Ireland Universities Talk
When it comes to medicine, not many of us Taylorians had considered Ireland as a choice. Probably because we had all the old clichés of Ireland hammered in: leprechauns, lots of potatoes, people with efficient livers that raised alcohol tolerance, and more leprechauns.
Well, Barbara, a representative from the Ireland Universities and Medical Schools Consortium, or IUMC, arrived on the 27th January 2010 to put an end to that. She gave us a little tour of Ireland via PowerPoint screen, explaining its bucolic environment due to a small population (4 million against our 25 million, and we’re about the same size)! That was why there was much unspoiled beauty.
Besides that, Ireland had a period where everyone was just potato farming all the time. Suddenly, around the 1850s, the potato blight struck and all the potatoes were infected by a fungus, putting everyone out of a job. So that’s why many Irish migrated and can be found all over the world now, especially in the USA.
Well, the government didn’t want that to happen again, and so they began intensive training programs so that its young population could become doctors, engineers and professionals who could do something else rather than potato farming. This explains why Ireland has a highly trained workforce.
However, Barbara told us about the limited spots—only 15 international students would enter Trinity College for Medicine, and for Vet Science in Ireland, 4As were needed, and students had to grab one out of 3 limited spots. Just as we were feeling impeded, she encouraged us by saying that 3 Taylorians had actually entered into Universities at Ireland last year, and even a few years before that someone had managed to snag a Dentistry place.
She showed us the basic entry requirements: AAB in A levels for Medicine, and tuition fees which would amount to 31000 Euros per year, with living expenses of about 10000 Euros. Vet Science was about the same. Basically, there were 4 universities covered by IUMC: Trinity College Dublin, University College of Cork (engineering centre), National University of Ireland, Galway, and University College Dublin.
An overview of Dublin proved it to be a rather peaceful, quiet city, but nevertheless Irish cities are the hub of big international companies such as IBM and Google. Not only that, they are also rich in culture (as exemplified by the pictures of students busking) and most Irish still retain their identity with their declaration of independence from Britain. They speak Galic, and still sing many of their folksongs.
Yes, I know, Riverdance!
Not only that, but the cities have really flourished since back then and though many universities still retain their old buildings, new ones have recently been built, and give the campus a modern feel. However, the Irish are so intent on preserving the old that when a stone archway proved to be too small for a crane to go through, the masons took down a bit of the wall, and then rebuilt it when the crane had finished its job!
All in all, Barbara was very helpful and informative, and even provided us with a booklet and a very easy-to-fill medical form for those who wanted to apply in September 2010. It was quite an interesting experience to learn briefly about another country, not only about its education facilities but also its history and culture.
Well, Barbara, a representative from the Ireland Universities and Medical Schools Consortium, or IUMC, arrived on the 27th January 2010 to put an end to that. She gave us a little tour of Ireland via PowerPoint screen, explaining its bucolic environment due to a small population (4 million against our 25 million, and we’re about the same size)! That was why there was much unspoiled beauty.
Besides that, Ireland had a period where everyone was just potato farming all the time. Suddenly, around the 1850s, the potato blight struck and all the potatoes were infected by a fungus, putting everyone out of a job. So that’s why many Irish migrated and can be found all over the world now, especially in the USA.
Well, the government didn’t want that to happen again, and so they began intensive training programs so that its young population could become doctors, engineers and professionals who could do something else rather than potato farming. This explains why Ireland has a highly trained workforce.
However, Barbara told us about the limited spots—only 15 international students would enter Trinity College for Medicine, and for Vet Science in Ireland, 4As were needed, and students had to grab one out of 3 limited spots. Just as we were feeling impeded, she encouraged us by saying that 3 Taylorians had actually entered into Universities at Ireland last year, and even a few years before that someone had managed to snag a Dentistry place.
She showed us the basic entry requirements: AAB in A levels for Medicine, and tuition fees which would amount to 31000 Euros per year, with living expenses of about 10000 Euros. Vet Science was about the same. Basically, there were 4 universities covered by IUMC: Trinity College Dublin, University College of Cork (engineering centre), National University of Ireland, Galway, and University College Dublin.
An overview of Dublin proved it to be a rather peaceful, quiet city, but nevertheless Irish cities are the hub of big international companies such as IBM and Google. Not only that, they are also rich in culture (as exemplified by the pictures of students busking) and most Irish still retain their identity with their declaration of independence from Britain. They speak Galic, and still sing many of their folksongs.
Yes, I know, Riverdance!
Not only that, but the cities have really flourished since back then and though many universities still retain their old buildings, new ones have recently been built, and give the campus a modern feel. However, the Irish are so intent on preserving the old that when a stone archway proved to be too small for a crane to go through, the masons took down a bit of the wall, and then rebuilt it when the crane had finished its job!
All in all, Barbara was very helpful and informative, and even provided us with a booklet and a very easy-to-fill medical form for those who wanted to apply in September 2010. It was quite an interesting experience to learn briefly about another country, not only about its education facilities but also its history and culture.
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