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Published 01 Jul, 2014 07:04pm

Ireland recruits 115 junior doctors from Pakistan to keep going

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.”

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