u/DiscussionOwn3670

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight into the competitiveness for mature entry for medicine. I got 578 points in my lc but it doesn't seem that will be enough any more for direct entry. I graduated with a 2:2 (59%) in chemistry. I also entered through the HEAR scheme, not sure if that's relevant.

I know this isn't enough for grad med so it seems that the mature route is my only option. I was just wondering if it seems possible to get in given my background? I have a lot of experience working different jobs and I have a lot of volunteering experience involving poverty alleviation etc. I am also currently working in a pharmacy to save up money, if that would be relevant.

If this doesn't seem to be enough, would anyone be aware of what type of experiences might be necessary to apply?

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone else find themselves in friendships where there's an imbalance? For example, friends are allowed to be rude towards me, as in, being passive aggressive and mean but if you ever return the energy you're suddenly the worst person to ever exist? I don't even know if these would be called friendships tbh.

Hi All,

This is quite a long and heavy post with trigger warnings for suicide, mental health crisis, and abuse just to keep in mind.

I (22F) live in Ireland and have an older sister who has suffered from mental illness for the last 15 years. Unfortunately, she can be quite violent, manipulative and vindictive and our family had to get a safety order and a barring order (Irish versions of restraining orders) against her when I was in my first year of college. The police are aware of her and she was given meds which she refuses to take and court-ordered therapy sessions which she refuses to attend. We've also gotten her involuntarily admitted into a psychiatric hospital many times but the same thing always happens where they'll keep her for a few hours or a day and then they release her. It seems that since she is an adult, if she says she feels fine and wants to go home then they'll just let her go even though this is clearly someone who is unwell. This doesn't really make sense to me as there are many mental illnesses where the person doesn't believe there's anything wrong with them and so should not be capable of making these decisions. My sister is very narcissistic, with violent/suicidal tendencies and persecutory delusions and would definitely fall into that category. She has been diagnosed with autism but the doctors and nurses at this psychiatric hospital always blame all of her abuse and actions on the autism rather than actually looking deeper. I understand that in some cases, autism can have symptoms of psychosis, but only mild psychosis - not to the degree she has and honestly, I think it's just offensive to autistic people to imply this is why she acts the way she does. In an ideal world, she would be put somewhere long-term where she receives therapy and support to hopefully be rehabilitated but I also understand that you can't just lock someone up somewhere against their will.

As I mentioned before, we have a safety order against her where she lives on our property in a granny flat beside our house and is not allowed to enter our house. She has nothing to do so she'll just harass us from outside and will constantly be looking in through the windows etc. I have just graduated from college and I need to save up money to further my education so moving out isn't an option. I've been through the whole shindig with contacting social workers/doctors and police but as I said, nothing has worked so I'm just going to have to accept my situation right now and study/work hard so I'll be able to move out some day and build a normal life for myself. My sister has tried to interact with me and she found my social media and messaged me but I'm just never going to respond. I can't handle the heartbreak anymore of her crying and promising she'll change but then never actually doing anything to change and then laughing, taunting and mocking you for ever being fooled into believing her.

I've been attending therapy on and off since first year which has been really helpful in some ways but something I've always struggled with is friendship. I'm an amiable person and I feel like I always manage to make at least one decent friend wherever I go but I can't maintain anything long-term. If I'm not in a position where I see someone frequently then I find maintaining contact really difficult. Usually what happens is someone will text me and then I'll feel overwhelmed by my life or something my sister did so I won't be able to think straight and hence respond to their message and then I'll feel anxious about not responding and then it just spirals into me never responding. I've been trying to work on this and I'm definitely getting better at it but sometimes I'll just slip up and it feels like I'm back at square one.

