Non-EU students account for almost half of enrolments on medicine courses

Figures from the Department of Health show that 649 non-EU students enrolled in medicine courses around the country in 2021. File picture: iStock

Students from outside of the EU made up almost half of all enrolments on medicine courses last year, new figures show.

Figures from the Department of Health show that 649 non-EU students enrolled in medicine courses around the country in 2021, approximately 46% of all enrollments in both undergraduate and graduate entry medical courses.

Overall, there were 1,403 new enrollments last year. Once qualified, non-EU doctors face additional hurdles here such as short-term contracts and being blocked from accessing training opportunities.

The Department of Health secretary-general Robert Watt recently told the Oireachtas health committee that there needs to be a "step-change" in how we train doctors as the country doesn't have enough at the moment and needs much more in the coming years. 

The number of places offered to EU citizens increased by 60 this September, he told the committee. 

Mr Watt said: “We have plans to increase it to 200. We need to do much more than that. That's a real issue for the schools, and it's a real policy challenge.

We might need to establish new schools, new ways of accessing training places. 

"It’s a big challenge for us and we need to do more because we don’t have enough doctors. The reality is that we have to train more doctors, and there is no getting away from this.” 

There are issues around retention of trained doctors, he said, adding:  “I think there needs to be a step-change. 

"Whether that involves a radical expansion on the capacity of the existing medical schools in Ireland, whether [its] a complete reorientation of the model, where it needs to establish new medical schools.”

A spokesman for University College Cork (UCC) said the Irish medical schools welcome opportunities to work with stakeholders to ensure that Ireland "has adequate numbers of well-trained doctors to meet its growing and more complex health care needs." 

A spokesman for the University of Limerick (UL) said the number of graduated doctors can only be determined in the context of workforce planning. "Appropriately funded medical schools however can deliver the graduate medical workforce needed." 

There is however a complex issue with the retention of doctors, and other professions, after graduation, he added. 

"This reflects a growing and more complex demographic with more demands on the health service and therefore requires a broader and more effective approach than medical student numbers alone."