Newsletter 6

Diary in Pictures

Medical Alumni

ContentsP1 Diary in Pictures

P2 Introduction

Interview with Prof Michael Berndt, Head, College of Medicine and Health

P4 Cardiovascular Services Development in the Southof Ireland and UCC

P6 Jennings Gallery

P8 UCC School of Medicine – Graduate Entry

P9 Medical Alumni ScientificConference 2008

P10 The National University of Ireland – Honorary Doctorate

P12 Notes for Medical Alumni

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Retirement as Chairperson of Medical Alumni Committee of Dr Paule CotterDr Barry Ferriss, Dr Eamonn Shanahan, Prof David Kerins, Dr PauleCotter, Dr Katy Keohane, Dr Will Fennell, Mr Michael Hanna

Prof Liam Kirwan – Book LaunchDr John Thomson, Dr Michael Morkan

Prof Liam Kirwan – Book LaunchWilliam Kirwan, Prof Liam Kirwan, Mrs Marie Kirwan

Graduation DinnerMr Con O’Brien, Dr Michael Murphy, Prof David Kerins, Dr Clare O’Leary (recipient of Medical School Medal 2008), Prof Michael Berndt

Prof Liam Kirwan – Book LaunchProf Liam Kirwan, Mr Ted Buckley

July/August 2008

Diary in Pictures

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Dr. Will Fennell Chairperson, UCC Medical Alumni Association

Welcome Welcome to the Summer Medical Alumni Newsletter for 2008. Firstly let me acknowledge the outstanding contributions of PauleCotter as Chairman of the Medical Alumni Committee for the last 6 years and Barry Ferriss as committee member for 18 years(see photo). We are grateful to the current contributors and welcome contributions from graduates for future editions on theirmemories of UCC or other experiences they might like to share.

Dr. Will Fennell Chairperson, UCC Medical Alumni Association

Interview with Prof Michael BerndtYou are now Head of the College ofHealth and Medicine, includingPharmacy, Nursing, Clinical Therapies,Dentistry and Medicine, how did weattract you, an internationally renownedmedical scientist, to come to Cork at thistime?

There is never a single reason fordoing anything in life. My backgroundhas been primarily in research but inmore recent years I have shifted inpart to academia. In Australia, atMonash University, I was head of a

Department of Immunology and I wasalso Deputy Dean Research for theFaculty of Medicine, Nursing andHealth Sciences. The Faculty has asimilar structure to here except that atMonash we didn’t have a dental schooland pharmacy was in a differentfaculty. Although my background hasprimarily been in research, I enjoyedthis administrative role, and for severalyears I have been looking for a moresenior leadership role within auniversity. I have been in Ireland onand off over the past couple of years

as a Walton Fellow at the RoyalCollege of Surgeons in Dublin andliked Ireland and the people. Theattraction of Cork is its size – it is verymanageable. I like UCC as it is asingle campus, it is close to theteaching hospitals, and it is compact.So when I came and interviewed andwas offered the position, it wasrelatively easy to accept. I like thestaff, I like the people, and I thinkthere is enormous potential here inCork for further development both inresearch and in teaching and learning.

You will find enclosed the agenda forthe annual scientific meeting to beorganised by the Medical AlumniCommittee and to be held in UCC onOctober 9 and 10, 2008. Classreunions will be held around themeeting and for those who wish toorganise class reunions we are glad tohelp in any way in medical alumnusoffice, at this or other times in theyear. Our president, Michael Murphy,is very keen to facilitate class reunionson campus so all can see signs ofchange and progress. Already plansare afoot to organise two meetings in2009: St. John’s Newfoundland wherethe class of 1974 will organise theirreunion with local chairpersons, Patand Benvon Parfrey (August 22-23,2009) and the Annual ScientificMeeting in UCC (September 17-18,2009)

This year we are delighted to include aphotograph of the honorary graduandsfor 08 including Michael Hyland, class

of 1957 (Degree of Doctor ofMedicine), Patrick Fottrell (Degree ofDoctor of Science), former president ofUCG whom many will remember asdemonstrator in biochemistry in theearly sixties, and Samantha Power(Degree of Doctor of Laws), whosemother, Vera Delany, was acontemporary in physiology andbiochemistry in 62-64 beforeproceeding to MD and Ph.D at UCH inLondon. The other recipients wereNiall Mellon and Pat Rice.

