2nd June 2025
5 Tips for Leaving Cert Exams From a Current Medical Student
So the dreaded time of the leaving cert exams has rolled around once again and I’m sure many of you are trembling in your seats at the mere mention of it. But trust me when I say that I can completely relate with you. This time last year I was in your position, getting ready to sit the leaving cert, my head flooded with feelings of excitement and anxiety for what lay ahead. I know t ...
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15th May 2025
Distributed Practice and the HPAT: What You Need to Know Part 2
In part 1 of this blog, we looked at why it is important to study with distributed practice for the HPAT. In part 2, we will look at how to implement distributed practice into your HPAT plan. How to implement distributed practice for HPAT Here are some tips and strategies on how to best use distributed practice in your HPAT preparation (you can also use them in your secondary ...
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15th May 2025
Distributed Practice and the HPAT: What You Need to Know Part 1
Over the last few years various catch-phrases have circulated in the education sector: “study smarter not harder”, "do less work for more reward” and others. They can seem too good to be true. Nevertheless, there is one system that eclipses all others in the research conducted, the widespread implementation and the unanimous praise it has received from sci ...
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4th May 2025
Everything You Need to Know About the HPAT
Do you want to study medicine in 2026? If so, you will need to sit the HPAT 2026. This blog describes everything you need to know about the 2026 HPAT. What is the HPAT? HPAT stands for Health Professions Admission Test. It is a test developed by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research). HPAT is used to help select students into medicine in Ireland. The HPAT tak ...
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22nd April 2025
So You Want to Be a Doctor? How to Get Into Medicine
Congratulations on your decision to pursue medicine as a career! Medicine is an interesting, valued and rewarding profession. The process of getting into medicine can be confusing, so here’s an introduction. Criteria for getting into medicine The minimum points required to get into medicine varies from year to year and between universities, but a total of at least 730 p ...
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14th April 2025
Prerequisites for Studying Medicine in Ireland
The six universities that offer medicine all have a minimum requirement of 480 points from the same sitting of the Leaving Certificate or equivalent. They also have minimum subject requirements, so it is essential to consider this when deciding which Leaving Certificate subjects to choose. Some medicine courses are five years long and some are six. The 6-year courses have a pre-med ...
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9th April 2025
What is HPAT 2026?
HPAT stands for Health Professionals Admission Test. It is one of two main criteria used by most universities in Ireland to select students into high demand health related careers such as medicine (the other being the Leaving Certificate). Unlike traditional school and university exams which assess knowledge, HPAT assesses generic skills, including logical reasoning and problem solving ...
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7th April 2025
How to Prepare for the HPAT in 5th Year
So you’re in 5th year and you’re thinking about pursuing a career in medicine. You’ve been getting great grades and you have the people skills to become a doctor, so there should be no problem getting in. Then you find out about the HPAT. You hear that it can be a major obstruction to your journey, and only a select few are able to succeed in HPAT. You hear about all the peop ...
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2nd April 2025
How to Choose an Irish Medical School
In Ireland, there are six medical schools that you can apply to as an undergraduate student: University College Dublin (UCD) Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University College Cork (UCC) University of Galway University of Limerick As there are 10 spaces on your CAO application you can apply for all Irish medical schools and still ha ...
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10th March 2025
Is Medicine for Me? 5 Tips on How To Make the Big Decision
Trying to decide whether medicine is for you? Personally, it took me months and lots of research and thought to finally make that decision. Compared to most Bachelor degrees which are usually three years in duration, courses in medicine take much longer – about 5 years to complete. Then there is post-graduate study and specialist training. You could be looking at many years before you ar ...
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