Medical Council’s intern & trainee survey to re-launch in 2026

• Survey findings will contribute to patient safety by helping the Medical Council understand what is happening on the ground at clinical training sites
• The survey will be open to all interns and Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors on a formal training scheme, i.e., doctors who are on the internship and trainee specialist divisions of the register

Tuesday 24th February 2026: The Medical Council has today announced that it is launching a refreshed version of its survey for medical interns and trainees who are on a formal training scheme in Ireland.

Formerly known as Your Training Counts, which ran from 2014-2021, the survey gives interns and trainees the chance to voice their experiences of what is happening on the ground at clinical training sites in Ireland and provide feedback to the Medical Council on an annual basis. It is likely that the survey will open in late March 2026 and will be open for a duration of four weeks.

Topics covered in the survey will include key aspects of intern and postgraduate medical education, including how well the site supports intern and trainee clinical education and training, professional development, and wellbeing. The initiative is led by members of the Medical Council’s Education & Training team, who have been redeveloping the survey over the past number of years.

The refreshed survey will serve as an important monitoring tool and will facilitate the collection of national data. Feedback is anonymous and any survey reports produced by the Medical Council will not highlight specific, individual feedback, but feedback at a group level.

Speaking about the re-launch of the survey, Dr Maria O’Kane, CEO, Medical Council said that intern and trainee perspectives are important for understanding how clinical training sites are operating: “Intern and trainee participation in the survey is essential to improving training environments for doctors, which ultimately contributes to a safer environment for patients.

“Ensuring the quality of medical education and training in Ireland is a collaborative effort among the various bodies responsible for quality assurance, quality management quality control and improvement. The Medical Council’s responsibility lies in setting medical education and training standards and taking actions where our high standards are not met.

“Giving interns and specialist trainees a chance to speak openly will better aid the delivery of medical education and training in the future and will help us to keep abreast of challenges and good practice.”

Paul Byrne, Executive Director of Education, Innovation and AI, Medical Council, added, “The survey findings and insights will help us to work with our stakeholders to improve quality across the continuum of medical education and training, and high standards among doctors, which will help improve patient outcomes.”

“For meaningful insight, we’re hoping for strong participation in the survey from interns and trainees across Ireland and across specialty rotations. Interns and trainees should stay tuned for updates from the Medical Council, clinical training sites, intern networks, and postgraduate training bodies on how to get involved with the survey.”