Another recent highpoint was thelaunch of Liam Kirwan’s book on“Political Correctness and theSurgeon” in the staff common roomon May 5th to a full house. TedBuckley introduced the book with hisexpected incisiveness and aplomb.The book is a remarkable opus,satirising political correctness. Maybehe is setting the seeds for a centre fordissent in UCC? If you cannot wait(and you should not!), the book can be

obtained on Amazon, at Liam Russel,Oliver Plunkett St, Cork or at theAnnual Scientific Meeting.

The Medical Alumni Committee wishto offer congratulations and bestwishes to the medical graduates of1948 from UCC, including: CorneliusDonovan, Maurice Flynn, BridgetFoley, Veronica Guy-Pearson, JosephHanley, Margaret Gowan, BernardMurphy, Norah Nyhan-Carew, DenisO’Sullivan, John Sheehan, DorothySheehy, John Twomey, Richard Walsh,Sean Crotty, Denis Wilson.

The other development of note is thearrival from Australia of ProfessorMichael Berndt as Head of the Collegeof Medicine and Health, within UCC.You will have an opportunity to meethim at the Scientific Meeting wherehe will outline his vision for the futurein UCC. See interview included in thisNewsletter.

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You already held similar responsibilitiesat Monash University in Australia, andwhile I have not been to Australia allwho have worked there comment on thebetter organisation and excellent qualityof training and services there. Do youfind similar challenges and problemshere?

Well, I think the attitude is always thatthe grass is greener on the other sideof the fence! One thing that I havebeen very impressed with here is thequality of teaching and learning withinthe college. The programmes inmedicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacyand clinical therapies are cutting edgeand world best practice. In terms ofteaching and learning, I think thatUCC is doing as well if not better thanwhat I was seeing in my own universityback in Australia. I think that theapproaches for teaching the studentsare superb in terms of simulations,patient interactions, etc. I am lessfamiliar with the clinical trainingwithin hospitals, but my sense of it isthat it is very similar and that thepressures on the system andchallenges are the same that we havein Australia. There is a constantchallenge in terms of appropriateclinical placement regardless of thearea, whether it is pharmacy, clinicaltherapies or medicine. There are thesame challenges of liaison and co-ordination between a university and aseparate health system as in Australia,but nothing that appears to beinsurmountable.

You are a very distinguished scientistwith multiple awards over many years.Do you think it is an advantage or adisadvantage not to be a frontlineclinician?

I have thought about this questionover the years and from my ownviewpoint I haven’t seen adisadvantage. There is a clearadvantage for the clinician investigatorwho sees the clinical problem and hasthe capacity to develop that insight.However, in over 30 years in my ownfield, which is thrombosis andinflammation, I probably know moreabout platelet biology with respect tohaematology than mosthaematologists. Within that area ofspeciality, I don’t think it has been animpediment to the type of research Ihave done. I should point out thatmost of the time in my career, I havebeen in research labs based in

hospital settings. I spent 10 years inthe 1980s at Westmead Hospital inSydney and worked closely with thephysicians, cardiologists andhaematologists in clinical research. Itrained a number of haematologistsand cardiologists during their PhDprogrammes and received in turn thebenefit of their clinical insights.

You were previously in Ireland as aWalton Fellow and you have visitedIreland a number of times. What do yousee as the major differences betweenour two systems, which have evolvedfrom the Anglo Saxon model, eventhough we are 12,000 miles apart?

As I said before I really don’t see hugedifferences between the Universitysystems in terms of education andresearch. I think one major issue,which I don’t think Ireland has cometo grips with, is the potential forresearch track only careers. InAustralia and also in the US, there isthe potential to develop a researchonly career. This is something I hadthe benefit of in competitivelyadvancing through the system toprofessorial level on a research onlytrack funded by fellowships andgovernment. Here in Ireland, thisdoesn’t seem to exist, and therefore awhole generation of researchers havenot had the capacity to concentrateprimarily on research. There is a largegap here between the potential tomake the most out of tier 4 trainedpeople in terms of postdoctoraltraining and available careerstructures, and thus a situation whereopportunities for doing research arelimited to academia and hospitalappointments, and outside of thatthere is very little.

What do you see as the major challengefor the UCC School of Medicine over thenext 5 years and where do you see thebest opportunities?

My vision for the College is that itachieves the next level of excellencein terms of teaching and learning andresearch, but particularly research.There is fantastic research currentlywithin the College and I would like tosee further development in these areasof research strength. One of the areasunder current development is thepotential formation of a new School ofLife Sciences, which would be aschool embedded both in the Collegeof Medicine and Health and in the

College of Science, Engineering andFood Sciences. It would comprise theDepartments of Anatomy, Physiology,Pharmacology, Biochemistry andMicrobiology. This School wouldmaximize research opportunities andincrease PhD student numbers. Inmost universities, this combination ofdisciplines is usually the engine roomof the university and the jewel in thecrown; it’s the pool from where mostPhD students are derived. Thechallenge I think over the next coupleof years is to be able to maintain ourambition for excellence in what wouldappear to be a fairly limiting financialsituation that will affect not only theIrish economy, but the universities andhospitals as well. It is matter of beingsmarter in the way that we develop ata time when resources are limited.

