Ireland
Population, (2017): 4.784 M
Income per Capita, (2018): 74433.46 US
Percentage of GDP on healthcare, (2015): 7.76%
training
Year Family Medicine was Established: 1975 (ICGP, 2017)
Length of Medical School: 5 years (ICGP, 2017)
Length of Training Program: 4 years (ICGP, 2017)
Type of Training: Residency (ICGP, 2017)
Number of Institutions That Offer Family Medicine Training: 14 institutions (ICGP, 2017)
Number of Trainees: 186 spots each year (Medical Careers for Ireland, 2017)
Practice
Number of Family Physicians: 69.4 general practitioners per 100,000 (Masseria et al., 2006)
Number of Physicians: 287.4 physicians per 100,000 (Masseriaet al., 2006).
DALY: 11,692 per 100,000 individuals (Due to all Causes).
Life Expectancy:
Females 2017: 83.8 years
Males 2017: 80.2 years
Mortality rate 2017:
2014 Males: 81 per 1,000 male adults
2014 Females: 47 per 1,000 female adults.
Infant Immunization-HepB3: % of 1-year-old children received: 94%.
College of Family Physicians (Y or N):
Yes: Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).
Healthcare System
The health care system in Ireland is mixed with private and public sectors (Hutchinson, 2015). Unfortunately, no numbers could be found of the number of physicians in the private and public sector, however, most general practitioners are private, self-employed, practitioners (Hutchinson, 2015). In addition, there are 46 public hospitals and 19 private hospitals meaning that most general practitioners open their own clinic, but most specialists work in the public sector or have a mix in both private and public sectors (TransferWise & Hutchinson, 2015). General practitioners are well recognized in the health care system in Ireland as they are publicly funded and there is a college which oversees them called the Irish College of General Practitioners which was founded in 1984 (ICGP, 2017 & Hutchinson, 2015). In terms of access to care, Ireland has an 88% accessibility of care and 90% of respondents to a survey considered the quality of GP care good in Ireland (Masseria et al., 2006).
training
In Ireland, medical school is comprised of 5 years (ICGP, 2017) of educational training, followed by 4 years of residency (ICGP, 2017). There are 14 institutions (ICGP, 2017) that offer family medicine training with 186 spots each year (Medical Careers for Ireland, 2017). By 2020 the ICGP aims to recruit and train approximately 240 trainees which is a steady increase from the previous years.
practice
Among the general practitioners, the other primary care deliverers in Ireland include the general practitioners hired staff, hospital specialists and also community nurses (Hutchinson, 2015). The role of a general practitioners in Ireland is to provide immunizations, refer patients to see specialists, play a central role in the health of the community, and to also care for patients from birth till death (HSE, 2018). In a sense, gatekeeping is both present and lacking in the system in Ireland. Gatekeeping is evident in the public system as patients need referrals, however, it is not evident in the private sector as specialists are able to treat patients privately in state hospitals (Hutchinson, 2015). The model of primary care in Ireland is a new one called the Primary Care Home model. This model emphasizes an integrated general practice system within the community with teamwork among primary care deliverers and a general practitioner leadership (IMT, 2017).
References
“Competition Ratios – 2017/18 | Medical Careers for Ireland.” n.d. Accessed November 30, 2018. http://www.medicalcareers.ie/about/specialty-grades/competition-ratios-201718/.
“General Practitioners or Family Doctors - HSE.Ie.” n.d. Accessed December 1, 2018. https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/2/gp/.
“GP Training - ICGP Web Site.” n.d. Accessed November 30, 2018. https://www.icgp.ie/go/become_a_gp.
“Healthcare in Ireland: A Guide to the Irish Healthcare System - TransferWise.” n.d. Accessed December 2, 2018. https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/healthcare-system-in-ireland.
Hutchinson, A. 2015. “Ireland.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459025/.
“Introducing the ICGP - ICGP Web Site.” n.d. Accessed November 25, 2018. https://www.icgp.ie/go/about/introducing_the_icgp.
Masseria, C., Irwin, R., Thomson, S., Gemmill, M., & Mossialos, E. 2009. “Primary Care in Europe.” The London School of Economics and Political Science, no. December: 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1097/JAC.0b013e31824b45f4.
“Primary Care Home – a Model for Ireland?” n.d. Accessed December 2, 2018. https://www.imt.ie/opinion/182095-18-10-2017/.
“TCD/HSE Specialist Training Programme in General Practice - ICGP Web Site.” n.d. Accessed November 25, 2018. https://www.icgp.ie/go/become_a_gp/training_programmes/9EF64D4A-96AC-511F-760B238AD1FA1ACC.html.
“The Training Path - ICGP Web Site.” n.d. Accessed November 25, 2018. https://www.icgp.ie/go/become_a_gp/the_training_path.