“Confidence is at an all-time low, so much so that without even having graduated from medical school they are already packing their bags for foreign shores and are ruling out Ireland as the place where they wish to practice,” commented IMO President Dr John Duddy.
Dr Duddy, a specialist registrar in neurosurgery, said the legacy of successive Governments in failing to tackle the problems in the health service had effectively handed to other countries the talents and expertise of many young doctors.
“If we allow this to continue and do not create a positive and progressive environment for doctors to pursue their careers the outcome will be detrimental to the future of healthcare in this country. The result will be more pressure on the system, less doctors and ultimately more hardship for patients.”
Other results from the survey found that over half of interns surveyed are worried or unsure about their intern year. A similar amount said they have a definite idea of the speciality they want to pursue following their intern year.
