College Choice/Brian Mooney: Having spent two months visiting a critically ill brother in Beaumont last summer I can affirm that medical staff lead hugely stressful lives.
Amid the pain and anguish of families, torn suddenly from their routine and thrown into a strange world, medical science and human disease fight out their daily struggle.
The notion that one should apply for a place on a medicine, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiography or speech and language course because you are going to get over 550 points is laughable.
Medical careers are true vocations. You do it because you love it to the core of your being. You deal with brokenness, with an endless supply of compassion, as well as professional competence. You are affirmed, not by the hours you work, or the size of your pay cheque, but by the appreciation of those whom you restore to full health.
In the area of medicine itself, there is a Government-imposed cap of 318 places for EU candidates, in place since 1983.
There is no restriction on the total numbers trained, so the five medical colleges, offer places to those interested in studying medicine, from outside the EU, at the full market price.
This enables them to subsidise the Irish students, whose fees are paid by the Government. The colleges claim that this fee covers only a fraction of the actual cost of training, so in effect the training of Irish doctors is being paid for, by the fees of wealthy non-EU students.
To raise the cap and allow more Irish/EU students to be trained would open Pandora's box as to who should pay?
The crazy situation is that even if, as an Irish student, you were prepared to pay the non-EU fee, you could not do so.
By deciding last year to maintain the status quo on third level undergraduate fees we have dodged a serious question which Tony Blair is now confronting.
How do you remain at the cutting edge, in all the major disciplines, which determine the health of your society and economy, when the cost per student of doing so, is way beyond the willingness or ability of the taxpayer to fund it? Yet that same taxpayer is wedded to the notion of free third level fees. Therein may lie the answer for the question of funding medical places. The Minister announced last August, that from 2005, postgraduate entry would be the training route for Irish doctors, with graduates of all disciplines being eligible.
Postgraduate students currently pay their own fees. A spokesman for one of the medical faculties stated that discussions are ongoing, on the Minister's very interesting proposals, but that students should presume that the status quo would continue for some time yet. We live in interesting times.
Returning to the possibility of securing a place in any of the medical courses in 2004, the news is not good.
In 2002 some students secured a place in NUI Galway on 550 points. In 2003 some students on 565 points, failed to secure a place in the three NUI colleges, Dublin, Cork and Galway.
TCD and the RCSI did not offer places to anyone below 570 points. Those lucky enough to secure a scholarship from the RCSI on the basis of their Leaving Certificate results secured a minimum of 590 points.
Veterinary
A lot of students interested in this area also apply for medicine. There is a natural overlap, but the basic veterinary degree takes five years, whereas medicine takes six, plus an intern year. UCD is the only college, which offers veterinary training in Ireland.
Last year it accepted just over 80 students and a spokesman for the veterinary faculty says he expects similar numbers this year.
He says the students who do well in the area are those with an "empathy" with animals, but he says the selection of students is solely academic, so previous experience with animals, say on a farm, is not necessary.
Last year you needed 550 points (with random selection) to secure a place, and this year a similar or higher points score may be needed.
The whole veterinary college shifted from Ballsbridge out to Belfield recently, where final-year students treat cats, dogs and horses under the supervision of a qualified vet.
A rather large bull was rumoured to have taken a stroll around the campus in the settling in stages. A spokesman for UCD could not confirm or deny this tale.
There is little unemployment among veterinary graduates, but the money in the first few years can be low. The kind of six-figure earnings available to some consultant doctors is rarely possible for vets today but there is usually a plentiful supply of work. However, be warned: if you do not like anti-social hours or weekend working, do not become a vet.
UCD also offers five places on a graduate programme. These places are for people with relevant experience who hold a degree in a discipline other than veterinary medicine. An exam must be taken and an interview is also held. People with scientific or agricultural backgrounds tend to be ones who get places. Last year 20 applicants applied for the five places. Applications close on February 1st next.
Brian Mooney's column on CAO options will appear daily in the run-up to the February 1st deadline.
r You can email Brian Mooney on bmooney@irish-times.ie
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