.
I do have a physician friend here who attended UCC. He graduated ~4 years ago and says that 70% of his Canadian classmates matched to Canadian residencies right after graduation. The remaining 30% matched after a year of internship in Ireland.
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hi EverOnward, were the 30% NON-EU? I understand that it is very difficult or rather impossible to obtain internship in Ireland for a Non-EU med student?
 
lucky318 said:
so are folks with NUIG acceptances with a deadline of April 2nd, going to pay the deposit? And then find out later next week that they have acceptances to UCD or TCD? and then pay another deposit?? vicious cycle and loss of money?
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If your preferred choice is UCD or TCD and you don't want to risk losing your only acceptance if the other 2 should not work out then yes, you pay twice and lose the deposit to NUIG. That was my initial disappointment with how the Irish system works. Seems very money oriented. I don't understand why all of them can't just give out acceptances at the same time since there seems to be some coordination among them, at least based on other threads.
 
lucky318 said:
so are folks with NUIG acceptances with a deadline of April 2nd, going to pay the deposit? And then find out later next week that they have acceptances to UCD or TCD? and then pay another deposit?? vicious cycle and loss of money?
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Sorry.The universities should seriously coordinate and send offers at the same time. This is ridiculous! I don't think I will pay the deposit twice. I will wait till Monday and if I don't hear word from UCD or TCD then I will accept my offer at NUIG. @Charlotte Haley ABP didn't elaborate on anything about offers from the two schools. Basically they had no idea.
 
lucky318 said:
hi EverOnward, were the 30% NON-EU? I understand that it is very difficult or rather impossible to obtain internship in Ireland for a Non-EU med student?
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Lucky, the 70% and 30% represent the sum of the Canadian students graduating from Cork with my friend in that particular year. (2010??)

i.e. 70% of the Canadian UCC grads matched to residencies in Canada directly after graduation, and the remaining 30% of Canadian UCC graduates from that same year matched to their Canadian residencies a year later after completing either an intern year (in Ireland) or a research year.
I can't recall if he told me that one or two chose residencies in other countries. Sorry...I'm scraping the dark corners of my memory.
 
TCD decisions should be out early next week.
 
Dredge said:
Hey mpcolon,
I understand your frustrations in the application process to med school. It's a grueling journey filled with challenges, complications and not least of which rejections. we've all been through it and we appreciate the fact that sometimes the whole freaking show can seem like a bit of scam. That being said, I think you might be missing the point of Raiden. What he meant was that first of all everyone has a preferred school to go to. Be it some local school to stay close to the family, something across the state to save money, Harvard because its the fanciest or some school in Australia because we just want to get as far away from our folks as possible lol. Everyone has a favorite and anything short of that would be a "second choice" does that mean that Tufts medical school should not accept the students that didn't make the cut for Harvard and Yale just because those applicants applied and possibly preferred to go to some Ivy league school and might be considering themselves "settling"? There's nothing wrong with covering all your bases and seeing all your options.
Secondly, I completely agree that you cant go through life worrying about the cost of everything and appreciating the value of nothing. Unfortunately however, medical school education (as is most private post secondary education) represents a huge financial burden on those pursuing it. An unfortunate truth is that far too many undergrads have to drop out not from a lack of performance but because of financial stress, let alone their inability to fund their medical education if they wanted to after. I knew a guy who got into Michigan state dental school, but the banks wouldn't give him the loan he needed. It's heart breaking but the truth is, people need to eat and tuition gets in the way of that. These schools are not running a charity, they are providing a service and for a pretty penny, 300k of debt and moving to Ireland is something that is reasonable to worry about especially if there is a possibility of not being able to practice and pay off those huge loans.
Third, you mentioned about the competitiveness of the applicants thinking about going to Ireland. While surely some applicants have options in North America, some like me don't, and I will be first to say that is because my application is less attractive to schools in Canada. However, just because the schools here refuse to see my value does not mean I am willing to give up on my dream, and my dream is to be a practicing physician in NA. I'm sure the Irish experience will have enumerable treasures and stories for me to tell along the way but me and everyone like me out there have a singular goal in mind, and that is to come back. Med school is a moment in the possible 30-40 year career you could hope for as a doctor I'm sure you can see why people might perceive it as a stepping stone over an end point.
Anyways this is just to say that we know what you're going through buddy, I've got my fair share of rejections and we all hope that you get your dream regardless of what it is. I absolutely don't want to ignore your anger and frustrations because you have every right to feel that way but we also have the right to not be ashamed of our hopes and dreams too. Best of luck man, we're all rooting for ya
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We'll all stick to our opinions. For your 411, I'm not frustrated and I've already been accepted to various medical schools in the U.S.. Ireland is NOT my second choice. Best wishes,
 
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