Episode 2 - Background to IMG Programme and How to Apply

This episode was recorded in Quarge 1, 2026. We have been blown away by the caliber of the people who have applied to this programme, and all I think of when I look at them is how lucky and fortunate we are in Ireland to have these people calm and work with us and join and become part of our communities. We're blessed. Hello and welcome to part two of this two-part podcast series focusing on the International Medical Graduate Rural GP programme from the Irish College of GPs. I'm Dr. Dermott Quillen and I'm the Medical Director of the Irish College of GPs. I will be on the ground in Johannesburg, along with one of today's contributors Dr. Yasim Rehmtula, who featured in part one of this series. Yasim and I will attend the GP Expo Conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday and Thursday, the 25th and 26th of March to meet you in person and answer any questions you might have. We're also available on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th of March in the Santons, Son and Tower of the Johannesburg from 10 until 1pm. Today we will hear two conversations with the host Dr. John Mahar. The first is with Dr. Velma Harcens, a GP, Technical Director and Device President Selective to the College. Velma has a long-standing interest in rural general practice, diabetes care and GP training. Velma provided the context for the IMG rural programme, how it developed and evolved, how it serves the needs of the people and the vision and its place in general practice in Ireland. We follow Velma's interview with a conversation with Caroline Keys. Caroline is the programme manager for the IMG rural programme, a job she currently shares with Ms. Carmel Brennan. Caroline provides an overview of some of the very practical aspects of applying to the IMG rural programme, eligibility criteria, the documentation required, and the support available from the college throughout the application process. More information about the programme and how to apply is available on the Irish College GP website. You'll find a link to the page in the show notes accompanying this episode, along with the contact details for the IMG support team in case of any queries. We begin today's episode with Velma, who reflects on her sense of pride regarding the recent IMG class of 2025 graduation, the success of the programme for patients, for GP practices and rural communities right across Ireland. This was really the most wonderful joyful day and it was really, I felt I was like a proud mother, I felt so proud of these people. I mean, these fabulous doctors and the resilience that they showed and their courage and commitment and bravery in coming here or approaching their families, moving to a totally different culture and making such a success of that journey. They taught us much more than we taught them, so we learned so much particularly from that first cohort of doctors and it was just such a wonderful day. And to see these wonderful doctors who are now settled with their families in the remotest of rural areas, making a good life there. I can think of one of them who had three children which meant that the local school got an extra teacher. I mean, so the benefits of the programme are why do and far are reaching and not mention the local's forced hubs and so on that are benefiting from from the prowess that's coming with these doctors and their families. And so it was, it's, it's, it was, it has been such a wonderful programme to work on and work with and all of our partners. They metting them fires, they Irish metting council and of course the the Irish College of General Practitioners themselves and the HSE have been very supportive, have been very encouraging. You know, we've been really fortunate. There's been such an air positivity about this. And the programme is delivering in speeds. I mean, you know, when these doctors are going in and making successful lives and careers in these rural areas and I mean, that that was what we hoped for but it's now, now we're seeing it on the ground, we're seeing the results and they're, you know, and they're staying, the majority of them are staying in their practices or if not in their practices are taking up GMS lists in their areas. Well, the excitement and the pride is really part of them which is absolutely fantastic. Could I just get into my time machine with Yengl back in time to where all this began because obviously it began with an area of need that you identify. So I suppose the need was identified really when we began to see difficulties in filling lists in rural areas and when I say rural, I'm talking about decent sized towns, you know, we weren't, we're not talking about the remote as to seaboard. We're talking about what would be traditionally prosperous medium sized towns and maybe having to advertise and re-advertise and not fail and collapse lists in areas that traditionally there would, there could have been three days competition for a GMS list of three days of interviews for a GMS list. Also, you know, meeting my colleagues at CME meetings and discussing with the co-op, seeing their colleagues to warn out exhausted, unable to access loacomes, unable to get people to come in to work in partnership with them and to plan their succession and to plan their exit and then looking at the patients in rural areas and realizing that the need was going to be huge and who was going to supply the needs for these patients in their communities, in their local areas and how are they going to get a high quality service? Maybe they'd get some service but it wouldn't be quality would not be what we were trying to deliver and when as chair of policy safety standards, you know, when you're trying to introduce things like the CDM program and a guidelines and various things but you wanted the same level of quality to be available to patients no matter what part of our and they lived in and I think so in many ways the program dovetails so much with the college strategy document themselves and their vision for the future and also for you know, they for the indemnifiers and the medical council they were looking for reassurance that you would have high quality service being delivered to patients so I think the need was was was was very evident, was very evident to the HSE because they were seeing the difficulties they were having in in in filling lists so I think that's where they need came from and Velma we're speaking at the moment in in the past tense because you know we're going back to the origins of this issue but of course it's not a past tense issue this is a need that is ongoing and for anybody who's listening who's thinking about participating in the program I guess one of the key