Medical students ‘need funding increased fourfold’

A LEADING academic has warned that Irish medical students are in danger of falling behind unless funding is increased almost fourfold.

The Department of Education spends about €6,000 a year on fees for each medical student, but UCC head of medicine Professor Eamonn Quigley estimates that €22,000 would be a more realistic figure.

"Students are being educated on the cheap in Ireland as our medical schools are chronically underfunded. We're spending a fraction of what is spent in Britain and elsewhere in the EU. It is only through the commitment of staff and students that we've kept standards up," said Prof Quigley, who worked in the US for 17 years.