Sir, – Graduating this week from Graduate Entry to Medicine (GEM) at University College Cork leads me to question the fate of the programme. The previous government created these courses to enable graduates in any discipline to enter medical school with the cost divided equally between the State and the student. Tailored credit packages were created to cover students’ fees and expenses. The overarching aim was to retain graduates and enrich the pool of prospective doctors. I am one of the produce.
Several reports, including the 2006 Medical Education In Ireland: A New Direction concluded that the GEM programmes would improve access for mature individuals and those less advantaged to the ultimate benefit of patients and the wider community.
The recent downturn in the economy has seen the State contribution decline significantly and the availability of credit vanish. What was envisaged as a strategy to modernise Irish medical education has reverted to one affording access only to those with means.
The Government and the university sector must remain conscious of their societal responsibility to provide access to medicine to a wide variety of applicants.
I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time; Ireland, 2009. Ireland 2013 would not be as kind. – Yours, etc,
Dr FRED A ENGLISH,
Evergreen Road, Cork.