messages today is that you know there are positions available the length and breadth of the country in the kinds of towns that you're just that you're giving an overview for today. There are great opportunities for doctors in these areas opportunities to have a very good quality of life for them and their families. I mean Ireland is a great country to live in we have a great free healthcare system very good free educational system right off to the hard level these things are important outside of the major cities housing is affordable and you can people can make a very good life here but you know there's opportunities people can take over a GMS list apply for a new GMS list of subsidized but there is an open entry system so that they can choose their area and once they're on the specialist registered they can apply to the GMS and open up again open up their own practice so the opportunities are there the opportunities are there to branch out in Ireland in general practice is very flexible there's up for those and many of our doctors who come in have an academic and research background so there's opportunities for them to have portfolio careers here as well as working in general practice so it's a very exciting place and time for I think for people to work in general practice in Ireland so thank you very much and if I'm an interested potential IMG participant one question that might occur to me at this point is well what would my status be let's say upon graduation? Okay well as we've described early this this is a two-year structured supported sub-frected education program the participants have to work hard in the two years and there are considerable hardwoods they have to pass the MICGP exam and once they do that plus the other educational components of the program as agreed with the IMC they're then eligible for specialist registration their status is then the same as anybody other GP in Ireland who has their MICGP and is eligible for specialist registration that's really wonderful isn't it for those who are thinking about participating in terms of getting an equal footing with Irish and EU graduates from the Irish College of GPs as MICGP members but of course apart from benefits accruing to the IMG graduates there's also benefits accruing to doctors in more rural areas to patients in more rural areas and to the country as a whole yeah and I think that's such an important point that you know so for I mean it's it's why we're really welcome these international MICGG graduates we also are the other partners in this of course are the GPs who are living in those areas outside of the cities who now have an opportunity to develop their practice to plan their to plan retirement and then of course the real beneficiaries and the whole purpose of this program is that patients who are living in rural Ireland will be able to stay to continue to live and work in their rural communities and know that they have high quality, excellent general practice. That tradition, which the Irish College General Practitioners has developed of promoting high quality general practice, that general practice will continue to be the sort of entity that we are all familiar with, so that the service is being delivered in a way that is acceptable to patients. But it's also being, we're listening to the patients and we're listening to what their needs are and that they want to have a general practitioner working in their rural communities and providing the service there to them. So I think it is certainly delivering and looking at, you know, to support us in developing other initiatives to support patients in rural communities. And having spent some time in rural practice myself, I mean, it doesn't take long behind that desk to realize just how fundamental appropriate general practice care is as part of the fabric of those smaller communities. Yeah, and I mean, it's what we hear back, you know, if you meet particularly from our farming community, if you're talking to the, you know, if you talk to people, you know, that's, you know, they cannot continue. And you know, I know it's that we're not talking about the bigger macroeconomics here, but you, Ireland is very dependent on agriculture as it is for its, for its wealth and for its, you know, for, to survive economically. And if we cannot be part of supporting that agricultural sector to survive and to continue to thrive, then, you know, then we're not answering the needs of the population as a whole, not just individual patients. You know, we're part of that, you know, for, I think for a long time, healthcare gets sort of signalled out, whereas we're actually integral to the core of, of a thriving community. And I think we, you know, we need to use that opportunity to say that you're not going to have a thriving community if you don't have decent healthcare there for all of the people that are living in those areas. And I know this is a conversation that's focused on the IMG program, Valma, which are really striking to the heart of some of the really important factors of being a GP today, which is really important to remember as well as being plugged into and part of the community. I'm then going back to the very beginning of our conversation that we were we talked about, those graduates from November 2020, values, I suppose just to end today in terms of your own reflections on the program so far, it sounds like it is one of celebration and of optimism. Completely. And as I say, I think as a as a program team, we have learned so much from the graduates, you know, it's a read we work together and we reflect back on the feedback from them when we do the educational days and supporters with them. And we've learned so much from them and we've learned, you know, I think we've become more skilled at answering the, you know, the needs particularly around areas, around communication, around cultural difference and so on and addressing that to support those doctors so that they're less vulnerable when they go out into these communities, you know, but but as I say, we have been blown away by the caliber of the people who have applied to this program and all I think of when I look at them is how lucky and fortunate we are in Ireland to have these people to come and work with us and and and join and become part of our communities that were blessed. Dr. Valmar Kinser, reflecting on the success of the IMG rural GP program. And now we move on to Caroline Keys, the program manager of the rural IMG program. Caroline begins with a step-by-step walk through the application process. I'm Caroline Keys and I'm the program manager for the IMG rural GP program for the Irish College of GPs. I job share the role with Carmel Brennan. And for listeners, Caroline, would you mind giving