Your research experience has been onthree continents, in Universitiescollaborating with national institutes andindustry. Do you feel that in UCC we areyet at the stage that furtherdevelopments in research can becomethe driver for further expansion andquality?

The twin pillars of any university areteaching and learning, and research,but the reputation and branding of auniversity is always based on itsresearch. They never say that Harvardis a great university because it is goodat teaching, they say that Harvard is agreat university because it is fantasticat research. I think that research isthe driver for excellence. The qualityof research gets reflected back intothe teaching and learning experienceand I think that there are realopportunities. The basic sciences,clinical sciences, and also publichealth, are very strong in Cork and keyto interactions in translationalresearch and industry. In essence, wehave the pipeline to go from discoveryright up to early phase II trials in ourinteractions with industry and pharma.We have the potential and criticalmass to do things better than industrycan in terms of research anddevelopment and I think that there isa real opportunity for these types ofcollaborative interactions.

In October we will have our AnnualScientific Conference, and I know thatour Alumni will very much lookforward to meeting you and hearingyou present your vision at the meeting.Thank you Professor Berndt.

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Cardiovascular Services Development in theSouth of Ireland and UCC.The story of the development of modern cardiac services in the South probably starts with the appointment of Maurice Hickey toRialto Hospital in Dublin as Thoracic Surgeon. Maurice returned to Ireland in 1948 from the London Chest Hospital and operatedin Rialto, Mallow and Castlereagh on a rotating basis Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and back to Dublin at the weekend.With the appointment of Des Kneafsey to Galway and Keith Shaw to Dublin, this gave Maurice the opportunity to go south fulltime.

During the 1950’s he operated inMallow in the Mallow Chest Hospitaland in 1956 he relocated to the newSt. Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire. Inthe same year Raymond Shanahanreturned to Cork as Registrar in St.Finbarr’s Hospital, having spent a yearas the Ainsworth Scholar inMassachusetts General Hospital inBoston, working under Paul DudleyWhite. At that time Dr. Sean O’Toolewas providing a consulting Cardiologyservice from Galway. Mauriceencouraged Raymond to come to St.Stephen’s Hospital, where heintroduced cardiac catheterisation andlater pacing. The earliest heartoperations performed were closing ofpatent ductus arteriosus, closed mitralvalvotomy and pulmonary valvotomy(under surface cooling) with excellentresults. With the arrival of DesGaffney as anaesthetist in 1960 theycombined considerable animallaboratory work with their clinical workas they moved the frontiers forward.Together they had visited centres inthe US, Scandinavia and the UK withthe help of WHO funded fellowships.

Subsequent developments withprofound hypothermia allowed surgeryfor coarctation of the aorta and septaldefects. However haemolysis withprofound bleeding hampered resultsand developments.

In 1968 Prof. Michael Brady wasappointed to St. Finbarr’s hospital andintroduced peripheral vascular surgeryfrom aortic aneurysm repair toperipheral vascular reconstruction.Around the same time Mr. Ted Buckleywas appointed as the firstNeurosurgeon in the South and thisallowed a surgical approach to

vascular problems within the cranium. Michael Brady soon saw the need for ateam approach and dispatched JoeO’Donnell to Massachusetts forvascular training, returning in 1978and consolidated further thedevelopment of vascular surgery andunderlined the importance of teamwork in sub-speciality areas. In 1978Dr. Noel Cahill was appointed to theSouth Infirmary/Victoria Hospital asCardiologist and Physician andintroduced echocardiography to Cork.He had been at the forefront of thedevelopment of echocardiography inthe United States as Director of theEchocardiographic Laboratory at theUniversity of Chicago. Noel broughthis patients to Baggott Street Hospital,Dublin for diagnostic coronaryangiography on a weekly basis. In1978 the Cork Regional Hospital wasopened but without provision forcardiac surgery and investigations andpacing was carried out in a sharedvascular radiology room. With theunexpected and premature death ofRaymond Shanahan in August 1980,service development was hindered.Noel Cahill provided single handedly acity wide service for 2 years until theundersigned took up post at theRegional Hospital in July 1982.Coronary angiography was introducedto Cork in October 1982 in the sharedvascular room in Radiology and 300cases were performed in the first year.Until 1986 all patients referred forsurgery had to be referred to Dublinwhere Maurice Neligan, Keith Shawand Eoin O’Malley provided a willingand excellent service. Many phonecall consultations were made after10pm at night directly to their homesto facilitate the surgeon’s timetable.

