Stimulating, Diverse, Vibrant

From your first day in the dissection lab to the start of your clinical training, student life at UCD School of Medicine is a stimulating, diverse and vibrant experience. When you choose Medicine at UCD, you choose early patient contact, a world-class curriculum and an unrivalled calendar of social and extra-curricular activities.

At UCD, we’ve been training the best and the brightest for more than 165 years. Our curriculum is intensive, internationally recognised and delivered by some of Ireland’s best scientists and clinical educators.

Bringing Science to the Bedside

We’ll make you a scientist. We’ll teach you about how the body works, how and why things go wrong and how to treat and manage disease and ill health. We believe passionately in training doctors who see the world through the eyes of the patient, and you’ll interact with patients throughout your time at UCD. You’ll shadow GPs, learn from patient educators and train at Ireland’s best network of teaching hospitals.

Extensive Clinical Network

The main hospitals associated with the programme are St Vincent’s University Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, and there are more than 20 other training hospitals and some 100 primary care practices in which students learn. You will also benefit from a diverse range of exciting international placement opportunities.

Academic Environment & Clinical Training

Our students experience a modern multi-disciplinary academic environment and a clinical training network that extends well beyond the boundaries of the UCD Belfield campus.

Our medicine and radiography students have access to:

• Ireland's largest and friendliest University campus
• Ireland’s first academic medical centre involving two of Dublin's leading acute hospitals
• A network of over twenty acute, general and specialist hospitals across the country
• A global campus supported by our alumni and international partners

Education that is delivered in the Community through:

1. A primary care network comprising more than 140 affiliated GP practices
2. A nation-wide Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Training Network

Our Clinical Training Partners

The School and its programmes have been shaped by our clinical partners, who together create Ireland's most extensive and specialist clinical training network.

Our teaching programmes are delivered by individual clinicians practising in acute, maternity, paediatric and specialist hospitals, and in the community. The School is indebted to the many individual consultants, primary care physicians and radiography service managers who make their facilities available to our students and who provide vital supervised experiential learning opportunities.

International Electives

Each year, many of our students compete for highly-prized international summer elective opportunities at locations all over the world. A long-established feature of our undergraduate programmes, clinical and research electives allow students to develop their knowledge and understanding of issues and themes relevant to their study of medicine. They experience a different healthcare system and get to work in many of the world's top medical centres including, but not limited to:

• Emory Healthcare, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
• Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, USA
• Lankenau Medical Centre, Pennsylvania, USA
• Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA
• Penang Medical College, Malaysia
• University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• University of California, USA
• University of Kansas, USA
• University of Pennsylvania, USA
• University of Queensland, Australia
• Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Comprising more than 2,200 full-time enrollments and representing over 150 different nationalities, our large and culturally diverse student community is the heartbeat of the School. 

• Meet our Students

Graduates of the School have achieved worldwide recognition in clinical practice, research and healthcare leadership. Upon graduation, you must complete one year as an intern to gain full registration with the Irish Medical Council.

You may then pursue training towards a career in a wide variety of specialties, in a diversity of settings, including hospitals and primary care facilities, or laboratory-based diagnosis and research.

• Meet our alumni

Irish/EU Applicants

Irish/EU Applicants will be required to apply via the Central Applications Office (CAO) system and will be required to present their State or International School Leaving Examination plus the Health Professionals Admissions Test (HPAT).  For information pertaining to CAO, HPAT and Admissions, please visit myUCD.

Non-EU Applicants

Please note,  applications for entry to the Medicine programme for September 2025 for non-EU applicants closed on 31 January 2025.

Non-EU Applicants will be required to apply directly to  UCD International Admissions and will be required to present their relevant School Leaving Examination results (e.g. ACT, SAT, etc), two letters of reference and a short personal statement.

Programme Requirements

Students must fulfil a number of specific programme requirements in addition to meeting academic criteria for admission.

These are as follows:

• Health Screening
• Garda Vetting
• Commitment to Ethical & Professional Conduct including Confidentiality
• Requirements for Participation in Clinical Education

For more detailed advice, refer to our Programme Requirements.