“Ulster University has finally sealed the deal on the purchase of the former Foyle College site in Londonderry, allowing expansion plans to proceed. A year after it was expected, the university (UU) confirmed it now owns the Duncreggan Road site …” (more)
[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 29 January]
“Plans to expand Ulster University’s Magee Campus are said to be progressing well following the acquisition of the former Foyle College site. The Magee Medical School will be at the core of the expansion …” (more, audio)
[Highland Radio, 25 January]
“If I were to ask someone to list the qualities that they believe are central to being a good doctor, I imagine that they would most likely focus, in some form or another, on those relating to intelligence, dedication and personality. Naturally, you would therefore assume that the application procedures for medical courses nationally would assess candidates for such characteristics …” (more)
[Jake Gilchrist, University Times, 25 October]
“University College Dublin (UCD) and Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) have launched a new medical university in Malaysia. The newly established RCSI + UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC) is Malaysia’s first accredited private medical school …” (more)
[Sarah Moran, Trinity News, 20 September]
“The genial, Scottish-born, Trinity College professor and former vice-provost Ian Howie, who has died just two months before his 90th birthday, will be remembered not only for his immense contribution to the Dublin university but also for his outstanding work in a voluntary capacity elsewhere …” (more)
[Irish Times, 27 July]
“A report required by the Department of Health is holding up progress on the proposed medical school for the Magee Campus in Derry. The report is part of a business plan required by the department to demonstrate there is a clear need for a new medical school in the city, rather than allocating new resources to the existing school at Queen’s in Belfast …” (more)
[Peter Hutcheon, Belfast Telegraph, 6 June]
“Ulster University cannot recruit the first intake of trainee doctors for its planned new medical school because of the impasse at Stormont, an academic has said. The university’s medical school in Derry had been due to open to students in 2019 …” (more)
[BBC News, 4 June]
“The modern day Irish medical student is likely to be young, female, Dublin-based and from an affluent background. That is according to a Higher Education Authority study on the profile of medical students. The report provides a stark snapshot of who our future healthcare professionals will be and how lacking in diversity the student body is compared to many other sectors of society …” (more)
[Aine McMahon, Irish Times, 10 April]
“The exodus of Irish-educated medical graduates is draining the health service of much-needed doctors in hospitals and the community, where some GP surgeries are having to turn patients away. The lack of interest by so many doctors in consultant jobs in Irish hospitals was described as “utterly shocking” by one of the country’s leading health chiefs …” (more)
[Eilish O’Regan, Independent, 7 April]
“Plans for the first intake of trainee doctors to start their studies in Londonderry next year remain on track, Ulster University has said. About 60 doctors will start training at the university’s medical school at its Magee campus in Derry. Currently, the only medical school in Northern Ireland is at Queen’s University in Belfast …” (more)
[BBC News, 30 March]
“Improving the image of GPs and getting more working-class students to study medicine are the solutions to the growing shortage of doctors, a conference in Galway is to be told. In contrast, pay is not a major factor in the problem, according to retired medical educator Prof Val Wass …” (more)
[Colm Keena, Irish Times, 5 March]
“A second-year class in University College Dublin is being forced to resit an exam after their lecturer said the original test had been ‘compromised’. Medical and physiology students in UCD did not receive the results for the module ‘Cell-Cell Communication’ and were instead told by email that they have to retake the exam in February …” (more)
[Dylan O’Neill, Independent, 3 February]
“Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the inadequate stream of third level graduates to meet the demands of the workplace with particular reference to the medical professions; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 6 December]
“Sir, – It is not well known that approximately one-third of Irish medical graduates now are self-funded via the graduate medicine entry scheme, which was enacted over 10 years ago to increase the number of medical graduates in response to an anticipated shortage …” (more)
[Erica Maguire, Irish Times, 28 November]
“It is time to review the HPAT aptitude test Leaving Certificate students must pass when applying for medicine at third level in Ireland, the president-elect of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI) Prof Mary Horgan has said …” (more)
[Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 16 Ocotber]
“A study from University College Cork has recently been published investigating the link between medical students’ scores on HPAT Section 2 and a questionnaire called the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. The researchers’ conclusion was that ‘JSE [Jefferson Scale of Empathy] values did not correlate with HPAT-Ireland scores’. Is this something we should be concerned about? …” (more)
[Kevin O’Rourke, Trinity News, 24 September]
“The group behind the Hpat assessment, which is taken by students hoping to pursue a career in medicine, has defended the test’s ability to assess emotional intelligence, saying it successfully examines candidates’ ‘thoughts, feelings and behaviour’. Research published last week by doctors from University College Cork found that Hpat assessment results were not consistent with students’ self-reported empathy levels …” (more)
[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 11 September]
“The recent media coverage around the HPAT is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, the idea that you should even attempt to test an 18/19-year old’s character for its suitability for a career in medicine before subjecting them to six years of tough undergraduate study followed by a grueling apprenticeship as a junior doctor, seems daft …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 11 September]
“A new study has shown that the Health Professions Admission Test (HPAT) does not accurately test empathetic or interpersonal skills. The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal Open, assessed empathy levels in 290 undergraduate medical students from University College Cork …” (more)
[Aoife Ní Chadhain, Trinity News, 8 September]
“The Australian body which administers an Irish medical education screening test warned it was inaccurate to claim it was not doing what it was originally designed for. The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) administers the Health Professions Admissions Test (HPAT) which all Irish prospective medical students must sit alongside their Leaving Cert …” (more)
[Ralph Riegel, Independent, 8 September]
