Complementary metrics for success should consider health outcomes in addition to publications for both tenure decisions and postgraduate student progression requirements.
The intention or decision to leave Ireland was almost always taken for reasons relating to their profession and the conditions attached to their work as a doctor in Ireland (e.g., rotation, career progression, postgraduate training).
Many migrant doctors in Ireland occupy "service posts" which offer little or no prospect of career progression or postgraduate training [ 6, 9].
Respondents felt that their hopes for career progression and postgraduate training in Ireland had gone unrealised and that they were becoming de-skilled.
This was particularly true for those working in service posts which exist outside formal postgraduate training and career progression structures and which offer little or no opportunity for up-skilling.
Respondents were asked about the factors influencing the decision to migrate to Ireland, their expectations on arrival to Ireland, and their experiences of practicing medicine in Ireland, with a particular emphasis on postgraduate training and career progression.
A major factor in the dissatisfaction of respondent migrant doctors is the feeling that they are in Ireland to fill the gaps vacated by locally trained health workers [ 22], although they had come to Ireland with hopes of achieving postgraduate training and career progression.
If PLAB is a valid assessment of skills relevant to progression during UK postgraduate training then performance on it should relate to performance on subsequent UK postgraduate assessments.
However, these factors were secondary aims, co-existing alongside a desire for career progression or for postgraduate training or to achieve safety and security.
The results of this data linkage study show that there are good correlations between PLAB and the subsequent assessments of MRCP UK) and MRCGP, which means that PLAB is a valid assessment of skills relevant to progression during UK postgraduate training (that is, there is construct equivalence).
Of those 26 migrant doctor respondents who expressed intent to emigrate, the most frequently cited reasons related to career progression and the availability of postgraduate training opportunities.
