The College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland welcomes the recent changes in the criteria for Trainee Specialist Registration eligibility with the Irish Medical Council (IMC) & the HSE English language competency requirements.

On 6 November 2020, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, enacted legislative changes that will help non-EEA doctors to access postgraduate specialist training in Ireland. The signing of commencement order for sections of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 allows any doctor eligible for registration on the Council’s general division to apply for specialist training. For the purpose of demonstrating eligibility for the application to the Specialist Anaesthesiology Training Programme doctors on the General Register must submit a copy of their General Registration certificate or a letter from the Irish Medical Council to confirm their eligibility.

The amendment of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 also removes a requirement that doctors who qualified in a non-EEA country, and who wish to commence postgraduate medical training in Ireland, must have completed an internship deemed the equivalent of that completed in Ireland.

In addition to the above, there has also been recent changes in the HSE to the required English Language Competency requirements for employment with the HSE.

NCHDs taking up employment with the HSE and section 38 organisations who were not registered with the Irish Medical Council in any of the divisions of the Register of Medical Practitioners prior to 1st January 2015, or who did not complete the entirety of their under-graduate medical training in the Republic of Ireland, are required to provide evidence under one of the following categories:

Category 1. Doctors who completed their Medical degree in English from any of the following countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The United States of America or The United Kingdom must provide:

A copy of their Medical Degree Certificate

Category 2. Doctors who completed: The Irish State Leaving Certificate examination or A Levels in the United Kingdom and a Medical Degree in English must provide all three of the following:

A copy of Irish Leaving Certificate/UK A-Level transcript results

A copy of their Medical Degree

Certificate/confirmation from their University confirming their Medical degree was taught and examined solely in English

Category 3. Doctors who meet the English Language requirements by attaining certification via the recognized English Language Tests must submit a certificate of test results from either the International English Language Test System (IELTS) (Academic EXAM) or Occupational English Test (OET).

Please see “SAT 2021 Guidance Document Version 2” for further information on these changes.