them a step-by-step walk through the application process please? Okay, so for candidates, you know, first of all, they're less or less or as a good standing and evidence of medical and damaging and so on and so forth that need to be attached or sent in along with the online application. So that's submitted and then it comes into ourselves on the program team. And the application is reviewed by a review team which can include a member of the senior leadership team, a clinician, a GP. And it's reviewed and if the candidate's application is deemed successful or eligible to go forward and the candidate is called for interview. So the interview takes place online via Zoom. So it's a 40-45-minute interview process and it's a competency-based interview. So the interview panel will comprise of the program administrator who's there for note-taking purposes and program manager which would be myself or my colleague and a senior member, GP member of the program team. The interview, as I said, takes place online and then the outcome is communicated to applicants via email but in a couple of days of the interview. So if you're successful, if the candidate is successful at interview, then we go to, you know, stage of obtaining references and we ask the candidate to send on there. A few other support documents at that stage, assuming all documents, all correct documents are supplied and everything is ready to go from there. We would then identify potential suitable GP practices for the candidate, for the successful candidate in line with any specific requirements or specific needs that the candidate has identified at interview stage or through communication liaison with the program team. That's the next step is identifying a suitable GP practice and then essentially we post the candidate and touch with the practice. They have another kind of a meeting, an online meeting or an in-person meeting dependent if that's viable or not to see if it's going to be a match, if it's going to be a success or a match between the candidate and the practice and then it's the practice who's the employer. So you go down the road of discussing and negotiating an employment contract, the terms conditions, the guard of asserting and if the candidate is coming from overseas, most likely they will need to come on a critical skills employment permit and they may or may not need a visa to enter Ireland as well. So that's all completed once the match with the practice has taken place. We're interested to hear there, Carlin, that a bit of work goes into it even after say the candidate is successful, an application stage into the actual match process to try and find a good fit for them and their needs and for the practice needs as well. So I suppose there's a little bit of reassurance there for potential candidates that the selection and the placement is individualized to them. Right, so that's the matching process, Carlin, but I guess before you get there, you have to get through the interview. So if we maybe take a step back, could you give listeners an idea around the kind of things that the interview panel might be looking for when they go to interview? The panel would be looking for applicants to be able to articulate and explain their clinical experience and how that relates to general practice, especially in Ireland, and particularly to have a clear understanding of rural general practice. I think candidates should also be prepared, they may be asked, what's their motivation to come to Ireland or evidence of why they decided to apply and that their application has been very carefully considered and they have a strong motivation to complete the programme and to succeed in completing the programme because it's not an easy journey. It's two comprehensive years of education and whilst working. So you know, been able to demonstrate that this has been well taught through and highly motivated to complete and succeed in the programme and also to have an understanding of the programme itself. What it entails, have done a little bit of research about what's going to be expected of the applicant over the two-year period. Hopefully some of the other contributors in this podcast series will be able to give listeners those first steps in gaining an appreciation for and the experiences of both trainer and applicant as well. So it's not a bad starting point, hopefully for listeners. You also mentioned Caroline about the visa process if people are successful in their application and from my own personal experience of applying for visas, it can be complicated. Is there any assistance available for candidates if they get to that stage? So if candidates are applying directly to the programme, the assistance of a third party, the programme team have the ability to assist candidates in expediting their medical council registration, their critical skills employment permit application and also their visa. So it really depends where the doctors are, what routes they're taking, where they're coming from, whether that's going to be applicable to particular candidates, but of course, yeah, the programme team can assist in that And I should point out that, you know, as you mentioned earlier, on Caroline. There is a section of the Orange College of GPs website dedicated to the IMG program. I'll include a link to that in the show notes for this episode of listeners want to check that out. Grace. Okay, so hopefully you've wetted the appetite of some central candidates to go ahead and pursue making an application, Caroline, but it's probably worthwhile at this point. Just going through maybe a list of some of the key eligibility requirements that somebody should have to hand before they start that process. So I think a key point to note is that applicants should really do some research themselves or look into what what general practice in Ireland actually entails. What are the day-to-day roles and responsibilities of a GP in Ireland because we know that the job title, the role of general practitioner in different jurisdictions or different countries can actually mean different things. So the actual day-to-day role of a GP in Ireland maybe named something different in an applicant's home country. So it's really to look at looking to Irish health care system and the setup from what the role of the GP prior to application. So candidates will identify whether or not their experience is going to be deemed equivalent and relevant with this program. So first of all, you need a primary medical degree from University or Medical School that's outside of Ireland that can be anywhere outside of Ireland. We're covering international and in the broadest sense of the word. candidates also have to have a minimum of three years full-time, comparable and