Almost a quarter of students on a medicine course designed to diversify the workforce have family incomes of more than €150,000, a new survey has found.
Graduate entry medicine (GEM) was designed as a “second chance” route to study medicine for individuals who did not get a place immediately after the Leaving Cert.
Students on a GEM course have typically already obtained an undergraduate degree in a different field, and undertake an accelerated four-year study of medicine, rather than the typical five- or six-year programme.
A University College Dublin’s Students’ Union student survey report published on Monday indicates that the high cost of tuition and lack of State support create a challenging environment for students from disadvantaged or working-class backgrounds.
Fees for GEM range from €15,080 to €18,880. Students are not eligible for free fees or the Student Universal Support Ireland grant due to it being a second degree programme.
The survey was conducted online and questioned a total of 335 students from UCD, University College Cork, University of Limerick (UL) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) – representing around 20 per cent of the current student cohort.
According to the findings, 23.2 per cent of students surveyed had parental income of more than €150,000. A further 9.9 per cent of students’ parents earned between €130,000 and €150,000, while 8.4 per cent earned between €110,000 and €129,999.
Across all income levels, the most common source of funding to cover tuition was from parents or guardians, the survey found.
Some 64 per cent of Irish students were employed while studying, compared to 38 per cent of EU students and 10 per cent of non-EU students.
“When employment status was compared with parental income, the graph showed that students from higher-income households were generally less likely to be employed during their studies,” the report states.
The survey also asked students to identify their biggest source of stress while at university. It found students from lower-income families were more likely to rank tuition fees and cost of living among their top stressors, compared to those from higher incomes.
The report states that its findings highlight “a serious contradiction” at the heart of GEM and called for changes to remove these barriers for prospective students.
“GEM is promoted as a route to widen access to medicine and help secure the State’s future medical workforce,” the report notes.
“However, the evidence in this report suggests that the current funding model may be undermining those ambitions. A system cannot credibly claim to widen access if the ability to take up that opportunity depends so heavily on who can afford to withstand that cost.”
It makes 10 recommendations, including reforming tuition fees, the extension of supports to these students, preventing further fee increases and developing a state-backed financing route.
The programme for government has committed to introduce a tuition fee support scheme for GEM and provide more programmes focused on preparing students for careers in rural and remote medicine, ensuring people in underserved areas have access to skilled healthcare professionals.
Speaking in response to a parliamentary question in January, Minister for Higher and Further Education James Lawless said he has asked his officials to examine a “range of support options” for GEM students.
“We are also working closely with the Department of Health to progress the expansion of identified critical-health workforce needs, including medicine, both through direct and graduate entry routes,” he said.
“It is important that this matter is examined collaboratively to ensure alignment of student supports and clinical supports required to address workforce planning needs.”