BST in General Internal Medicine is broader and more general in nature, offering you the chance to experience lots of different subspecialties. It provides an excellent foundation for further training in 23 specialties and is a great choice if you want to keep your options open.

Completion of BST in General Internal Medicine is an essential entry requirement for Higher Specialist Training in:

• Cardiology
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Clinical Genetics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus
• Gastroenterology
• Genitourinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Oncology
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine
• Rheumatology

Completion of BST in General Internal Medicine will also help you meet the entry requirements for Higher Specialist Training in:

• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Microbiology
• Haematology
• Immunology
• Occupational Medicine
• Public Health Medicine
• Radiology.

It will also provide valuable experience in acute medicine for those who want to undertake training in General Practice.

You will rotate to a different SHO post every three months. You will spend at least 12 months in posts involving acute unselected medical ‘take’ (general medical on-call) and you will rotate through at least three out of the following five core specialties:

• Cardiology
• Respiratory Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology

A minimum of six months will be spent outside your main metropolitan area and you will spend time in a Level 4 (large tertiary) hospital and a Level 3 (general) or Level 2 hospital (local hospital with selected/GP-referred medical patients). You must also pass the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (MRCPI) in General Medicine and complete a number of mandatory courses. 

We recommend that you include all nine hubs in your application, as you can rank them in order of preference later on.

• Mid-West Hub (PDF, 1.5MB)
• Galway (PDF, 184KB)
• Mater Misericordiae (PDF, 88KB)
• Mayo/Sligo (PDF, 182KB)
• St James's - Tallaght (PDF, 504KB)
• Beaumont - Connolly (PDF, 5.3MB)
• St Vincent's (PDF, 110KB)
• South East (PDF, 88KB)
• South (PDF, 701KB)

Two-year rotation

We have a dedicated administrative team to support Trainees in Basic Specialist Training. They are happy to deal with any questions you have about BST.  Contact the team on helpdesk@rcpi.ie