Conversion Courses - One

Getting your initial degree qualification need not be the end of your education. After four years in college you may have decided that your career path lies in a different direction. Or perhaps having worked in a particular industry you realise the benefit that a contrasting postgraduate qualification could have on your career.
Conversion courses, usually one-year postgraduate programmes, offer a great opportunity to facilitate the conversion from your primary area of study to a completely new discipline. Your degree can be a great starting off point for further study, and there are almost unlimited options available from Zoology to Psychology or Arts to Computer Science.

It is suggested that the average person will change careers six times in their lifetime, so the flexiblity and broader knowledge base gained from conversion courses are huge assets in the jobs market. Two areas attracting increasing numbers of graduate students are Medicine and Information, Communications and Technology (ICT).

ICT is a growing industry in Ireland. According to the IDA, seven of the world’s top ten leading ICT companies have a substantial base in Ireland, with an estimated 61,000 people employed in this sector.
Given its success here and the excellent potential for employment, it’s little wonder that conversion courses to ICT are gaining popularity. DCU offers a graduate Diploma in Information Technology described in the prospectus as an ‘in-depth skills conversion course aimed at those who wish to pursue a career in the information technology field but whose primary qualification lies in an area outside IT’. The course attracts graduates from a wide range of disciplines, including the arts, engineering, education and science.

According to Jane Kernan, chair of this diploma programme in DCU, there are lots of jobs in the IT sector and this makes the conversion course very popular. ‘Every large company and many small ones have IT departments. So people with a degree in business, for example might want to go in to IT as a crossover,’ Kernan says.
She thinks there is a huge benefit to be gained by doing a conversion course. ‘Having a postgrad in IT combined with a degree in business could get you in the door in a company and give you the edge.’ 

Another area gaining popularity at postgraduate level is medicine. The new Graduate Medical Programme (GMP) offered by the medical school at the University of Limerick has been widely praised for giving an opportunity for graduate entry to medical study, allowing graduates to convert to medicine regardless of their primary degree. Entry requirements are a 2.1 result in any honours bachelor degree, although you must also sit the GAMSAT’s, the graduate medical school admissions test. This kind of opportunity is a new departure in Irish medical education and is the perfect example of the new trend in postgraduate conversion courses.

Mairead Waters, Manager of the Graduate Medical School, says that what makes the course unique is that it is ‘the only problem-based medical learning programme in the country’. With a focus on independent research and self-directed learning UL’s GMP is following broader international trends in medical education as well as being a popular conversion course. Waters confirms that they have students with a broad range of undergraduate degrees in areas like arts, commerce and law.
According to Waters, these students are getting on well in the new course. ‘There’s definitely evidence to suggest that there is no difference between students coming from an arts background versus those with science degrees.’

One such student is Dermot Bowden who came to  study in the Graduate Medical School in UL with an undergraduate degree in Music. Although he always had an aptitude for science in school, even considering applying for medicine as an undergraduate, Dermot’s first choice was to study music and once he had his degree, he started a masters. ‘I started a masters in Piano Performance, but never really settled into it. The old idea of becoming a doctor returned to me, and the more I researched it, I realised that it wasn't the crazy idea it initially might have seemed.’ 

 He says that many of his previous experiences in music have prepared him for life as a doctor: ‘To reach a reasonably high standard as an instrumentalist takes many hours of work, so you learn about discipline. Music is also a very social thing, so you learn quite a bit of "diplomacy" from dealing with other musicians! In performance, there is also the aspect of retaining your composure when under pressure, something that is definitely needed on a busy hospital ward or in an emergency situation.’
Despite a definite increase in workload, Bowden recommends making the change. ‘I would certainly tell anyone from a non-science background not to be discouraged, they can still do it!’

Conversion courses can be the ideal way to follow the path you didn’t get a chance to follow as an undergraduate. Perhaps four years of college will focus your mind and give you a completely new idea of what you really want to do. In any case, no matter what degree you have behind you, there are lots of opportunities to convert to a new discipline as a postgraduate. Whether it's from music to medicine or botany to business, there's a huge variety out there.