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Report from Professor Dermot Kelleher, Head of the School of Medicine and Vice-Provost of Medical Affairs

What a year this has been for the Trinity College Dublin Medical School !!!!

The Tercentenary year has been marked not only by the wide range of events which we have set up to celebrate this extraordinary anniversary but also by the substantial achievements of the School within the year. The School of Medicine has developed an exciting strategic plan (please see following link for details) and is currently on track to deliver on this four year plan. The development of the Biomedical Sciences Institute and the Academic Medical Centre combine to provide us with a model of education in which the highest quality clinical and basic education in the biomedical sciences is matched by an exposure to research at the highest level.  

The opening of the Biomedical Sciences Institute has huge implications for the next generation of medical students. Not only will they study in a state of the art facility, but they will be exposed to high quality biomedical sciences throughout their careers and have the potential to undertake integrated MSc  programmes in Bioengineering, Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience in a unique educational environment. In addition to the extraordinary biomedical research facilities contained within the building, we have new homes for the disciplines of Anatomy and Physiology, both of which are delighted with the new opportunities afforded them by their innovative educational facilities. The ground will also be broken shortly on the Wellcome Trust and Health Research Board Clinical Research facility at St. James’s Hospital due to be completed in October 2012. This will provide us with extraordinary opportunities for the development of clinical research and experimental medicine as a research discipline in the college. The Institute for Preventative Medicine is a key component of the college’s strategic plan and we hope to be able to make a significant announcement regarding this in the relatively near future. This proposal is being led by Prof. Joe Barry, with an aim to develop an international standard research facility covering the population health sciences and preventative medicine. The Biomedical Sciences Institute was made possible by very generous funding by the Department of Education and the Higher Education Authority to the School of Medicine, a consequence of the Fottrell report, which emphasised the need to develop new capital programmes for education of medical students and by generous donations by our alumni.

Another key highlight of the year was the Medical Council visit in March 2011. This is always an event for which we have to prepare in detail and I am very happy to say that the quality of the material which we supplied to the Medical Council was of the highest possible standard. Special thanks are due to Martina Hennessy and to Aileen Patterson and the team within the Medical School including Claire Doran, for the extraordinarily hard work which they put into this process, which has resulted in our being accredited for the next five years. We have now appointed a new Intern Network Co-Ordinator to commence on the 1st of December 2011. Dr. Barry O’Connell, who is a Consultant Respiratory physician at St. James’s Hospital will take up this post and will aim to bring in a very ambitious programme for our intern education. In addition, congratulations are also due to Occupational Therapy and Radiation Therapy, who have also successfully completed their accreditation processes.
Our Postgraduate Education Day was a particular success this year, thanks to the excellent organisation by Dr. John Gormley and his team. The highlight of this day was the visit by a team from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, who are currently developing very strong relationships with our School, including exchanges at the PhD student level. The Michigan team contributed strongly to the success of the Postgraduate Day, giving seminars and engaging in discussion with the Faculty across a range of issues. It is particularly important to recognise that a number of new Masters programmes were approved this year, including the Masters in Medicine, the MSc in Biological Psychiatry, the MSc in Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy and the MSc in Musculoskeletal Medicine. These add to our exceptionally strong portfolio of Masters degrees and congratulations are due to all involved in the Masters degree co-ordination and indeed in the successful applications this year.  Within the next year, we also hope to bring in a Masters in Implementation Science and a Masters in Molecular Oncology. Masters degree programmes  are not only important from the perspective of providing new educational opportunities, but they also provide a vehicle whereby people from multiple disciplines can come together and work on a common cause. If we can leverage  new levels of research collaboration from this process,  this will have important consequences for our future research grant income and for innovative new research programmes in areas across boundaries of different disciplines.

This brings me nicely to research and the School of Medicine has continued to expand its research income despite the external prevailing conditions. The School of Medicine is now the leading school in Trinity for grant income and this comes from a wide-range of diversified sources including Exchequer, charity and international sources such as the EU and industry. We are delighted with the success, not only of our faculty in attracting  funding, but also of the research publications which continue to increase not only in quantity but in quality.

One of the most exciting initiatives of the year has been the initiative led by Dr. Juliette Hussey in collaboration with Deirdre Connolly, Tadhg Stapleton and Clodagh Nolan of Occupational Therapy with the Singapore Institute of Technology. This development will significantly enhance the education of allied health disciplines from Singapore and also will result in the creation of a Trinity facility in Singapore. This has involved an extraordinary amount of work by Dr Hussey and her colleagues and we would like to thank them sincerely for their excellent efforts.

