Medical Careers
Specialty Training in Ireland
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a predominantly clinical specialty. A trainee must deal with normal and abnormal pregnancy and with disorders of the female reproductive organs.

Overview

Basic Specialist Training (BST) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology is the first step towards specialisation in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Basic Specialist Training (BST) is a hospital-based training programme completed in Senior House Officer (SHO) posts. It prepares you for Higher Specialist Training (HST), which is the final stage of training.

Completion of the intern year is an essential entry requirement.

BST is structured so that you rotate to a different post every three or six months, letting you experience different subspecialties and clinical teams. All posts approved for BST in Ireland are full-time and salaried.

In addition to supervised clinical training in the hospital, you will need to complete exams and courses designed to help you to develop professionally and acquire the skills and knowledge needed to provide excellent patient care.

A three-year clinical course, completion of BST in Obstetrics and Gynaecology begins your journey to become a obstetrician/gynaecologist in Ireland.

It is an essential entry requirement for Higher Specialist Training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Higher Specialist Training (HST) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a five-year programme completed in Specialist Registrar (SpR) posts.

On satisfactory completion of HST, you will receive a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training (CSCST) which allows you to enter the Specialist Division of the Register with the Medical Council. This means you can apply for consultant posts.

Many doctors spend some time working abroad and building up their portfolio of research, audits and publications before becoming a consultant. However, you will have met the core requirement for consultant appointment, which is registration on the Specialist Division of the Register with the Medical Council.

Training body

  1. Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI)

Basic Specialist Training (BST)

Requirements

  • You must have completed your internship by the start date of the programme.
  • You must be currently or previously registered on one of the divisions of the Irish Medical Council or provide proof of eligibility for registration.
  • You must have proof of competency in the English language in line with HSE specifications.
  • Places in BST are allocated in the first instance to applicants who, at the time of application, are citizens of Ireland or nationals of another Member State of the European Union, Stamp 4 Visa Holders and UK nationals. We are awaiting updated guidance from the HSE/NDTP on this process, and once we receive this it will be published here.

FAQs

You can apply to Basic Specialist Training programmes in four specialties:

General Internal Medicine
General Paediatrics
Histopathology
Obstetrics and Gynaecology

You can apply to more than one specialty, although very few candidates will apply to more than two specialties.

The first step is to complete the online application for the relevant training programme and submit the required supporting documentation.

Following the applications deadline, the verification process will commence where your eligibility and application are checked and verified. You will be informed if your application has been verified or not.

Interviews will take place a few months later; if you are invited to interview stage, you will be sent details in advance. You will receive marks for your academic achievements, performance at interview, clinical acumen, general suitability for the specialty and your appraisal forms. You will be matched to your highest possible preference based on your total marks.

First round offers will be made within a couple of weeks of the interviews. There are usually three rounds of matching and offers. You can only be matched to one preference in each specialty. You can be offered a place in more than one specialty, but you can only accept one offer.

The application form is an online form. You will need to upload the required documents to the online form. You may start your form, leave it and come back to complete it at a later stage if needed. Forms left in draft form will not be considered.

  • Academic transcripts
  • Decile/centile place
  • Proof of Irish Medical Council registration / eligibility for registration
  • Proof of English language competency
  • Two appraisal forms
  • Passport identity page
  • Stamp 4 Residency Permit (if applicable to you – other types of residency permits do not need to be submitted)
  • A passport-style photo of yourself
  • Submit your certificate of current or previous registration on one of the divisions of the IMC.
  • If you are not currently and have never been registered on one of the divisions of the IMC, you may be considered automatically eligible for registration if you completed your medical degree in one of a list of EU countries. A list of eligible countries is available in the Entry Guidance and Advice section. If your country is listed, your academic transcript which you are required to submit will confirm your medical degree was completed in that country.
  • If you do not fall into either category 1 or 2 above, please contact the IMC and ask them to provide a letter confirming your eligibility for registration and submit this with your application.

