Exam is restricting rather than opening access to medical courses.

Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire TD, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has called for an urgent decision to be made on the future of the HPAT (Health Professionals Admissions Test), which must be completed by Leaving Certificate students hoping to study medicine at third level. Deputy Mitchell O’Connor raised the issue during Topical Issues Debate today (Thursday) in the DÃ ¡il.

“The core idea of the HPAT was to identify students who had the right aptitude and personality to become doctors. But in reality it has simply become a revenue generator for expensive preparation courses, many of which have sprung up online since it was introduced three years ago.

“Eight-five per cent of those who repeat the HPAT secured a higher score on their second attempt. Do they magically get a personality transplant in the intervening year? Of course not; many complete an expensive coaching course, and learn how to beat the system. In other words, instead of broadening the type of doctors we produce, we are potentially further restricting the profession to the elite.

“I believe it is wrong and extremely unfair that a student who studies hard, makes sacrifices and gets 625 points does not get their course of choice. The minimum requirement for entry to some medical courses is an Honours C3 in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. So a student who gets these results and scores well in the HPAT may get into medicine, while the student who got all A1s and didn’t score well in the HPAT is left disappointed. This cannot be considered fair.

“Furthermore, the impact of the HPAT is skewing the points system. We now have a situation where students accept a college course in a related field, then repeat the HPAT, and go on to vacate their original course when they manage to score higher in the exam. This is pushing up points and means the vacated college places are being wasted, which has financial repercussions for the State.

“An urgent decision on the future of the HPAT needs to be made, both in the interest of those preparing to sit their Leaving Cert and those who are cramming to re-sit the exam. If a decision is taken to scrap the HPAT, it must be phased out. Scrapping it in one fell swoop this year would be entirely unfair. I note from the Minister’s response that an interim report on the HPAT system is due to be published in the websites of the medical schools within the coming days, and that any changes to the test would have to be agreed by the Academic Councils from the five institutions involved. I believe a decision to either get rid of the test or amend it so it is fit for purpose must be made without delay.”