Two trainees will be recruited to commence training in July 2017, it has been confirmed. Recruitment opened this month and is scheduled to close on 31 January 2017. Interviews will be held in February and offers made in March.
The new training programme will lead to a dual qualification in military medicine and general practice. Two certificates of satisfactory completion of specialist training (CSCST) will be required from the ICGP and the Faculty of Military Medicine of Ireland (FMMI), in order to attain the full dual specialty qualification.
Initial specialist training will be conducted over a two-year period. Trainees will be commissioned into the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) in the rank of Lieutenant and will be released to rotate through hospital posts in medicine, paediatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry and an optional placement in another suitable post. Trainees will also undergo basic military induction conducted over two one-week periods in the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC) in the Curragh, Co Kildare.
Higher specialist training will take place over a three-year period, with trainees promoted to the rank of Captain (Medical Officer). In addition, a further six weeks of modular military training will be conducted in the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC) Military College and Medical School during this period.
Trainees are Commissioned Officers of the Defence Forces for the duration of the training scheme. During the first two years, the trainee is seconded to, employed and paid by the HSE. During years three, four and five of the scheme, the trainee is employed and paid by the Defence Forces.
Following completion of the training programme, the Medical Officer will have a three-year service commitment to fulfil and will be posted to a Medical Unit within the State. Subject to Defence Forces operational tasking, it is envisaged that Medical Officers will serve overseas for a period during this time.
As reported this week in the Medical Independent, the Medical Council is currently in the process of securing a team of assessors to undertake training programme accreditation in 2017.