You may wish to support your application and gain additional marks by including evidence of some of the following:

  • Professional qualifications/ education
  • Audit experience
  • Presentations
  • Publications
  • Abstract publications

Please visit the Entry Guidance and Advice section for information on how scores are allocated for your application and interview.

Higher Specialist Training (HST)

Requirements

  • You must have completed Basic Specialist Training in the relevant specialty (or an equivalent programme) by the start date for HST. Please note that not all BST programmes offer consideration of equivalence. Download guidelines on BST programme equivalence.
  • You must have achieved a relevant postgraduate qualification such as MRCPI in General Medicine, General Paediatrics or Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Please note: we have reverted to the previous regulations regarding the examination which were in place before COVID-19. That is, all HST candidates must have successfully passed their MRCPI Clinical Examination relevant to their specialty before their HST interview date.  There are no exceptions to this requirement.

  • You must be currently or previously registered on one of the divisions of the Irish Medical Council or provide proof of eligibility for registration.
  • You must have proof of competency in the English language in line with HSE specifications.
  • You must have demonstrated an aptitude for, and an interest in, that specialty.

FAQs

  • You can apply to Higher Specialist Training in 28 programmes across our faculties. You can apply to more than one programme, although we advise against applying to more than two programmes.
  • You must submit a separate application for each programme. The application process is fully online –you don’t need to submit a paper application.
  • Make sure you read the entry requirements for your chosen programme carefully. The entry requirements are listed in the HST Curriculum for each programme.
  • Shortlisting for interviews (where necessary) will take place in December/January. Interviews for shortlisted candidates take place in February.
  • As there are a limited number of places in HST, entry to each programme is competitive.

***PLEASE NOTE ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE ALL DOCUMENTS BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR APPLICATION. LATE DOCUMENT SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED***

  • Certificate of completion of Basic Specialist Training (BST).
  • Evidence of postgraduate qualification such as MRCPI.
  • Proof of Irish Medical Council registration / eligibility for registration.
  • Proof of English language competency.
  • Two Appraisal Forms.
  • Passport identity page
  • Stamp 4 Residency Permit (if applicable to you – other types of Residency Permits do not need to be submitted).
  • Submit your certificate of current or previous registration on one of the divisions of the IMC.
  • If you are not currently and have never been registered on one of the divisions of the IMC, you may be considered automatically eligible for registration if you completed your medical degree in one of a list of EU countries. A list of eligible countries is available in our Entry Guidance and Advice section. If your country is listed, your academic transcript which you are required to submit will confirm your medical degree was completed in that country.
  • If you do not fall into either category 1 or 2 above, please contact the IMC and ask them to provide a letter confirming your eligibility for registration and submit this with your application.

If you completed BST in July 2021 or earlier but do not yet have your BST Certificate, please apply now by contacting Helpdesk@rcpi.ie. Please note, you must have your BST Certificate before your HST interview and by 31 January 2022 at the latest.

The online application form will ask you for the following information:

  • Employment and training history.
  • Clinical practice - experience to date.
  • Academic achievements.
  • Teaching experience.
  • Audit experience.
  • Research experience.
  • Presentations to date.
  • Publications to date.
  • Management and leadership experience.
  • Career objectives.
  • Contact details of two references, one of whom must be your most recent supervising consultant (must be same two references who have completed your Appraisal Forms).

Please note you are not required to submit additional documents related to the above. Please be brief in describing only relevant experience under each of the headings on the application form.

Please note that formatting (paragraphs, special characters, bullet points, spacing etc.) will not copy over to your final application. All free text boxes are limited to 500 characters (letters/spaces etc).

Interview details will be posted in the Current Applications box on the RCPI website.

Please visit the Entry Guidance and Advice section for information on how scores are allocated for your application and interview.

Click here to access the RCPI Help Centre for more Frequently Asked Questions on applying to HST. Alternatively, we have a dedicated team to help you through your Higher Specialist Training, available to deal with any questions you may have. Contact us on helpdesk@rcpi.ie.