Your first day as an SHO in Ireland: what usually happens
If you qualified outside Ireland, the medicine on your first day will be familiar. What is new is the way the day is organised: who leads, where tasks are written down, how you ask another team for help and how work passes to the next doctor. This guide describes the common pattern. Every hospital does things slightly differently, so treat it as orientation, not instruction.
Before the first ward round
Most hospitals run an induction for new NCHDs, usually around the changeover dates. Induction is where you learn the things only your hospital can tell you: computer and results systems, prescribing arrangements, bleep and phone numbers, and local policies. If something is missing at the end of induction, ask medical workforce or your team rather than guessing.
- Find out who your consultant and registrar are, and how to contact them.
- Ask where the team keeps its jobs list and how it is shared.
- Learn how to log in to the systems you will use for notes, results and requests.
- Save the numbers you will need on call, including how to reach your senior.
The ward round and the jobs list
Irish hospital care is consultant-led. On many teams the consultant or registrar leads the round and the SHO keeps track of what was decided: plans, investigations to request, people to call. Those decisions become the jobs list for the rest of the day.
A useful habit is to make sure every plan has an owner before the round moves on. If you are unsure whether a task is yours, ask at the bedside; it is much easier than reconstructing it later.
Phone referrals
Much of the day is spent asking other specialties for advice or review, often by phone, to someone who does not know you yet. Calls go better when your question comes first, the relevant facts follow and the call ends with an agreed next step. Many Irish hospitals use ISBAR-style structures for this kind of communication.
Handing over at the end of the day
Before you leave, outstanding tasks and pending results need to pass clearly to whoever is covering. Formats and times vary between hospitals and teams, and national guidance on clinical handover exists. Ask your team how handover works locally on your first day, not your last.
What this guide does not cover
This is independent orientation, not clinical guidance or registration advice, and it is not affiliated with the HSE, the Medical Council or any hospital. Your hospital's induction, its policies and your seniors always take precedence.
Official sources
External organisations, independent of First Shift. Links checked in October 2026; always read the current page.
- Safe Start Guide Medical Council (Ireland)
- Resources for international medical graduates National Healthcare Communication Programme
- Clinical handover using ISBAR3 National Healthcare Communication Programme
- Clinical handover: National Clinical Guideline No. 11 (2015) Department of Health · National Clinical Effectiveness Committee
Go further
First Shift Ireland is an independent orientation programme: 32 lessons in five units, worked examples, a toolkit and two practice shifts. €89.95 launch price for four months; online payment is not open yet.