Any major differences between 4 year irish med schools?

[medisforme]

Hello, this is my first application to the atlantic bridge program and I was wondering what some of the major differences were between the 4 year programs? Do most people apply to all 4 schools when applying? Is the differences mostly related to the different cities/campus lifestyles etc..?

 

I know that the University of Limerick focuses on a lot of PBL in their education curriculum.

From my research RCSI seems a lot more formal/traditional. Is this accurate?

 

Anyhow, if anyone has any more info, on the major differences between the 4 year programs, please feel free to post below.

 

thanks

[macstjo]

Hello, this is my first application to the atlantic bridge program and I was wondering what some of the major differences were between the 4 year programs? Do most people apply to all 4 schools when applying? Is the differences mostly related to the different cities/campus lifestyles etc..?

 

I know that the University of Limerick focuses on a lot of PBL in their education curriculum.

From my research RCSI seems a lot more formal/traditional. Is this accurate?

 

Anyhow, if anyone has any more info, on the major differences between the 4 year programs, please feel free to post below.

 

thanks

 

cGPA 3.30 MCAT 33/Q M.Sc. in 2012

I'm applying to all seven schools

[medisforme]

thanks for the reply, but i am really interested in responses that answer my question about any significant differences between the 4 year med schools.

[UL_StudentLiaison]

Hi Medisforme,

 

I realize you posted your questions a few months ago so I'm not sure if this still applies, but I'll answer your questions anyways in case others are interested!

 

I would highly recommend applying to a number of the Irish programs all at once. It's a centralized application through Atlantic Bridge and is very straight forward, so you might as well check the extra boxes to increase your chances at getting in and to give you the option to change your mind down the road

 

I'm the International Student Liaison for the Medical Society at the University of Limerick, however I went through the application process for the other universities so I have done some research into the others when making my decision to attend Limerick.

 

At the moment, UL is the only school to use the PBL (problem-based-learning) format for their program whereas the other Irish universities use the traditional didactic style of learning. The GEMS program emphasizes learning in small groups, particularly through PBL in Yrs 1 & 2. There is an emphasis on early patient contact and on the development of good communication and clinical skills. They based their program and curriculum off of a combination of a number of current PBL medical schools including McMaster.

 

To be completely blunt, PBL isn't for everyone. Personally I am a big fan of the PBL format and believe I am getting a lot out of the learning style. In addition, I find it is a great atmosphere to be collaborating and working together to help each other do well in the program and learn from each other based on our strengths from previous degrees (ex. biochem, psych, pharm, medical enginering, physiology, law, physiotherapy...), especially after coming from a competitive biomedical sciences program in Canada.

 

There are pluses and minuses to both formats so it really comes down to where you think you would be best-suited (and where you get accepted!). The universities are also based in different cities across the country, with different styles of campuses. UL has more of a campus feel, being based just outside of Limerick with everything you need available on the campus and students living in residence, whereas the others are located in the heart of the cities (Galway, Dublin and Cork), so it depends on the atmosphere you're looking for.

 

Are you only looking at 4 year programs?

In terms of length, the graduate entry programs are broken down the following way:

 

4 Year Programs - RCSI, UCC, UCD, UL

5 Year Programs - NUIG, Trinity

 

All the best with your applications to medical school!