College Choice/Brian Mooney: Last Friday I dealt with entry into medicine and veterinary medicine specifically.
Today I shall deal with other medical-based programmes, available to students. However, I am afraid to state that the points requirements are not much lower than for medicine or veterinary medicine.
The number of applicants for each course is not in fact high, but, in general, the quality of their examination results is.
So most applicants are going to be disappointed.
Pharmacy
Until recently, Trinity College was the only provider of pharmacy degrees in the Republic. But in 2003, two other colleges offered courses: the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI) and NUI Cork.
This unprecedented increase in provision is good news for students.
Simply put, there are more places available and this has been reducing points, if only slightly. The RCSI last year offered 38 places and it should offer about the same this year.
Points for entry into Trinity, decreased by five to 545 with random selection last year. The points for entry last year into RCSI increased from their first year level of 535 to 540 with random selection.
Meanwhile, a UCC course started in September 2003 by accepting students on 555 points.
Dentistry
There are two colleges offering courses in Dentistry. UCC offers its degree (CK702), while Trinity College offers its (TR052) course.
The number of students choosing it as first preference is usually quite healthy.
In 2003 243 applied, up from 194 in the previous year. The problem is that, between them, UCC and Trinity offer less than 60 places.
The other problem is that strong academic performers tend to be attracted to the course. Last year the increase in numbers saw the points rise from 530 in UCC to 550 and from 540 to 555 in Trinity.
The degree courses of both colleges last five years, and the amount of work involved can be exhausting. Both universities have dental hospitals attached and students get a chance, under strict supervision, to treat patients.
After graduating, students join the Irish Dental Association and either work in a practice or for a health board. Earnings are usually very good.
Private practice is generally regarded as providing the best income, but setting yourself up can be costly and dentists warn that maintaining a practice and meeting overheads reduces overall earnings considerably.
The level of unemployment, though, is low, and dentists can easily work abroad once they have been registered and approved by professional associations in the foreign country they select.
The whole area is increasingly becoming dominated by female students who tend to outscore their male rivals.
The number of male students studying in the Dublin dental hospital has reached such a low level the school can no longer field a separate rugby team of its own.
Optometry
There is only one optometry course in the State, which qualifies students as ophthalmic opticians, and that is at DIT. It only takes 24 students each year and the minimum points score of successful applicants was 515 last year.
But with the numbers graduating so low, there is at least the chance to earn a decent income. The DIT course gives students plenty of options and language lessons are included. Apart from broad subjects like biology and chemistry, the course also focuses on business studies and law.
There is also a period of unpaid training. The course prepares students to be optometrists or ophthalmic opticians. This means they can dispense treatments and also examine eyes and suggest remedies.
However, a clear distinction must be drawn between their role and that of a consultant working the ophthalmic area. Work is not always plentiful to begin with, and many graduates have to travel to Britain to get their first job.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapists work with those with a physical or psychiatric illness or disability, facilitating their recovery or adjustment through structured programmes of activity.
In 2003 the existing course in Trinity was supplemented by two new courses in NUI Cork and Galway. This three-fold increase in places, only led to the points dropping from 495 to 490.
Speech and Language Therapy
Speech and Language Therapists work, in hospitals, clinics and private practice, with those who have communications disorders. New courses in NUI Galway and Cork, in addition to the existing Trinity course, saw points drop from 525 to 510-515.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists use physical means such as exercise, mobilisations, manipulation, and massage to promote healing due to pain, caused by injury or disability. UCD and RCSI admitted students in 2003 on 530 point's, TCD on 540 and UL on 565, all on random selection.
Radiography
Radiography is divided into two areas of work, diagnostic, which involves the use of various forms of imaging, including X-ray, MRI scans, ultrasound, to produce images of the body and therapeutic where treatment is given over a protracted period for diseases such as cancer.
In 2003, both TCD and UCD admitted students to their radiography course on 490 points.
For those interested in careers in the medical field, but not in the 500 plus category, the DIT offers three interesting programmes: environmental health, where points dropped from 360 to 310 in 2003, clinical measurement, where points remained at 300, and biomedical science, a new programme, that admitted students at 445 points in 2003.
NUI Galway also offers this programme. Entry points were 480 in 2003. WIT offers two degrees in health promotion and exercise and health studies, at in and around 300 points. Finally, UCC are offering a new degree in 2004, in public health and health promotion.
At diploma and cert level, Sligo IT offers a diploma in biomedical science plus one in health science and physiology. This programme is also available at Carlow IT. Certificate courses in medical laboratory science are available from both Cork and Galway-Mayo IT.
Tomorrow: communications careers including teaching, journalism and communications
- Brian Mooney's column on CAO options will appear daily in the run-up to the February 1st deadline.
You can e-mail Brian Mooney on bmooney@irish-times.ie
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