Post-CSCST Fellowships
The MacCraith Report (2013) recommends the continued development of Post-CSCST fellowship capacity in Ireland in order to retain specialist medical expertise in the public health system in advance of appointment to Consultant posts.
High-quality fellowships may help to address consultant recruitment and retention challenges, not only by providing the necessary clinical experience, but also by demonstrating the HSE's commitment to investing in and developing world-class training programmes. Such fellowships will also appeal to trainees who do not wish to, or are unable to, travel abroad for fellowship training. Offering a post-CSCST fellowship which allows the fellow to remain in Ireland is likely to be attractive to many high-quality candidates who otherwise may opt to defer or forego fellowship training.
Post-CSCST Fellowships within Ireland offer an alternative to trainees now that our own specialist clinical expertise and services have matured and developed. These Fellowships provide opportunities for those doctors who have completed specialist training in Ireland to access high-quality training in a specialised area of clinical care. They are designed for doctors who need to acquire additional training or experience which was not available on their Higher Specialist Training programme. The additional training provided exposes graduates of the Irish postgraduate training programmes to subspecialties and advanced clinical skills.