I've had this one friend who I met on my first day of college who I just really clicked with. When we first met, we would be able to text each other every day for like hours which is just crazy for me since I never get back to people. Texting with her is so fun because I just forget about all of the bad stuff and we get to talk about normal things like books, sports and tv shows. I went home during Christmas break of first year and then my sister was really bad so I just got anxious again and stopped responding to this friend. After Christmas break, this friend actually reached out to me and asked what happened and I explained that when I get stressed or overwhelmed, then I find it difficult to respond and it just spirals etc. She was actually really nice about it and I felt so touched that she came back because everyone before has just give up on contacting me when this happens and I understand why. Our texting wasn't as frequent as it used to be but I was usually able to get back to her after a few days or hours depending on things. When Summer arrived and we both went home, it would usually take a few days or a week sometimes but things seemed good.

This sort of continued all throughout college and we would frequently meet in person over coffee for a chat etc. I've just graduated so I've been home for a couple months and I've just completely slipped again. My sister has been stressing me out and two weeks ago the police had to get involved again and she was involuntarily admitted as she was harassing us and threatening suicide. The same thing happened as always where she met a doctor at the hospital and they just let her go so she's back home. She's calmed down now but I honestly haven't texted my friend in like six weeks and I feel awful. I know this worries her but I honestly just don't know what to say. Sometimes I wonder if I should just be open and tell her everything about my personal life but that thought scares me as I don't want it to make our friendship awkward. I've also had friendships where the other person is constantly complaining about their life to you and trauma dumping on you and never wants to just chat about nice things with you and that made me feel really uncomfortable. I just don't want her to feel like I'm dumping all of my issues on her. I also just don't want her to worry about my safety or anything like that as the situation does sound bad and it does affect me mentally but I know that ultimately I'm not in physical danger. Ideally I would tell her in person but we live far away about 4-5 hours from each other so our only communication is through text during the Summer. I just really love this friend and I don't want to lose her.

I've given a lot of context from this post and I guess ultimately I'm just wondering if anyone has ever been in a situation like this and do they have any advice to offer? Or if they haven't, does telling this friend seem like a good idea or would it just make them uncomfortable?

I've never told any friend before about this as we just never reached the stage where I felt I trusted them enough to divulge traumatic stuff like this, so I guess I'm also just not sure how to go about telling her, so any advice for that would also be appreciated?

Sorry about the lengthy post and thanks in advance.

Hi All,

I recently had a surgery for which I've been on the public waiting list for about 2 years. Since the waiting list was so long, I got it done at a private clinic through the public system (The HSE sometimes does this to decrease waiting lists). I was initially told I didn't have to pay for the procedure but now that it's over I've been told that I'll have to pay to get my dressing changed and to get my stitches removed. I just wanted to know whether this was normal or if it could be a mistake?

Thanks in advance.

Hi All,

I took my leaving cert a few years ago and got 578. I was thinking of taking the HPAT next year to study undergrad medicine. I understand that the format will be changing from next year onwards with less weighting towards the HPAT. I just wanted to know if anyone has any idea what sort of HPAT score would be required to be competitive or if it's even realistic with my leaving cert score? I also qualify for HEAR/DARE if that has any affect?

Thanks in advance.

Hi All,

I (21F) recently was in the A&E where I had breathing issues and chest pains alongside some other issues. The doctors said I had a post-viral infection and my GP prescribed me an inhaler, which I used for about a month. I had never used one before but I found that my breathing improved immediately - I no longer felt out of breath all the time and I could make full breaths without expanding much effort or being super conscious of it. It also reduced a lot of my anxiety. I've had these issues breathing since I was about 10 but my parents just told me it was anxiety so I stopped mentioning it. My whole life I've tried meditation and a bunch of relaxation methods to try and improve my breathing but this inhaler was the only thing that has actually worked. (Also noticed that my posture and speech have improved a lot - not sure if that's linked). Since my prescription ran out, my breathing has been better than usual but I still have off days where I'm out of breath and feel like I'm forcing myself to take full breaths. I was wondering if there was some possibility of me having asthma or if I'm just being a bit neurotic here.