Private hospitals open door to med students

The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe TD has launched a new teaching agreement between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and five independent hospitals to facilitate the clinical teaching of RCSI medical students.  The hospitals involved in the agreement are Beacon Hospital, Bon Secours Hospital, Galway Clinic, Hermitage Medical Clinic and Mount Carmel Hospital.

Commenting on the agreement, Minister O’Keeffe said, 'I would like to congratulate RCSI and the hospitals for developing and cultivating innovative educational links. This new teaching agreement will make a valuable contribution to the training of our future generation of medical professionals. By providing medical students with exposure to a broader range of medical conditions and treatments their experience will be enhanced and the quality of their training improved, leading ultimately to better patient care.'

The private health care sector in Ireland has grown significantly over the past ten years with over 50% of the Irish population now owning private health insurance compared to only 10% in the United Kingdom.

Professor Frank Keane, President, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland said: 'RCSI is at the forefront in providing the highest standards of training for the future generation of medical professionals. The new teaching agreement will enable us to address the changes in our healthcare landscape so that our medical students are exposed to both public and private practice which will lead to a more varied clinical teaching programme. We look forward to working alongside the hospitals here today to provide training and professional development for our students.'

The use of private hospitals to facilitate the teaching of medical students is normal in the United States and Australia. Research has shown that this practice improves recruitment into specialties such as surgery as well as providing patients with a positive hospital experience. 

Representatives from each of the hospitals involved in the agreement said: 'We welcome the opportunity to provide clinical teaching to students from RCSI in the independent healthcare sector.  The agreement marks a significant development in medical education in Ireland as both undergraduate and postgraduate students will be exposed to certain techniques and technologies that are currently only available in the private sector.'

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