One of the most important strategic initiatives of the year has been the launch of Trinity Health Ireland. At the Trinity Health Committee of 29th July 2011, the collaborative agreement in relationship to the establishment of Trinity Health was agreed by the three participating institutions, AMNCH hospital, St. James’s Hospital and Trinity College Dublin. This allows for the incorporation of operational activities between the School of Medicine and its’ major teaching hospitals, in a manner designed to maximise the capacity for delivering high quality clinical care, providing excellence in medical education and training and delivering high quality biomedical research and contributing to the economic and social development in an integrated way. By working together as a group, we can develop priorities and identify areas in which we can maximise our opportunities both from a clinical, educational and research and operational way in order to provide economies of scale, but also to develop a focus of real strength within medicine in Ireland. The committee is chaired by Prof Sir Gordon Duff, who has provided extraordinary leadership in bringing this new entity together.

We also look forward to working further with the Coombe to  develop an even stronger relationship with Trinity Health. Trinity’s relationship with the Coombe has moved to a new level with the bringing together of all of our teaching activities in Obstetrics and Gynaecology to be focused on the Coombe Hospital site. We are currently closely liaising to make further developments on this site to provide a real physical focus for women’s health at Trinity College Dublin.

Coming back to the Tercentenary, this week sees an exciting programme. Firstly, we welcome the following who will receive honorary degrees at Trinity College on Thursday 3rd November;  Lord Ara Warkes Darzi of Denham, Prof. Charles Dinarello, Prof. Parveen Kumar, Prof. Sir Michael Marmot, Dr. Esther Sternberg and Prof. Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson. The recipients of these honorary degrees represent individuals who have contributed at the highest levels to the principles and practice of Medicine. On Friday 4th November, there is an exciting Tercentenary programme from the Institute of Molecular Medicine called ‘The Future of Medicine 2020 Vision’, in which a range of international experts will discuss what they see as the most exciting moving  points in medicine over the next ten years. This promises to be a unique event and we welcome all within the School to attend.
As the Tercentenary year draws to a close, I would like to thank those who have worked throughout the year on the programme. We have had the most extraordinary year, including the exhibition in the Long Room ‘Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merriman’, the alumni weekend with the gala dinner, the opening of the Tercentenary Hall and symposium, the Burkitt symposium, the Cancer symposium and the range of other events which involving our teaching hospitals, which have all contributed to the prestige of the College in this year. I’d like to thank Zhanna O’Clery and Ciara Power for the tireless and Trojan work done in relationship to all the Tercentenary events and thanks also to Cathy Lawlor. We have always known that we have had a ‘special one’ in Zhanna O’Clery, but I don’t think anybody could have realised the extraordinary dedication which she brought to the Tercentenary year. Her vision and her energy have been absolutely central to the success of this important venture.
There are a huge number of other things to celebratethis year;  the Ussher lectureships, the appointment of Dr. Mark Little as Chair in Nephrology at Tallaght Hospital who commenced in February 2012, the appointment of Dr. Paul Browne as Chair in Haematology, the appointment of Dr. Martina Hennessy as Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning and Dr. Deirdre McNamara as Head of Clinical Medicine at AMNCH and Dr. Paul Tierney as Head of Anatomy. I’d also like to particularly congratulate Prof. Shane Allwright, who has been appointed as Registrar and thank her for her help in organising the Tercentenary commencements.

There are a number of particular farewells to be said this year. Prof. Shaun McCann has retired, having given the last five years to the reform of medical education in Trinity College Dublin. His Festschrift was held on the 30th September, organised by Prof. Browne and this was a memorable occasion, with both international speakers and local speakers going over some of the details of Shaun’s life and times. We’d also like to say thanks to Mr. Paul Glacken who has retired as Head of Anatomy. Paul is fondly  remembered by all as an extraordinary teacher and as a compassionate and caring teacher to our students. Prof. Con Feighery also retired this year with a Festschrift planned for early in the new year which we look forward to with great interest. I would like to thank the School Officers, namely Dr Martina Hennessy, Prof Padraic Fallon, Dr John Gormley, Prof Joe Barry and Prof John O’Leary as Chair of the Finance Committee for the extraordinary work that they have done this year.  And lastly I’d like to thank Fedelma McNamara whose dedication was instrumental in bringing about the formation of Trinity Health and the administrative team in the school who’ve worked tirelessly for its  success .

When we look back at the last twelve months, there has been an overwhelming level of progress but the next few years have very substantial challenges ahead. I have no doubt that our team will continue to rise to the challenge and will deliver excellence in education, research and clinical care over the coming years. I have been constantly impressed by the ability of the School of Medicine to meet the challenges that it faces with optimism, vigour and excellence in a way that I believe is truly unique. This spirit of excellence which will manifest itself in our response to the grand challenges section in our strategic plan, links directly to the traditions of the School over its 300 year history and provides us with extraordinary optimism as we go into our fourth century of existence.