Ireland vs. Australia

[pilotguy027]

Hi all,

 

Was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the pros and cons of Australian schools vs. Irish Schools. I have a choice between a school in each country. I am a Canadian and would like to pursue the choice that keeps the most doors open for me. Aside from the tuition cost differences, can anyone speak to any strengths of one country's system over the others? What is the relative success of getting matches in Canada between Australian trained IMGs vs. Irish trained? Thanks!

[srindogg@hotmail.com]

Multiple posts on this subject, search for RogerRoger's posts they're pretty informative. Also, look on the SDN international forum. Lots of good discussion there too.

[ED527]

Unfortunately, I believe rogerroger took down that post a while ago.

[srindogg@hotmail.com]

In general, there is no consensus on which country is better able to match in Canada. Only recently have the Irish students started to compile a match list, as another user posted. And that list looks pretty damn good for a foreign med school. There is no such official list for Australia, but after speaking to the Flinders interviewer some time back, Australian schools seem to do quite well. One person actually matched into Derm in Canada. I personally don't think there is a big difference in the preference of Irish or Australian graduates for programs here. Its an uphill battle either way.

 

I don't know about the Irish system, but the Australian system at some schools is very close to the Canadian system. They have PBL based basic sciences for the first couple years and clinical part for the last two. Also, they give a reasonable amount of time for international electives to be done in Canda. One concern is that the Australian schools do not directly prepare the students for the USMLE very well. I think this is a bit better at Irish schools.

 

There are two major reasons I would choose Australia over Ireland:

 

1. Cost, much much cheaper at Australian schools!!!

2. Possibility of staying back in Australia if things don't work out in the match. In Ireland, unless you have EU citizenship, it is basically impossible to practice there. In Australia, in the past it has been very easy to stay there. But now, there is a predicted shortage of intership positions in the near future because of the large increase in medical seats. This will be especially bad in the states of NSW and Queensland where there have been the largest increase in medical seats. That is a why I was considering Flinders (South Australia) very seriously if things didn't work out here. It is probably the best place to go if you want a good chance at staying back. Also, it looks like the government is taking steps to keep up with the internship shortage, but no one really knows how things are going to turn out. However, it is a potential plan C, assuming Canada and USA are plans A and B....