Working and Training as an Intern/Resident: A Survey of Graduates of the Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick

In 2011 the Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick graduated the first class of Medical Interns. This survey was undertaken to provide information to School as to how well the new programme had prepared its students for Internship. A similar survey was carried out in 2003 by Paul Finucane and Tom O’Dowd under the auspices of the Medical Council. They surveyed 461 interns. Previously, the Medical Council had introduced some initiatives to enhance the education and training of interns. Their aim was to get feedback on the impact of these reforms. (1) A significant portion of their questions were incorporated into this study so that comparisons could be drawn between results of both studies. The UL Interns surveyed also were asked to compare themselves to other Intern colleagues from other schools. Therefore this report draws comparisons between the 2012 UL Interns and the 2003 Interns. This survey had several aims including; the identification of the experience of GEMS graduates regarding the education, training, performance and feedback they receive as Interns, the perception of GEMS graduates of their undergraduate preparation for internship/residency, acquisition of basic information on the intern/resident work environment, assessment of the professional relationships that Interns experience during clinical practice and obtainment of information on the subjective opinion of GEMS graduates of their training and performance when compared to the performance of Interns from other Medical Schools. It was also anticipated that the survey would provide the opportunity to improve the current GEMS programme of study for future students. The results showed the UL graduates expressed a higher level of agreement (93.3% versus 32% of 2003 Interns) in response to the statement “my undergraduate education prepared me well for internship”. UL graduates felt better able to apply knowledge, were happier that their communication and procedural skills were adequate for their role as interns, were more confident in their ability to deal with ethical issues that might arise during clinical practice, were more prepared to work within a team, felt more prepared for a professional role and were better able to direct their learning than the 2003 cohort.