contemporaneous experience working in general practice. The majority which will be daytime, that is the minimum bench market. There's no there's no DVA from that requirement and also you must have a minimum of three months postgraduate experience in general medicine and pediatrics. And those eligibility criteria have been agreed with the Irish Medical Council and there's no moving on those and those eligibility criteria. So of course if candidates have experience over and above the minimum requirement, great, but they are the very basic minimum eligibility requirements. And Caroline, when it comes to listeners trying to find out a little bit more about some of the the collar in detail about life in Ireland as a GP. The Irish College of GP's website itself is not about the start and there is a section why be a GP. So it's a really nice section and again I'll include a link in the show notes and it includes an overview of what GP as a profession looks like in Ireland but also has some really nice videos and stories from qualified GP's from all walks of life and how they go about their practice. So that might be a good place to start for listeners. One thing that I guess some potential candidates might assume Caroline is this idea that when you hear that it's a rural scheme that their placements are going to be incredibly remote by definition as part of this, would they be correct in that assumption? No, I think that that tends to be a misconception and I think the term the definition of rural really depends on a kind of personal experience of what of the definition of rural and we find some of our doctors on the program that have come from Sudan, Pakistan, South Africa. Their understanding of rural is up to five hours from an emergency department where in Ireland if I'm correct I think you typically maybe in any rural village or town village maybe 30 to 60 minutes from a general hospital or maybe up to 90 minutes for quite remote areas. So rural GP practices are in towns and villages across the country that are just outside the five main cities. So at Dublin cork, Gauay, Limorick and Waterford. So rural GP practice incorporates everywhere. I suppose it's one of those things Caroline you're right, you know if you haven't been here it's hard to understand but in Ireland the villages and towns are not far from the cities and there's a really well developed road and motorway network and certainly they do have friends and colleagues who have qualified like me in say the last five to seven years who have rural practices they live in cities are they live in certainly big urban areas and the commute is really straightforward for them. So when we say rural it's probably a lose her definition of the term as you said then some people from other jurisdictions. Okay and on that note then finally Caroline which of any particular advice for people who have listened to this listen to some of the other contributors and are thinking to themselves yeah it's time for me to start working on an application which of any tips around preparing right now. Yes I think some of these might be like sound very simple but really to look at the website and look at the list of required documentation and work on source and everything before you begin the application itself. You know we know some lectures are good standing from previous clinical roles and certificates from medical and dementia organizations they can all take time to gather and so just to go through the list of documents and make sure you have everything before you submit an application because when your application is submitted it's been reviewed on what's provided and what's important documentation are provided so you want to ensure that you have the documentation to back up all the essential requirements and also to showcase yourself and your experience in the best possible way on the application there's your career history for every role that you've held there's a section where you can free type really don't don't skimp on that section to include everything that you think is relevant because that's what's been reviewed the review panel are looking to see is your experience relevant a comparable to our general practice in Ireland so just take the time and really detail your experience to make sure that we're getting the full understanding of the breadth of your experience so far. Okay that's all really clear car line and of course for potential candidates they won't be at the vanguard of something new and different we know there's already been a batch of newly minted IMG graduates from November 2025 so this ground has been broken by others and the website is very clearly laid out as to what the requirements are in terms of getting your application together if somebody does come across any questions or assembling blocks along the way car line and can they reach out and contact you Yes of course we have a dedicated program email address and it's on the website there the IMG world program and so if any queries anything in relation to eligibility or the process itself kind of it's a more than welcome to contact us through there and either from the program team or myself's manager will come back to you actually and again I'll include that email address in the show notes to this episode thanks me and car line you've demystified a lot of the application process for me anyway are there any final words that you'd like to share with potential candidates or anything like that yeah we welcome applications from candidates from from all over the world so if if you think that you meet the eligibility criteria we've been more than delighted to receive your application and if you've any queries or if you're querying whether you're eligible and we could just send an email before you go down the road of applying so it certainly be delighted to see your application car line keys is wrapping up today's episode there many thanks to car line and to dr. Valmar Harkens for participating in today's show thank you too for taking the time to listen and if you haven't done so don't forget to listen to part one which is also available now if you've any questions please see the show notes for a link to the dedicated web page for the IMG rural GP program the show notes also detail all the relevant contact details for the program along with a link to our clinic education podcast the GP podcast wherever you get your podcasts I really hope you enjoy today's show having listened to these opportunities we hope you're encouraged to consider the IMG rural program as an incredible opportunity for your personal and professional life Ireland is a very welcoming place the land of a hundred thousand welcomes kead meal a foilter on that note this is not goodbye but merely bye for now