A f ifth of scholarship doctors stayed abroad
Medics moving away due to issues including bullying and overstaffing
ONE-FIFTH of young Irish doctors who took part in a prestigious scholarship abroad never returned here to work, it has emerged.
The Dr Richard Steevens’ Scholarship is awarded annually to specialists or senior registrars with strong track records.
It supports doctors to train in centres of excellence overseas in areas of medicine and patient care which are limited or unavailable in Ireland, and to bring the skills gained back to Ireland.
The scholarship was developed and established by the HSE in 2007. Four scholarships and three bursaries were awarded in 2015.
However, an examination of the Dr Steevens’ Scholarship programme found the six of the 30 participants have stayed abroad rather than bring their new skills back to the Irish health service. Of the six doctors who had not returned, five indicated that they still intend to come back here to work, but this depends on a suitable consultant position becoming available, according to a HSE review of doctors’ training.
Dr Venita Broderick, who got a bursary to pursue a fellowship in paediatric and adolescent gynaecology at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, said: ‘The Richard Steevens’ Scholarship was invaluable to me in facilitating my fellowship at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
‘Many fellow jobs at renowned institutions are poorly or not at all remunerated. Without the funding from the programme, my fellowship might not have been possible. I hope the programme will continue to support Irish trainees in acquiring expertise overseas, which ultimately benefits Irish patients.’
News of the high proportion of doctors not returning after completing scholarships came as it emerged that a ‘very high proportion’ of the almost 800 trainees who participated in a survey on their training intend to leave medical practice in Ireland because of understaffing.
The Irish Medical Council’s ‘Your Training Counts’ survey found that more than 200 of the 800 trainees in Ireland intended to leave due to understaffing, bullying, being undermined at work and training opportunities and work overseas.
The three largest influences on trainees’ intent to quit medical practice in Ireland were understaffing in the workplace (82%), carrying out too many non-core tasks (75%), and limited career-progression opportunities (72%).
According to the Medical Council: ‘Trainees who were bullied during training were more likely than those who were not to say they were leaving practice in Ireland’.
When looking for opportunities abroad, Britain was the first choice of 30%, followed by Australia and Canada at 21% each.
Speaking about the findings, Medical Council president Professor Freddie Wood said: ‘Doctors in training are the future of our health service and it is absolutely essential that their voices are heard. Increasing numbers are emigrating in search of work elsewhere and the health sector therefore has to address the issues highlighted in the survey.’
Medical Council chief Bill Prasifka said 10 new questions were added to the ‘Your Training Counts’ survey this year to detect the drivers for rising medical migration.
He said: ‘Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, 82% of trainees who reported that they were considering to emigrate said they were going to leave because their workplace was understaffed.’
‘Increasing numbers are emigrating for work’