The point is medical careers are true vocations

People working as doctors lead hugely stressful lives amid the pain and anguish of families, and are thrown into a strange world where medical science and human disease fight out their endless daily struggle.

The notion that one should apply for a place on a course leading to a career in medicine, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiography or speech and language therapy because you are lightly to get over 550 points is laughable. Medical careers are true vocations. You do it because you love it to the core of your being.

You deal with brokenness and with an endless supply of compassion as well as professional competence. You are affirmed, not by the hours you work or the size of your pay cheque, but by the appreciation of those whom you restore to full health and the dignity of those whose illness is beyond your skills.

Yet, every year there are those who, because of their high academic ability, feel obliged to apply for medical and paramedical courses simply because they have the points to do so.

For those challenged by the call of a career in a medical field, there are far more applicants than places available. There is a Government imposed cap of 318 places for EU candidates studying medicine. This cap was put in place in 1983 because of the dire financial condition of the State finances and falling population at the time. The pressure on students, parents, and the medical faculties caused by the small number of places available to EU students is immense.

Trinity, following huge pressure from schools in the North, has recently reserved a percentage of their places in all undergraduate courses including medicine for those presenting A levels, further reducing the number of places available to Leaving Certificate candidates.

There is no restriction on the total numbers trained, so the five medical colleges offer places to those interested in studying medicine from outside the EU at the full market price of around €24,000. This enables them to subsidize the Irish students whose fees are paid for by the Government.

The colleges claim that this fee covers only a fraction of the actual cost of training so, in effect, the training of Irish doctors is being paid for by the fees of wealthy non-EU students or their governments.

To raise the cap and allow more Irish/EU students to be trained would open a Pandora's box concerning who should pay. The crazy situation is that even if as an Irish student you were prepared to pay the non-EU fee, you are not allowed to apply for such a place.

UCD, having offered their allocation of 108 places to EU students, go on to offer a further 130 places to non-EU students. If those places were available to Leaving Certificate students, the points would drop to close to 500. By parking the free fees issue for the duration of this Dáil, the Government have pushed this issue aside until at least after the next election. The heads of the universities are pushing it back onto the political agenda, claiming that the quality of our university education is being seriously compromised by lack of funds.

Dr Hugh Brady, of UCD, among others, is asking how our universities can remain at the cutting edge in all the major disciplines when the cost per student of doing so is way beyond the willingness or ability of the taxpayer to fund it?

Yet that same taxpayer is wedded to the notion of free third level fees.

Therein may lay the answer for the question of funding medical places. The previous Minister for Education announced that from 2005, postgraduate entry would be the training route for Irish doctors, with graduates of all disciplines being eligible. Postgraduate students currently pay their own fees. A spokesman for one of the medical faculties stated that discussions are ongoing but that students should presume the status quo would continue for some time yet.

Returning to the possibility of securing a place in any of the medical courses in 2005, the news is not good. In 2004 only those scoring 575 points could be sure of a place in UCD, Galway and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

Some students scoring 570 points gained entry through random selection but not all. At UCC the lucky few had scores of 580, with some students on 575 getting a place through random selection.

Trinity, given its allocation of places to Northern Ireland schools, offered places to those on 585 points plus some on 580 through random selection. Those lucky to secure a scholarship from the RCSI on the basis of their Leaving Cert results secure a minimum of 590 points. Finally, apart from points, students considering medicine require a minimum of a higher level C on two science subjects. They must also take a medical test to establish their health status. This assessment can include tests for hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

Veterinary

Many students interested in this area also apply for medicine. There is a natural overlap but the basic veterinary degree takes five years whereas medicine, in most cases, takes six plus an intern year. UCD is the only college, which offers veterinary training in Ireland. Last year it accepted just over 80 students and a spokesman for the veterinary faculty said he expected similar numbers this year. He said the students who do well are those with an "empathy" with animals but the selection of students is solely academic so previous experience with animals is not necessary.

Last year you needed 560 points to secure a place, and this year a similar or higher points score may be needed. The veterinary college has moved from Ballsbridge to the Belfield campus where final-year students treat cats, dogs and horses under the supervision of a qualified vet.

There is little unemployment among veterinary graduates but the money in the first few years can be low. The kind of six-figure earnings available to some consultant doctors is rarely possible for vets today but there is usually a plentiful supply of work. However, be warned: if you do not like anti-social hours or weekend working, do not become a vet.

UCD also offers five places on a graduate programme. These places are for people with relevant experience who hold a degree in a discipline other than veterinary medicine. An admissions test must be taken and assessment for entry combines the results of this test with the academic record and life experience of the applicant. People with scientific or agricultural backgrounds tend to get places. Last year 40 applicants applied for the five places. Applications close on February 1st next and application must be made via the CAO and also directly to UCD by that date.

Agriculture science

The following sentence was inadvertently omitted from yesterday's column:

UL recently introduced food science and health (LM068) which blends the "traditional" core food science modules such as food microbiology, food chemistry and food processing with "new" health and lifestyle-oriented modules such as human nutrition, human physiology, exercise and health.

Tomorrow: Paramedical courses.

Brian Mooney's column on CAO options will appear each weekday in the run-up to the deadline at the end of this month.