1)My name is Shoaib,I am working as a Specialty Training doctor in the UK. I am a Pakistani national.I have worked in Ireland for couple of years in the past.This was my first Job outside of my home Country and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to work in Ireland. I loved

2)working in Ireland and learning new skills and gaining knowledge. Having spent almost a year in Donegal, I began to foster the idea of putting down roots in Ireland, pursuing my career and getting a training post. At that point I started gathering information and gleaning how

3)best to launch my future career in Ireland.
After gathering some information about training posts in Ireland, It became apparent that the vast majority of posts were not open to me. This came as a huge shock to me as I never expected this kind of institutional discrimination in

4)Ireland where everyone was so helpful and friendly. In my search for answers I delved deep and the resounding response I received was that I did not fit the criteria based on the something as stark as the colour of my passport. I met a few people who were from my home country

5)who were working in Ireland on a non-training post for the last 10-15 years and they were still Registrars. This seem bizarre to me after all this time, when I asked them why I could see a strange smile on their faces - as if the possibility of career progression in Ireland was

6)an in fact an impossibility, a prospect worthy of ill-fated humour. While I sat in their living room it dawned on me, that I would not suffer the same fate, I would not suffer this discrimination, I would endeavour for better.
I saw an advertisement for Specialty Training posts

7)in the UK which I applied for and went through a rigorous selection process in order to land my desired training post as a paediatric trainee in the UK. After working 2 years in Ireland I made the move to England, to pursue my career in a Country where I felt I stood an equal

8)chance, as any of my peers, to climb ranks to Paediatric Consultancy.
All of my consultants in Ireland used to encourage me and they were very happy with my performance and skills.I still remember the day when my consultants came to know that I am leaving and going to UK for

9)a training post,they all were very unhappy with the Irish system of training posts for Non-EU Countries. My supervisor said to me that its a great loss for our Country and we keep on losing the best Doctors every year only because they cannot get a training post here in Ireland

10)I don’t know if I should mention it here or not but this is just to give you guys an idea about my qualifications and if I was competent enough for training post.When I came to Ireland I had three years of training experience in Paediatrics from my home country where I was

11)under a specialty training in Paediatrics. During my 2 years in Ireland I Passed MRCP Paediatrics from Ireland, MRCPCH from UK, DCH from UK and at the end of my 2 years in Ireland I went back to my home Country Pakistan and cleared Fellowship (FCPS) exam from there.
Sorry if

12)anyone feels offended but the bitter reality is that Irish Hospitals are running on the hard work and commitment of Non-EU doctors and other healthcare workers and yet the same workers are having to come up against such obstructions when it comes to getting the training posts

13)Now it’s been 2 years since I have left Ireland and I am currently doing my specialty training in UK. After working 2 years in the UK I have been given a sub-specialty training placement in Paediatric Cardiology for which there was an open interview and it was completely merit

14)based, no discrimination based on nationality.
I would have loved to stay in Ireland if I thought I would have been given an equal opportunity to get a training post and pursue my career in Paediatrics there in Ireland. However, the system failed me and I had to look elsewhere

15)for a place where I felt that I could progress professionally and not face discrimination.
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