MEDICAL, veterinary or dentistry courses head the dream list of many CAO applicants. Unfortunately, most of these would be doctors, dentists and vets are destined for a rude awakening, as the harsh reality is that there are very few places available.
Each year there are about 70 places in both veterinary medicine and dentistry, and about 300 places in human medicine, available through the CAO. In addition, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland reserves 40 places for Irish students. (This year the RCSI has entered the CAO for the first time but the overall total number of first year medical places will remain the same at 340.)
As always, a small number of places in sought after courses means that the cut off points levels remain prohibitively high year after year.
Often, students who have set their hearts on becoming doctors dentists or vets refuse to look outside these careers. This kind of tunnel vision may leave students who have done exceptionally well in the Leaving Cert without the offer of a college place - any college place.
You should look around at related areas - what about science, human genetics, biotechnology, animal science? Sit down with your guidance counsellor and work through some alternative options.
When autumn comes around you may not feel like repeating your Leaving Cert, but you may end up with little choice if your CAO form simply reads medicine, medicine, medicine, and all else is left blank.
MEDICINE
First the bad news. Each year for the past number of years Mr Conal Devine, director of industrial relations with the Irish Medical Organisation, has issued a warning to second level students dazzled with dreams of white coats and stethoscopes.
Education for doctors does not end with six years in medical school. They spend a further year as interns, training in hospitals, and then it is competition time again. If you want to become a consultant in a particular speciality, structured training is a must.
Mr Devine explains that sufficient numbers of these training posts are simply not available for all of the newly qualified interns. In addition to hospital training posts, there are usually about 55 first year general practitioner training posts.
But the numbers still do not add up. About half of each year's crop of young doctors must go abroad to complete their training.
Meanwhile there is the strange anomaly that about one third of our junior doctor posts are filled by non nationals. These posts are of no training value and Irish and EU doctors will look at posts only in terms of training, according to Mr Devine.
At the top end there must be an increase in the number of consultant posts available, he says, if the bottleneck is going to ease.
"Look at the hard statistics," says Mr Devine. "These are all extremely bright young people at the top of the pile where exam results are concerned. They should think about an alternative to medicine as a career.
"We still want to see good people coming through, but not everybody will come through at the end. That's the statistical reality."
Don't say you haven't been warned. However, it must be said that, if you battle your way through, medicine is an extremely rewarding, exciting profession and well worth fighting for.
However, you should make very sure you know what you are getting into.
Last year, 1,813 first preference applicants vied for 295 places within the CAO system. Points were tightly bunched in the 500s - from 565 in UCD (including any bonus points for higher level maths) to 555 in TCD, 540 in UCC, and 535 in UCG.
In all but TCD, random selection applied. Not all applicants with these points levels got a place - the lucky ones were chosen by means of a computerised lottery.
In practical terms, this means is that if you are serious about medicine you must list all courses in all colleges. But do think seriously about listing some other options as well.
With the RCSI entering the CAO system, 35 places will be awarded to Irish students purely on the basis of points. The traditional interview has been suspended but the college has reserved the right to reinstate it in the future.
Irish students can compete for a further five places in the RCSI on the basis of the college's own exam.
Entering the CAO system does not mean that the RCSI has become a free fees college. Students must pay fees, but standard rate tax relief is available.
In addition, the college is offering a total of 10 scholarships with full fees remission and a £1,000 bursary. Five of these scholarships will be awarded on the basis of Leaving Cert points and five on the basis of the entrance exam.
If you intend applying for the entrance exam, the college asks that you also apply through the CAO.
DENTISTRY
UCC and TCD offer the only dentistry courses in Ireland. To secure a place in TCD last year you would have needed a mere 525 points, while UCC registered a cut off of 520, on random selection. There were 333 first preference applicants for 67 places - or five for each place.
Both courses are of five years duration. In UCC students spend the first two years on the campus studying basic dental science and the following three years in the dental school and hospital and the attached regional hospital.
In TCD, the course is based principally in the Dublin Dental Hospital. Students are introduced to the hospital and the care of patients in their first and second years.
From the end of second year they are based in the hospital and they care for patients on a daily basis. So both courses are very practical.
The majority of dental graduates enter general practice - diagnosing, treating and preventing oral and dental diseases. Graduates may also end up in private practice or in the public dental service.
A small number of graduates will find work in dental hospitals or in the academic sphere. The jobs scene is very good, although many graduates will first spend a number of years in Britain.
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Again, it is very difficult to secure one of the 70 available places. There were 10 first preference applicants for each available place last year and 575 points were needed to secure a place.
This is not quite as bad as it seems in that UCD, the only college to offer veterinary medicine, awards bonus points for higher level maths in the Leaving Cert.
But even allowing for the maximum bonus of 40 points for an Al, 535 points is a very high target. And there is little likelihood of the points falling this year.
You should spend some time with your guidance counsellor discussing other career options so that you have a fall back position.
As the UCD course is the only one on the island, a number of first year places are reserved for students from Northern Ireland each year.
The good news on the employment front is that if you graduate in veterinary medicine you are virtually guaranteed a job. Ninety five per cent of veterinary medicine graduates surveyed by the Higher Education Authority last April were in employment.
Of these, 65 per cent found work in Ireland and the remaining 30 per cent were in Britain.
The course takes five years and students will spend time in UCD, Belfield, the faculty of veterinary medicine in Ballsbridge, Dublin, and at the college farm in Newcastle, Co Dublin.
As might be expected, there is a strong practical element to the course.
LEAVING CERT
VOCATIONAL UPDATE
Faxes have been flying as the LCVP finally finds its place in the sun (well almost). If you're an LCVP candidate you understandably may he confused about the situation.
What has happened is that the regional technical colleges have decided to award points for the three link modules (enterprise education, preparation for work, and work experience) which you sit in addition to the traditional Leaving Cert subjects.
The three modules are considered together as a composite for the purposes of points and these points can be used to replace your sixth subject for the purpose of applications to the RTCs.
Under this new scheme a passe will be worth 30 points; a merit; 50 points and a distinction 70 points.
The CAO will automatically be supplied with your link module results in the same way as it is supplied with the results of the traditional subjects. So if you've already sent in your form without indicating that you are an LCVP candidate, DO NOT WORRY.
The Dublin Institute of Technology and the universities have yet to make a decision on the link modules. It is getting a little late for anxious LCVP applicants and their guidance counsellors, who want to know exactly where they stand. Such issues should, logically, have been sorted out before the course was introduced.
MATURE STUDENTS:
You might consider heading south this year as UCC's applied social studies department has a deliberate policy of social inclusiveness. More than one third of all mature students in the university sector are enrolled in this department.
There are interesting options outside the CAO, so you should contact the college directly for its prospectus.