It’s anticipated the roll-out of the first ever undergraduate Medicine programme in the MidWest will lead to a higher retention rate of doctors and nurses in the region.
It follows a €130m investment announced by the Department of Further and Higher Education today to introduce a new course at University of Limerick, which will also include a new Rural and Remote Graduate Entry Medicine Stream at the University of Galway.
Previously students from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary had to either shell out up to €15,000 per year for post graduate courses in the MidWest or travel abroad.
Meelick Fianna Fáil TD and Oireachtas Health Committee member Cathal Crowe says structures must now be put in place to keep newly qualified health professionals in the region.
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