I do have to reiterate what
@shweddies has said and also add my own commentary.
UL is a really good school. You do learn. And Ireland is really really pretty
I don't regret my decision to come here. I won't be leaving it (I think that's drastic, personally) because I still believe that a medical education is still a medical education. I haven't knocked the school as an education conduit, because though there are things that could be improved, all school and programs are like that. I still complain about profs back home, but my education was still sound.
However the way the news has been delivered (with the first communication being said "this will most likely be implemented", and having it just before exams is not a great way to handle things. I've been on education committees to rework many a curriculum and this is the biggest rush job and one that's not transparent to the students. To expect no backlash isn't realistic.
I don't think the school is out to get us / me / anyone, but student input would have been far more responsible of ANY school. If this had happened back home, there would have been
more whiplash from the students. There are other factors at play than just becoming a doctor - finances being a major one. And nothing stresses anyone out more than money. Both Irish and North American have this as a concern - the Irish not being able to pay fees due to losing a summer and North Americans who need the best amount of opportunity possible to get a residency / job so they (myself included) can start paying down the large accumulated debt. For me, a calculated risk was to not go to Australia because financially, it would be a bigger burden and I didn't want to deal with the off-timing of the school year. I like knowing what I'm up against.
But again, UL is a good school. It gets flack but to be honest, read ANY of the forums on SDN for any school, and you will find med students complaining. All the time. The curriculum here is great, it's the way this situation has been handled that hasn't been stellar.
You do have to make your own decision, and I think the aim of students (myself included) of keeping you in the know has been to add that transparency that we weren't given. Not to fuel an alarmist fire