The Government is to increase by almost 20 per cent the number of academic medical consultant posts which are shared between hospitals and universities as part of a major State investment in the education and training of doctors.
Martin Wall
The Government is to increase by almost 20 per cent the number of academic medical consultant posts which are shared between hospitals and universities as part of a major State investment in the education and training of doctors.
The Department of Health confirmed this week that funding has been provided in the spending estimates of the Health Service Executive for the current year to allow for the appointment of an additional eight academic clinicians.
There are currently 39 full-time equivalent academic clinician posts in hospitals and universities.
The appointment of additional academic clinician posts forms part of a €9.5 million Department of Health investment in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.
The move comes as the Cabinet is to consider significant proposals from the Department of Health and Education for the reform of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. The proposals to the Cabinet will be based on the recommendations of two recent documents, the Fottrell Report and the Buttimer Report.
The Cabinet proposals are expected to include moves towards the introduction of graduate entry programmes for people studying medicine in Irish universities.
More than €6 million of the new investment will go towards developing training and educational facilities which can be used across a number of disciplines. The Department of Health told the Health Service Executive in recent correspondence that these facilities should include skills laboratories, simulators, lecture rooms, libraries, internet access and video-conferencing.
The Department of Health is to provide €500,000 this year which will cover half of the estimated cost of the appointment of the additional academic clinicians.
The Department of Education and Science will provide the remainder.
Under its investment in medical training and education, the Department of Health is also to provide €550,000 for the development of competence-based training for many medical specialities.
It has also earmarked nearly €300,000 for the development of training modules to assist doctors in team-working, management and with communication skills.
The Department of Health is also to provide €220,000 for the development of new career advice and mentoring structures.
There will also be €220,000 set aside for the expansion of the flexible training scheme.
Nearly €400,000 has been provided this year by the Department of Health to the Health Service Executive to commission studies to develop future policy.
In a statement, the Department of Health said that a programme of significant reform in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training is expected to commence in 2006.
"The report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training [ chaired by Prof Patrick Fottrell] together with the Report of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Group [ chaired by Dr Jane Buttimer] will be brought before Government very shortly with a view to their publication and the implementation of an integrated package of measures based on their recommendations," the department said.
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