Irish hospitals are appointing 115 medical trainees from Pakistan to resume services from next month, according to independent.ie.

Hospitals in Ireland are in the middle of another major shortage of junior doctors that has been terribly affecting the emergency.

“There is an ongoing vacancy rate of 100 to 120 junior doctors,” said a spokeswoman for Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE).

The reason of the shortage has been stated as the shunning of hospital posts by Irish-trained junior doctors in Ireland and their moving abroad for training.


Emergency


The HSE said the shortage has been particularly felt in emergency departments of hospitals.

It is therefore hiring doctors from Pakistan and other EU States, the HSE spokeswoman said.

The HSE also announced that they will make the training programs more attractive by offering contracts of one to two years for some jobs.

The recruitment is in the second round now. The basic jobs for the trainees would be obstetrics, psychiatry, general practice and ophthalmology.

“The cost of educating a doctor in an Irish medical school has now reached €80,000 to €100,000,” said Irish Health Minister James Reilly.

"This cost is not entirely paid by the State," he said.

"In relation to undergraduate medical programs, majority students pay a student contribution; this is currently set at €2,500 per annum and will rise to €3,000 in 2015. Grant holders may have this paid on their behalf.

"Undergraduate students not eligible for "free fees" are obliged to pay fees.

In relation to graduate medical programs, the student pays a fee of approximately €15,000 per year.

Fine Gael Senator Colm Burke has asked the minister to put it as a requirement that doctors whose education is paid for should work in an Irish hospital for the first three of the five years after graduation.

He added, “Around 600 medical students graduate annually but half of them emigrate after the internship period.”

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...