Induction Week: Bringing on board 644 trainees
New trainees commencing RCPI’s training programmes were welcomed at Induction Week in No 6 Kildare Street, from 7-11 July.
The week began with the arrival of trainees on Basic Specialist Training (BST) programmes, the first step doctors take towards specialisation in medicine.
The new cohort of trainees on the BST in General Internal Medicine programme were invited to attend with peers from each hub: BST GIM University Hospital Limerick; BST GIM University Hospital Galway; BST GIM Mater Misericordiae University Hospital; BST GIM Mayo University Hospital-Sligo University Hospital; BST GIM St. James’s Hospital-Tallaght University Hospital; BST GIM Beaumont Hospital-Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown; BST GIM St. Vincent’s University Hospital; BST GIM University Hospital Waterford; and BST GIM Cork University Hospital.
On Wednesday 9 July, the college welcomed trainees from the remainder of its BST programmes: BST Obstetrics & Gynaecology; BST General Paediatrics; and BST Histopathology.
In total, 373 trainees are commencing RCPI’s BST programmes, and taking their first steps towards specialisation in medicine.
“We always thought it’s important that you, the clinicians of the future, start your training inside this room,” said RCPI President Dr Diarmuid O’Shea, giving a welcoming address inside the Corrigan Hall – the largest room in No. 6 Kildare Street. “I know sitting in these room this week are the future deans of this college.
Completing Basic Specialist Training opens doors to applying for a Higher Specialist Training (HST) programme to specialise in a single specialty. “Some of you coming off the BST programme will know exactly what to do in HST. Some of you won’t and that’s okay,” said Dr O’Shea.
“The right job finds you. What you get to do is arm yourselves with the skills you need to get there. That’s what the training programme is about,” he said.
In a series of “Making the Most of BST” presentations, Dr Farkhanda Qaiser, a doctor completing the BST General Internal Medicine programme, said: “Everyone has a different journey. There are people who have no gap years between training and becoming a consultant, and there’s some people like me who had to move country and start a family.”
Dr Qaiser advised trainees organise to meet their RCPI trainers, to track goals, and to secure end-of-post signoffs on the college’s E-portfolio.
“All of these procedures you’re interested in learning to do, they’re happening in your hospital. The way to do it is to find out when something is happening, and make the effort to go observe it,” she said.
Dr Qaiser also spoke of the benefit of focusing on the Membership of RCPI examinations, which are a requirement to completing BST training. “Once you’ve done the exams, you’re seeing the patients in a different way,” she said.
She advised it’s important to keep an eye on the wider picture: “There will be some days when you’re super tired. It’s important then to reflect on why you became a doctor.”
Also on Wednesday 9 July, RCPI welcomed trainees who had travelled far to join RCPI’s International Residency Training Programmes (IRTP) and International Clinical Fellowship Programmes (ICFP). These programmes are developed in conjunction with overseas partners and allow the college’s community to extend globally.
Twenty-six doctors from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates commenced posts in July 2025, with more joining in the coming weeks.
Induction Week concluded on Friday 11 July, with the college welcoming trainees on Higher Specialist Training programmes. 245 trainees are commencing Higher Specialist Training in RCPI – which offers 31 HST programmes.
RCPI Health and Wellbeing Manager Maria Golden gave a presentation about pathways to support – including the college’s Mentoring Programme, a confidential service matching trainees with mentors best equipped to offer support for their needs. She spoke of the college’s role in exploring what reasonable adjustments may be possible.
Ms Golden referred to the 2017 publication National Study of Wellbeing of Hospital Doctors – a study based on 1,749 respondents. Seven out of ten doctors were found to have a strong desire to practice medicine, and love what they do. However, one in three doctors admitted suffering burnout. Two out of three doctors reported that if they were experiencing mental health problems they wouldn’t want others to know.
She advised trainees they can consult Looking After Your Health and Wellbeing, a guide written in collaboration with RCPI Trainees Wellbeing Committee.
RCPI Education Manager Stephen Capper spoke of recent shifts in Outcome-based Education in the college’s curriculums. Upon the recommendations of the review by Canadian physician Prof Kevin Imrie, who reviewed the college’s training programmes, a move has been made away from a model of mandatory courses into a new Taught Programme consisting of modular elements wherein curriculum components are provided at correct, relevant stages of training. Mr Capper emphasised the importance of the college’s E-portfolio, and how curriculum requirements are met by filling it out.
RCPI Head of Operations Muríosa Prendergast gave a “Toolkit” session, with advice for trainees. She reminded them they were becoming part of an organisation which dates back to 1654.
Ms Prendergast gave practical advice, including the use of the E-portfolio function that allows trainees and trainers during their End-of-post meeting to complete their signoff on the same device, and for HST trainees to think about how best to use the Out of Clinical Programme Experience available to them to engage in research.
She also encouraged participating in site visits by RCPI Accreditation & Quality Improvement department, and in educational opportunities teaching interns. “These are the people who are coming behind you,” she said.