Internship in Ireland

Welcome to the West Northwest Intern Network

1. Overview of Internship

2. Internship Application Process

3. Internship in West Northwest Intern Network

4. Further information

1. Overview of Internship

The hub teaching hospital in the West Northwest (WNW) Network is Galway University Hospital (GUH).

In GUH, there are 2 sites – University College Hospital and Merlin Park University Hospital.

There are an additional 7 affiliated hospitals in the network, each with an intern tutor and administrative point of contact.

• Letterkenny University Hospital
• Sligo University Hospital
• Mayo University Hospital
• Portiuncula University Hospital
• Roscommon General Hospital
• Galway Clinic
• Bons Secours Hospital.

The intern posts in the West Northwest Network all rotate through GUH for a minimum of 6 months. There is a mandatory face-to-face induction programme commencing the 4th of July in each hospital.

Internship is 12 months consecutive education and training in the first postgraduate year and is made up of 4 x 3 month rotations in a named hospital or GP practice.

Internship is part of basic medical training (undergraduate training plus internship) and you are not issued with your Certificate Of Experience (CoE) by the Medical Council until you have successfully completed your Intern year.

There are 6 intern training networks in Ireland aligned to the 6 medical schools.  Each of the networks has intern posts in hospitals and GP practices within their region and  in both public and private hospitals.

Recent reforms to the intern year have led to the establishment of Intern Training Networks in Ireland.

The Six Intern Training Networks are:

West / Northwest (NUIG) Dublin / Northeast (RCSI) Dublin / Mid-Leinster (UCD) Dublin / Southeast (TCD) South (UCC) Mid-West (UL)

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There are 727 intern posts in Ireland and as well as posts in medical and surgical specialties, there are multiple posts in super specialties such as obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry, anaesthetics, ophthalmology etc.

Intern posts are competitive and allocated centrally by the national recruitment process.

Further general information on internship can be found:  http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/Leadership_Education_Development/MET/ed/interns/

 2. Internship Application Process:

Application for internship is a three stage process‌ (for graduates of Irish medical schools). 

• Stage 1 opens end of October
• Stage 2 opens in March.
• Stage 3 opens in June.

All details of the Application process (for 2016) can be found at the following links:

Stage 1: http://www.imo.ie/i-am-a/student/intern-allocation/A-Guide-Application-and-Appointment-to-Intern-Training-in-Ireland-2016.pdf

Stage 2+3:  ‌ ‌

http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/Jobs/Job_Search/Medical_Dental/nchd/Interns/

In order to apply you must be eligible, have a valid BLS certificate and have graduated by end of June.

For graduates of EEA medical schools who are eligible for internship, there is a three stage application process PLUS an intern eligibility employment test (IEET). 

In order to work as an Intern you need to have Registration with the Medical Council.  Information regarding registration with the Medical Council can be found at the following link:

https://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Registration-Applications/First-Time-Applicants/Internship-Registration.html

2017 sees the introduction of Academic Internship (pg.26) . Academic Interns will undertake one full rotation (3 months) in a combined clinical and academic rotation, along with completing their other 3 clinical rotations as normal.

Further information on the Academic track can be found here.

3. Internship in West Northwest

Each Intern is supplied with the Medical Council approved National Intern Training Programme Core Document ‌‌‌curriculum at Induction. This was devised by the Intern Network Executive Group (Intern Network Coordinators from all 6 Schools).

All interns are required to read and sign the National Intern Education and Training Agreement NIETA‌‌‌.

The list of Intern Mandatory Education and Training‌‌‌ is available for further information and requirements.

As well as working as an intern you have to complete a certain amount of Training. Most of this is delivered in your hospital by the intern network. This needs to be signed off at the end of internship by the network. Your Attendance at Workshops and Record of your Procedural Skills plus Record of your Teaching of Medical Students is required by the network in April 2017 as evidence of training.

An Audit, Case Report or a Piece of Research for RAMI intern study day Dec/Jan must be done. It is also a chance to present at a national meeting, win a medal and get an abstract publication in IJMS(Irish Journal Medical Sciences)

Mentoring the medical students (year 5) as they complete their junior internships (JIs) is mandatory

There is also an Academic Teaching Programme for Interns called IJuMP ‌and entry onto this is competitive (interview) and prestigious. Limited to 40 places per year.     

Link to IJuMP Video testimonials:    https://vimeo.com/177832547‌

Once you are signed off, the Medical Council will issue you with a Certificate Of Experience (CoE) as evidence of having completed internship. This certificate enables the holder to apply for Registration on the Trainee Specialist Division (other than as an Intern) or the General Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council of Ireland.

4. Further Information

For comprehensive information and FAQs on the national intern programme, go to the HSE’s website

The Medical Council have recently issued guidelines on all aspects of the intern year. Please see the relevant links below:

http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Professional-Development/Intern-Year/Approved-Guidelines-on-Medical-Education-and-Training-for-Interns.pdf

http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Media-Centre/Publications/2008-2009/Guide-to-Professional-Conduct-and-Behaviour-for-Registered-Medical-Practitioners-pdf

http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Information-for-Doctors/Good-Professional-Practice/

http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Registration/Internship-Registration/