UL to produce ‘medical leaders’ of the future
That was the confident prediction of the new Professor of Surgery at the Medical School.
Prof Calvin Coffey said he was privileged to be involved in a process which would be contributing to the provision of medical leaders of the future.
The over reliance on overseas non-consultant hospital doctors — which recently resulted in some staffing shortages at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick — was highlighted by members at a recent HSE Forum West meeting.
The medical school will produce 32 new graduates in July 2011; 60 in 2012 and 90 in 2013 and most of these are likely to work in various different posts at the Mid-Western Regional Hospitals in Ennis, Nenagh, Limerick and St John’s Hospital, Limerick.
Cork-born Prof Coffey has also been appointed Professor of Surgery for acute hospitals in the mid-west as part of an initiative between the HSE and the University of Limerick.
He said graduates would contribute to new medical research and that, in turn, will translate into technology development and new clinical skills, as well as a greater understanding of diseases such as colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis and Crohns.
“Graduates will be able to contribute to the development of enterprise, industry and employment for the region as a whole and this will have knock-on benefits nationally and internationally.
“The students have incredible maturity, they already have had a life experience allowing them to put training and teaching and experience in a context previous students who entered training directly don’t have the benefit of,” he said
“Students will be trained in a compassionate manner that preserves human dignity at all times and will strive to achieve optimum patient outcomes.
“The University of Limerick has an incredible track record in the area of research. Any medical school which wants to play a major role in healthcare delivery will have a major research component to it, which is already provided in the medical school.”
The medical school was set up in 2007 by Professor Paul Finucane in conjunction with UL.
