In the days leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yuliia Holubovska remembers patients visited her clinic to say goodbye.
A paediatrician, Holubovska says many of her clients before the war were the children of English-speaking foreign nationals.
“They were all leaving the country but I was in complete denial. On the seventh day of bombing, it hit me. And then we faced impossible choices,” she said.
Holubovska fled her hometown of Dubrovytsia with her nine-year-old daughter in March 2022, crossing the border into Poland on foot.
“I kept thinking we’d return but my parents told me not to come back, it wasn’t safe, they were still bombing every day. So I started searching for English-speaking countries taking refugees, that’s how we ended up in Ireland.”
With the help of an Irish friend, Holubovska and her daughter initially stayed with a family in Bandon, Co Cork, before moving in with hosts in Cork city.
As the world marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Holubovska is midway through Irish Medical Council (IMC) registration exams which will allow her to practise in Ireland.
To work here, Ukrainian doctors must complete a special English language exam and sit the two-stage Pre-Registration Examination System (Pres 2 and Pres 3 exams) before registering with the IMC.
Holubovska is preparing for the second-stage Pres 3 exam while also working as a medical assistant in a Cork city pharmacy. However, she has struggled to secure a clinical observership in the local hospital, which she believes is a vital part of maintaining her paediatric skills.
[ Ukrainians in Ireland: ‘All of a sudden it’s like you’ve lost interest in us’Opens in new window ]
Despite finding a consultant who agreed to take her on for this unpaid role, she says the hospital’s HR manager has not responded to her application. A HSE spokeswoman said they could not comment on this individual case.
“My daughter is nearly a teenager; she does afterschool activities, she plays Gaelic football here. I do everything for her but moving to another town for my work would be very hard on her. It’s scary that I’ve not worked for three years.”
More than 112,100 Ukrainians have sought temporary protection in Ireland since the war began. The latest CSO data, however, indicates nearly 30 per cent of these have left the country. HSE figures show “around 330” Ukrainian doctors have come here since 2022.
Some 81 doctors have applied to register with the IMC since 2022. Of these, 13 have passed the Pres 3 exam and registered with the general medical division. One other applicant has passed Pres Level 2 and has been granted permission to work under supervision. Another 54 Ukrainian doctors are waiting to sit the Pres exams. Asked how many Ukrainian doctors have secured employed following registration, the council said it did not hold that information.
Dr Svitlana Sydorenko, an ophthalmologist who fled the Russian-occupied Kherson region with her two young children in May 2022, feels “stuck” in her attempts to practise here.
Despite completing her Pres exams and successfully registering with the medical council in August 2024, Sydorenko cannot find work. She has sent 35 job applications since last summer but was only called once for interview. She has completed two observerships in Irish hospitals and is doing online training courses to “keep improving my CV” while her job search for a role in emergency medicine or ophthalmology continues.
“I am afraid now I won’t get a job at all. It feels like the system doesn’t need me. Or maybe they just won’t accept me.”
After two years of living in a hotel in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry, Sydorenko and her two children are now in Kilkenny with her husband, who followed them to Ireland. Also a doctor, he is at the English language stage of registration. “My main goal now is to work as a doctor here. It will help us settle and survive. I have a family and they’re all depending on me for now. I feel that pressure.
“I’m grateful for all the help we’ve been given but I need advice on where to go now. I want to be independent and pay taxes. We haven’t had a normal life since 2022.”
Dr Mariia Turuk is a neurologist living in Kenmare who came to Ireland in April 2022 with her two sons. “We were sure the war would end soon and we would go home. We just wanted a safe place for our children.”
Turuk is also waiting to take the Pres 3 exam but is concerned about finding a job. “People train for years to become doctors and it’s difficult to give that up and start something new. We can’t just forget we are doctors.”
Turuk wants to combine her neurology expertise with the skills she’s learned working for the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. Yet she is reluctant to make any long-term plans. “Everything still feels so unstable. I don’t want to be pessimistic but the situation doesn’t look good for Ukraine.”
Many Ukrainians are caught in this cycle of uncertainty – hoping the war will end so they can return home while trying to build a new life abroad, says Anatoliy Primakov, director of Ukrainian Action in Ireland. “They’re thinking about whether the temporary protection directive will be extended, will their housing continue, are their kids settling in school, would it be better to go back to Ukraine?
“Among all the Trump and Putin deal-making, people forget there’s very human stories. People need to work, go to school, care for their family. That gets overlooked when headlines focus on the grand peace deal.”
[ Trump’s dash for a Ukraine deal is a godsend to Vladimir Putin’s regimeOpens in new window ]
Dr Olena Holub admits feeling “heartbroken” when she hears radio reports about the long queues and understaffing in Irish hospitals. “Ukrainian doctors won’t save the situation, but they can help,” she says.
A GP from Odessa, Holub fled Ukraine with her daughter (7) following a missile attack near their home. “It was an extremely scary time, it’s even hard to talk about it now. I had no experience of travelling abroad.”
The mother and daughter arrived in Ireland in May 2022 and were placed in an accommodation centre in Youghal, Co Cork. Two months ago, they moved into private housing. “It was difficult to share a space for so long but it’s much better than sitting under missiles, we have no right to complain.”
While in Youghal, Holub worked as a receptionist in the local leisure centre while also volunteering as an interpreter for visiting health teams. She now works as a HSE migrant support worker and is preparing for her Pres 3 exam. Like all the doctors interviewed for this article, she believes this exam needs to be held more frequently.
She has submitted nearly a dozen unpaid observership applications and also applied for a role through the HSE’s supervised division strand. Six months on, she has yet to hear back from any of them. “It’s upsetting when there’s no answers. I’m worried about losing my skills.”
A medical council spokesman said it was committed “to integrating Ukrainian medical professionals into the Irish healthcare system”. The council has introduced dedicated supports to help Ukrainian doctors improve their English and waived its €410 registration application fee for Ukrainian doctors. It also reduced the fee for the first year of registration from €560 to €5.
The Pres 3 exam is usually held twice a year, and “on occasion” a third time, he added. A multi-agency group established following the outbreak of the war continues to work proactively to support Ukrainian doctors, he added.
The Department of Health is funding the cost for Ukrainian doctors to take the Pres exams and has also funded English language training. The HSE also offers Ukrainian doctors additional online learning resources and access to clinical observerships paired with a supervisor, said a spokeswoman.
