Standards and Guidelines for Medical Education and Training

The Medical Council has a statutory role under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, as amended (the Act), to set, monitor, and maintain standards for medical education and training in Ireland. This role includes the approval of education and training programmes, the bodies that deliver those programmes, and the sites where education and training take place.

The Medical Council have now developed a new suite of Standards and Guidelines for Medical Education and Training:

• The National Standards for Medical Education and Training, approved by Council on 7th March 2023; View the National Standards for Medical Education and Training here and
• The Guidelines to support the National Standards for Medical Education and Training, approved by Council on 25th June 2025. View the Guidelines to support the National Standards for Medical Education and Training here

The Standards and Guidelines have been carefully designed to embed the principles of right touch regulation, ensuring that regulatory activity is risk based, proportionate, and robust. They support a holistic approach to quality assurance across medical education and training, emphasising the importance of outcome focused and integrated oversight throughout the continuum of professional development.

The new Standards and Guidelines are not yet in operation. They are expected to become operational in 2027, following the development and implementation of the new Quality Assurance model.

In the interim, please refer to the current Standards for Medical Education and Training below:

• Undergraduate: view the current Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education and Training
• Intern: view the current Standards for Intern Medical Education and Training
• Postgraduate: view the current Standards for Postgraduate Medical Education and Training
• Clinical Training Sites: view the current Standards for clinical Training Sites