Doctors who had bad experience of internship more likely to leave

The study, titled The impacts of training pathways and experiences during intern year on doctor emigration from Ireland, also found a link between positive and negative training experiences and the likelihood of staying to work in the Irish health system.

More than a third of final-year medical students intended to remain in Ireland after their internship, with more than half intending to work overseas, and some planning on never returning. 

The survey of 232 final-year students in Ireland’s six medical schools also found that those studying shorter graduate programmes were more likely to stay here post-qualification than those on longer direct entry programmes. 

The study, titled The impacts of training pathways and experiences during intern year on doctor emigration from Ireland, also found a link between positive and negative training experiences and the likelihood of staying to work in the Irish health system.

According to the study: "Almost two thirds (64%) of the 210 respondents intended to go abroad to practise medicine, with 57% intending to return to Ireland to continue their medical career and 7% intending to leave Ireland permanently; 36% intended to remain in Ireland to practise medicine.

"Just over half the respondents had debts of over €10,000 (54%).

A negative experience as an intern significantly increased the likelihood of leaving to return, and also leaving permanently.

The survey also found that a positive perception of training in Ireland significantly reduced the likelihood of leaving permanently, while a negative perception of training in Ireland increased the likelihood of leaving to return. 

Emotional exhaustion or burnout was also associated with an increased likelihood of leaving permanently, while 70% rated as negative both ‘protected training time’ and the ‘staffing levels in their workplace’, while close to 60% rated as negative their experiences of ‘non-core task allocation’.

According to the authors, "the findings should be of great concern to Irish health workforce policy makers".

"Our study demonstrated an important and statistically significant predictor of the intention to migrate, which remained when adjusted for age, and which has not previously been reported: well over half (60%) of GEM (Graduate Entry Medicine) doctors intended to remain in Ireland following their internship, compared with only one quarter (24%) of DEM (Direct Entry Medicine) doctors. 

"Increasing GEM training places might improve Ireland’s retention of domestically-trained doctors, reducing reliance on non-EU-trained doctors. However, improvements in the working experiences, perceptions of training, and protection of wellbeing are essential for retaining this highly sought-after and geographically mobile cohort."

You can read the full survey here