UCC's ACADEMIC council and governing body have already voted to abolish the pre med year and reduce the length of the medical degree from six to five years. A proposal to this effect goes before the NUI senate for ratification at its meeting in two weeks' time.

The entry requirements for medicine in UCC will be raised to two higher Leaving Cert science subjects to compensate for the absence of the general science teaching which traditionally took place in the pre med year. Schools will be given a lead in of three years before the new science requirements are made compulsory in order to allow them make any necessary changes in relation to science teaching.

However, I understand that UCC will begin to phase in the new system immediately, with a proportion of this autumn's intake bypassing the pre med year. By phasing it in over the three years, the college will avoid a situation whereby one year would have a double output of newly trained doctors.

The phasing in is possible because the majority of UCC's medical faculty entrants normally have the two higher science subjects in any case. The new subject requirements will be a higher C in chemistry and a higher C in either physics or biology. The pre dentistry year has already been abolished and this has created no problems, according to a college spokesperson.

A spokeswoman at the UCG medical faculty said that the college has already abolished the concept of the pre med year, which it now calls "first med", but it maintains a six year course. Science teaching now takes place in only part of the first year, with medical teaching taking up the rest of the year; it depended on the level of scientific achievement of the students on entering the faculty.

The other medical schools have not yet taken a decision; Trinity already requires two higher level science subjects.