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RCPI
HST Palliative Medicine
A four-year single-CSCST RCPI SpR programme in Palliative Medicine, open to BST and GP-pathway applicants who have completed a year of on-call General Internal Medicine.
Duration: 4 years (SpR1-SpR4); a minimum of three years must be spent in clinical posts
Annual intake: 8 HST Year 1 trainees in 2024/2025 (24 palliative medicine SpRs across all years) - HSE NDTP Medical Workforce Report 2024-2025, Table 7
Applications: 2026 intake: applications opened 1 October 2025 and closed 29 October 2025 (application fee EUR 100). Next application cycle opens October 2026. Interview (2026): 12 February 2026.
Entry: After BST in General Internal Medicine (or approved equivalent) + MRCPI in General Medicine. The MRCPI Clinical Examination relevant to the specialty must be passed before the HST interview. IMC registration eligibility, English language competency and eligibility to work in Ireland required at application. Additional requirement: one year of GIM with an on-call commitment, whether applying via the BST pathway or the GP application pathway.
Exams: No specialty examination requirement identified in the 2025 curriculum beyond the qualification held at entry.
HST Palliative Medicine is a four-year Specialist Registrar programme run by the RCPI Institute of Medicine leading to a CSCST in Palliative Medicine, with at least three years in clinical posts across hospital, community and specialist palliative care settings.
Entry requires BST in General Internal Medicine (or equivalent) and MRCPI, with the clinical examination passed before interview; uniquely among the RCPI medical schemes, a GP application pathway is documented, and all applicants must have completed one year of GIM with an on-call commitment. Shortlisting uses the standard 20-mark matrix and the interview is scored out of 100. Eight trainees entered year 1 in 2024/2025.
How selection is scored
Shortlistingmax 20
Professional qualifications/education5
Publication & quality improvement experience (including audit)5
Leadership & management experience2.5
Interviewmax 100
CV/Career and progression to date25
Research/QI experience including audit20
Management/Leadership/Professional attributes20
Knowledge of the specialty10
Where you train
Named hospital lists are not published per specialty; SpRs rotate through RCPI-approved training sites nationally in preapproved 6- or 12-month posts. At least one clinical year must be completed in a training site outside the Dublin area; a maximum of two clinical years may be spent in the same site. Palliative medicine specialists work in hospitals, the community and specialist palliative care units (RCPI specialty description).
Where this leads
Award of CSCST confers eligibility for entry on the Specialist Division of the IMC register and for consultant posts. Documented post-CSCST routes: the RCPI/HSE register of approved Post-CSCST Fellowship posts and HSE NDTP Aspire Fellowships, open to doctors within two years of CSCST.
Facts last verified 2026-07-27. Scheme details change year to year; always confirm against RCPI's current documentation.