University College Dublin dates its origin from the foundation of the Catholic University of Ireland in 1851. The teaching of medicine commenced in 1855. University College Dublin was granted its Royal Charter in 1908.
In 1934, University College Dublin bought Belfield House in South Dublin and added a group of adjoining properties during the years 1949 to 1958. Today, the university campus is spread over an expansive 326 acres that balance architecture with protected green spaces.
University College Dublin is the largest and one of the most international of Ireland’s universities, with a student population of over 24,000. International students from over 130 countries make up about 25% of the student body.
Since the establishment of the University, the Faculty of Medicine has been an integral part and mainstay of University College Dublin. Today it has the largest number of places in Medicine in Ireland.
The Faculty has approximately 165 full-time academic staff as well as over 400 part-time lecturers and clinical teachers associated with the affiliate teaching hospitals, teaching general practices and faculty departments. The UCD Medical Library is the most extensive in Ireland and features modern information retrieval systems in addition to a comprehensive open-shelf collection of up-to-date journals and textbooks.
The Centre for Medical Education is specifically designed to deal with all aspects of undergraduate education, while the Centre for Healthcare Informatics, equipped with the Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Laboratory, provides over one-hundred high-end computers for use by students in the Medical faculty.
The School of Medicine is an internationally recognized and accredited provider of healthcare education, with long-established partnerships and affiliations with academic and clinical institutions in countries across the globe, including in the USA and Canada.
The UCD School of Medicine offers a 4-year Graduate Entry Program, a 5 Year program and a 6-year program. The 4-year Graduate Entry Program is designed for candidates who will have an undergraduate degree by August of the year of entry; the 5 & 6-year programs are designed for candidates applying from high school, as well as candidates attending college/university who have not yet earned their undergraduate degree.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3*
Year 4*
*Sample rotation
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5*
Year 6*
*Sample rotation
UCD’s Medical School has a distinct advantage of having two general teaching hospitals. Combined, The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and St.Vincent’s University Hospital have 980 beds. Their specialist units include the National Centres for Breast Cancer Screening, Cardiac Surgery, Liver Transplantation and Spinal Injuries.
Other affiliated general hospitals include Tullamore General Hospital, Waterford General Hospital, St. Colmcille’s Hospital Loughlinstown and St. Michael’s Hospital Dun Laoghaire.
The Specialist Teaching Hospitals
All of the above-named hospitals contain units of international repute. The National Virus Reference Laboratory is housed in the UCD Department of Medical Microbiology.
Each year, many UCD students compete for highly-prized international summer elective opportunities at locations all over the world. A long-established feature of UCD’s undergraduate programs, clinical and research electives allow students to develop their knowledge and understanding of issues and themes relevant to the study of medicine. Students experience a different healthcare system and get to work in many of the world’s top medical centers. A list can be found by visiting the UCD School of Medicine website.
Medical Students Overseas Relief (MSOR) is a voluntary society run by UCD medical students to raise funds for hospitals and clinics in the developing world. Every summer since 1974, UCD medical students have traveled to third world countries to assist, voluntarily, in humanitarian medical work. Over the past 37 years, UCD students have gone to over 30 different developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. This charitable organization aims to bring aid to underfunded healthcare institutions in developing countries. This aid is in the form of vital drugs, essential surgical and life-saving equipment, monetary donation and the voluntary work of the medical students. One of the core principles of MSOR is its policy on fundraising – all students must pay for their own travel and accommodation expenses. Hence every penny raised by MSOR goes directly to the hospital and those who need it most. To find out more about MSOR, see here.
Your eligibility for the Five-year or Six-year program will depend on your academic background including the courses you have taken and your level of achievement. Also, the standardized examinations you have taken can be highly relevant.
Candidates who have completed one or more years of college/university are usually considered for the 5 Year Program.
To be eligible for the Four-Year Graduate Entry Medical Program students are required to have completed an undergraduate degree program prior to August of the year of entry and either the MCAT or GAMSAT written as late as April of the year of entry. The minimum cGPA required is a 3.0 and the MCAT must be a 503 or higher (GAMSAT minimum 57). Canadian students can use the OMSAS chart to determine their GPA.
*MCAT/GAMSAT must have been written within 2 years of the date of entry. e.g. test dates no earlier than August 2022 for 2024 entry.
Applicants who pass UCD’s initial evaluation will be invited to participate in an online interview.
For more specific detail please visit the UCD Admissions website at the following links
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