The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland welcomes 585 new trainees onto its medical training programmes for 2022/2023.

The new intake of doctors to the RCPI Basic Specialist Training (BST) and Higher Specialist Training (HST) programmes for 2022 is now complete. The new 585 doctors were selected for the schemes following a merit-based assessment process based on HSE and Department of Health guidance.  This year, the assessment process included changes to Stamp 4 and Stamp 5 eligibility to support more non-EU doctors to progress their careers through medical training in Ireland announced by the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly last year. In practical terms, the changes extend the community preferencing element to include doctors from countries outside the EU who have worked in Ireland for more than two years. At RCPI, we are committed to appointing the best candidates and welcome these changes.

To enable high levels of engagement in this process, RCPI transitioned to a virtual interview process to eliminate the need to travel great distances to attend interviews which further increased the number of applications received from non-Irish nationals, particularly for our BST programmes.

The Interview Process

Operating within the regulations determined by the HSE and Department of Health, RCPI implements a robust and independent recruitment process. Interview panels are chaired by external independent professionals. Applications are assessed entirely on the merit of their application using standarised and pre-published criteria. All candidates that meet the basic entry requirements for BST are called for interview and, for HST, standarised and quality assured shortlisting criteria are applied. Standard scoring is used for each interview and anyone who meets the appointable mark moves to the next stage. With the new changes anyone with Irish or EU citizenship, and anyone who is on a Stamp 4 or Stamp 5 visa, are considered first. Any remaining places are filled from the remaining pool of non-EU applicants.

2022/2023 Enrollments

• In the BST, we have seen an increase of 1% non-EU candidates. 21% of non-EU candidates are on Stamp 4 visas, which is up 12% from the 2021-2022 training year.
• General Internal Medicine offered places to 14 Stamp 4 visa holders. 53 non-EU, non-Stamp 4 trainees were offered a place for 2022.
• In the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 5 of the 24 trainees offered places are from non-EU countries. None of those appointed hold a Stamp 4 visa.
• In the Faculty of Paediatrics, 14 of 48 trainees offered places are from non-EU countries. None of those appointed hold a Stamp 4 visa.
• In the Faculty of Pathology, 1 of the 10 trainees offered a place is from a non-EU country. This trainee holds a Stamp 4 visa.By the time trainees are eligible for HST programmes, many will already have ascertained Irish Citizenship or qualify for a Stamp 4 or 5 visa. But, because of the visa amendments, we have seen an increase of about 5% of foreign national doctors accepted onto HST programmes in 2022.