The easiest, cheapest and most direct route into medicine in Ireland is the undergraduate route. This route requires you to sit HPAT. However, there are other options for studying medicine, which are outlined in this blog. Undergraduate medicine To study undergraduate medicine in Ireland, you need to both achieve high enough points in your Leaving Cert and perform well in HPAT. There are five colleges which offer undergraduate medicine – three in Dublin (Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), one in Cork (University College Cork) and one in Galway (National University of Ireland,...

In preparing for something as mammoth as a medical school interview, there are a lot of things to consider. When preparing you have to understand what type of language the interviewers might use, what to include in your answers and how you can respond both verbally and through your body language.   General advice for medical interviews • Walk into the room with a big smile. • Be confident, honest, friendly, understanding, respectful and empathic. • It doesn’t matter which side of the argument you decide to adopt, take your stance and defend your arguments until the end. Give reasons to...

Many of the personal qualities that the HPAT aims to assess in prospective medical students are the same qualities that are required to be a good doctor. Whilst the HPAT can only assess what you put on a paper in multiple choice format; the medical interview that will follow, can look for these qualities in person.    Your choice of words, body language, attitude and way of thinking will all be up for examination in the medical interview. Without some internal self-reflection, you will not be able to paint a detailed enough picture of yourself. A lot of these qualities we...

I was fortunate enough to have jumped through the hurdles that lie on the way to medical school, and there are quite a few benefits on the other side. One of these is being able to talk to doctors, health professionals or community members that have had previous experience as interviewers. The following is an excerpt from a conversation I had with a past interviewer to understand what they are looking for in medical interviews.    1. As a community member are you concerned about the medical/dental focus of some of the scenarios? “The scenarios in the MMI (multiple mini interview)...

The final year of school can be a tough year. If you want to do well and obtain entry into your chosen course, you have to put in the effort and work. On top of assessments and exams, there is also HPAT preparation. How do you fit it all in? We have tips for you below on how to optimise your time.  HPAT preparation is a subject A lot of students find it a difficult task to manage all their subjects and do HPAT preparation as well. But the process can be made easier starting with a simple mindset change. Treat...

-            For the few weeks before the test, if not longer, you've been preoccupied with the HPAT. Maybe you've let a few things slide: homework, co-curricular activities, your friends, fun. Now it's time to catch up on anything that's fallen behind and to return to your normal routine after the HPAT.    We know you may be feeling a little anti-climactic after getting all geared up for the HPAT that's now over, but don't forget other tests that may be looming on the horizon. You've worked hard preparing for the HPAT and it's natural to want to relax a bit. But please, please don't blow off your Year 12 exams; they are just as...