Ninth Level Ireland

“Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council has voted in favour of a campaign to lobby the government to increase financial support for Graduate Entry Medicine students. Delegates from TCDSU who attend the Union of Students In Ireland (USI) National Council and USI Congress are to put forward motions at meetings of those bodies to establish a nationwide USI campaign to lower GEM tuition fees …” (more)

[Audrey Brown, Trinity News, 24 November]

“David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the training pathways, including third-level undergraduate and postgraduate pathways, currently in place for each of the medical professions; the numbers availing of these annually; the cost per person for each pathway; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 17 November]

“A company which recruited students from Saudi Arabia for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is suing the college in the High Court over the level of fees paid by the students. The Nahj Company for Services is in dispute with the college over whether the €16,000 fee for participation in the medical commencement programme was inclusive or exclusive of a €5,000 commission said to be payable to the recruiting company …” (more)

[Mary Carolan, Irish Times, 13 November]

“Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the interaction he has had with UCD over the 2% to 4% increase in fees for EU and non-EU students studying graduate entry medicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 10 November]

“More than 70% of Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) students in University College, Dublin are withholding fees in protest over further fee increases and disruptions to learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fees have increased year-on-year since 2017 for such students and now stand at €16,290 for Irish students and €55,140 for non-EU students, representing an increase of €1,000 and €3,000 respectively since 2017 …” (more)

[Jade Wilson, Irish Times, 31 October]

“Graduate Entry Medicine students have called on UCD to reduce tuition fees and are demanding a freeze on future increases. A majority of the current GEM class have elected to withhold fees in protest of these increases. The tuition fees currently stand at €16,290 for Irish students, and €55,140 for non-EU students …” (more)

[Mahnoor Choudhry, College Tribune, 27 October]

“In 2018, the Irish Medical Council gave Trinity’s School of Medicine two years to fix a ream of problems facing students on badly planned placements – in which students faced high stress in an under-supervised environment – before the council’s assessors returned to decide whether or not College should keep its accreditation …” (more)

[Cormac Watson and Molly Furey, University Times, 21 October]

“Controversy is brewing in the UCD School of Medicine as reports emerge that first years will be required to take a module taught by Professor Dolores Cahill, despite the lecturers controversial comments regarding the ongoing COVID pandemic …” (more)

[Jack McGee, College Tribune, 1 October]

“Trinity’s Schools of Medicine and Dentistry have said they will not be offering extra places for incoming freshers this year. Last week, the government announced 1250 additional CAO places for ‘high demand’ courses such as medicine, law, and engineering. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris today announced a further 800 places, following the announcement of the highest leaving certificate results in history on Monday …” (more)

[Emma Donohoe, University Times, 9 September]

“Medicine students on placement this year will have to buy their own surgical scrubs, rather than getting them from hospital dispensers as was previously the case …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 26 August]

“Extra college places in Medicine and other hotly contested areas are on the agenda for discussion ahead of next month’s CAO Round 1 offers. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris confirmed today that more places are likely to open on some high demand university courses …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 12 August]

“NUI Galway has challenged a finding in an interim report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that its medical school had received and paid for 35 infant remains from the Tuam mother and baby home. In its fifth interim report, published in April of last year, the commission found that between 1949 and 1964, Galway Medical School ‘received and paid for 35 infant anatomical subjects’ …” (more)

[Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 30 July]

“Louise O’Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will work with third-level universities to expand the number of medical training places for students applying through the Central Applications Office system to help increase the number of doctors nationally …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 30 June]

“Trinity medical students have been warned that cheating in their Ear, Nose and Throat exam today may lead to ‘significant disciplinary consequences’ and possibly prevent them from receiving a grade for the module, after a review of yesterday’s Ophthalmology exam concluded that students had likely cheated on it …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 19 June]

“Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students that recently took their HPAT exams; his views on whether these exams took place in and around the time of the pre-examinations those students with an ambition to study medicine would have focused more on the HPAT than the pre-leaving certificate; his further views on whether these students are now at a distinct disadvantage in view of the recent announcement that their calculated grades will be partially based on those pre-results; his plans to provide equity for these students; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 9 June]

“Some 228 University College Dublin (UCD) medicine students graduated on Friday during a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus restrictions. In 17 days time many of the new graduates will begin medical internships on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19 in Irish hospitals …” (more)

[Jack Power, Irish Times, 1 May]

“The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and President Michael D Higgins have sent messages of congratulations to over 130 new doctors who have graduated from the University of Limerick. The final year students at the Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) are UL’s first ever cohort of students to be conferred remotely in absentia due to the Covid-19 crisis …” (more)

[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 29 April]

“The Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor has welcomed the decision to defer this year’s HPAT-Ireland results until after the leaving certificate examinations are complete, bringing them in line with previous years …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 23 April]

“Almost every graduating doctor this year is to be offered an internship in a bid to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged. For the first time, more than 1,000 internships are to be offered to this year’s medical students as they graduate, according to Mr Varadkar …” (more)

[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 17 April]

“The graduation of 190 medical students from NUIG has been fast-tracked to ensure more doctors are available to work during the Covid-19 pandemic. NUI Galway’s 2020 graduation event, which was held online for the first time, took place on Monday morning through a Facebook live event. The students’ final year exams had previously been brought forward to enable them to enter the healthcare workforce without delay …” (more)

[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 6 April]