Registration with the Medical Council in Ireland can be a straightforward process depending on an applicant’s eligibility. It’s important to get the right advice about your circumstances ahead of making an application. At FRS Recruitment, our expert team can advise you on your eligibility and help you better understand the paperwork required. The process is essentially an online application, submitting supporting documentation and awaiting review and response. Some applicants will be required to sit examinations.

There are five categories of registration with the Medical Council:

1. Internship registration
2. General registration
3. Supervised registration
4. Trainee Specialist registration
5. Specialist registration

For the most part, overseas candidates are generally looking to apply for General or Specialist registration. EU candidates have automatic recognition and thus need only submit an application, evidence of good standing and evidence that their training is recognised.

Non-EU candidates will find the process more challenging but not impossible.

All medical doctors are eligible for registration if they achieved a degree from a subscribed list of universities and completed an internship within Medicine and Surgery. It is, however, more difficult to register if your degree was achieved in a non-EU country where there is no recognition of your internship by the Medical Council.

Applicants from EU countries need to create a registration account to submit an online application noting that all medical practitioners applying to register with the Medical Council must provide evidence of professional medical indemnity. Once you have submitted an application you will be furnished with a checklist of supporting documentation for your application. EU candidates can view the checklist HERE. If you have completed specialist training, you can apply for specialist registration, you will need a certificate of conformity stating that your training is in line with the EU directive.

For General registration, applicants from the countries listed below that have their internships recognised as equivalent to the Irish Internship, need only submit an application and an EPIC profile, EPIC stands for Electronic Portfolio of International credentials, this profile is used to verify your qualifications.

• Australia
• New Zealand
• South Africa with internships commencing July 2006 and onwards
• Pakistan with internships commencing January 2009 and onwards
• Sudan
• Malaysia
• United Kingdom
• Malta

You can only apply for General registration with this exemption. Recognition of specialist qualifications for non-EU candidates can be a difficult process involving a full review of all experience and research with a hefty assessment fee, more info here.

Applicants who fall outside of the above (non-EU with no recognised Internship) will be required to sit examinations known as PRES, unless they hold a high qualification which exempts them from this process. More information about PRES can be found here. PRES examinations can be challenging with long wait times – we would advise only applicants who are very motivated to live and work in Ireland pursue this route.  For more information on this click here.

At FRS Recruitment our doctors team have over 20 years’ experience in matching candidates to their ideal roles. We have strong compliance support for all our doctors looking to relocate to Ireland, and our experience will ensure that we secure the best possible package to attract top talent to the Irish Health System. Click here to view all our latest roles.