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Dr Ralph Hurley O’Dwyer, specialist registrar in public health medicine at the Department of Public Health, HSE Dublin and Midlands

Dr Ralph Hurley O’Dwyer, specialist registrar in public health medicine at the Department of Public Health, HSE Dublin and Midlands. Picture: Moya Nolan

“I grew up between Clane and Newbridge in Co Kildare, but Kilkenny city, where my parents are from and where I spent much of my childhood, has always felt like home.

“My decision to become a doctor was shaped by two close family experiences. When I was 10, my grandmother suffered a stroke, requiring prolonged hospital care. At 12, my youngest brother Robin was born very prematurely. Initially, we thought he would survive but he died of a severe infection at just two months old.