Medicine changes to ease bitter pill of points race, but not until 2009
Major changes in the entry mechanism for medical school are on the way -- but not in time for next autumn.
The plan is to take some of the heat out of the points race, which required a near perfect 600 CAO points for entry to Medicine, and have a selection process that will combine Leaving Certificate results and an aptitude test.
The changes will be introduced for entry to Medicine in 2009, and are coming in tandem with the opening of more undergraduate places.
Under the new package, students who achieve a minimum of 480 points in a single sitting of the Leaving Certificate will be considered for selection based on a combination of those results and performance in an admission test.
The admission test will be held in the autumn/winter preceding the Leaving Certificate.
The new selection criteria are designed to provide students who reach the 480-point threshold with a reasonable prospect of achieving the entry standard for Medicine based on a strong performance in the admission test.
Above 480 points, weighted credit will be given for performance in the Leaving Certificate up to 550 points, with significantly moderated credit after 550 to reduce the pressure to produce a perfect Leaving Certificate performance.
The effect will be that a student scoring 565 points in the Leaving Certificate will be credited with 553 for undergraduate medical entry purposes, and, for a student achieving 600 points, the maximum that will be counted will be 560.
Education Minister Mary Hanafin said the package was agreed to "enable students who firstly have a desire to study medicine, coupled with a good Leaving Certificate and a good result in the admissions test to gain a place".
- Katherine Donnelly