In 1983 Tom Aherne was appointed asCardiothoracic Surgeon to the CorkRegional Hospital and after 2 years atUniversity of California in SanFrancisco returned to take up his postin late 1985. This immediatelyreinvigorated the service developmentin Cork with angiograms exceeding600 per year and he performed inexcess of 200 open heart procedures,many pacemaker implants andprovided the thoracic surgical servicefor all of Munster on an annual basis,single handed until 1996. The resultswere outstanding from the start,facilitated by his colleagues inanaesthesia, Des Gaffney, John Keogh,Mike Harris, Peter Kenefick andDeclan O’Brien. Dr. John Erwinperformed the first coronary arteryangioplasty in 1986 while in Cork fora locum year. In 1987 Dr. JohnKenny took up post in the BonSecours Hospital bringing the benefitof his outstanding non-invasive skillsto the Cork region. Furtherdevelopments had to wait until 1995with the appointment of BrendanMeany in Limerick Regional Hospitalfacilitated by generous support fromJP McManus and until 1996 with theappointment of Aonghus O’Donnell asthe second Cardiothoracic Surgeonand late in the same year PeterKearney as the interventionalCardiologist at the Cork UniversityHospital (renamed 1994). In 1996the Minister for Health, Brian Cowanlaunched a task force to advise on thedevelopment of cardiac services andlaunched its recommendations in1999 “Building Healthier Hearts”.This facilitated the introduction ofcardiac rehabilitation in all theregion’s hospitals and prompted theappointment of a third cardiologist to

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the Cork University Hospital. BrendanGunalingham from Australia and laterJanet Kirwan filled the position withdistinction on a temporary basis untilthe arrival of Dr. Eugene McFadden in2005.

In 1992 Prof Michael Murphy wasappointed as Professor of ClinicalPharmacology and Therapeutics andConsultant Physician to MercyUniversity Hospital and CorkUniversity Hospital. His specialexpertise in the investigation andmanagement of hypertension andcardiovascular pharmacology had amajor impact on the standard of carein these areas in all the UCC hospitalsin a short time.

In 1999 Dr. Gerry Fahy was appointedto the South Infirmary/VictoriaHospital and Cork University Hospitalin a joint appointment. Thisappointment had a specified specialinterest in cardiac electrophysiologyand immediately Gerry proceeded tothe introduction of electrophysiologicalstudies opening the way for ablation ofatrial and ventricular arrhythmias andbypass pathways, and introducedautomatic implantable cardiacdefibrillators and resynchronisationtherapy with biventricular pacingmodalities. This has opened newvistas for patients with complexarrhythmias, conduction problems andleft ventricular dysfunction which hasadded enormously to the quality of lifeof many patients.

Dr. Carl Vaughan was appointed asConsultant Cardiologist to the MercyUniversity Hospital and the CorkUniversity Hospital in 2004. Carl’sspecial interest in secondaryprevention and genetic conditions incardiovascular disease have alsohelped to progress patient care inthese areas as well as providingdiagnostic and interventionalcardiology service for patients in theMercy Hospital. Service in the MercyHospital has been further consolidatedwith the arrival of Prof. David Kerinsas Professor of Therapeutics in 2006.David has an outstanding backgroundin imaging in cardiology includingechocardiography and magneticresonance imaging. In 2008, Dr MJewitt joined Prof Michael Maher inthe Radiology Department in CorkUniversity Hospital to further

strengthen the Cardiovascular imagingstrengths across UCC with Dr LiamSpence (Nuclear Imaging) and DrPeter McEneaney.

In 2006 Prof. Noel Caplice returnedfrom the Mayo Clinic as Professor ofCardiovascular Science and ConsultantCardiologist at the Cork UniversityHospital. This appointment was verymuch facilitated by fund raisinglocally and foundation money fromScience Foundation Ireland andsupport by University College Cork.

This will provide an excellent basicscience facility for the development ofnew specialised treatments includingstem cell therapy. This will alsofacilitate the introduction of structuredresearch training for trainees incardiology and vascular biologyencouraging clinical investigation inthese areas.

Other developments in the Southernregion were the appointment of Dr.Terry Hennessy to Limerick RegionalHospital and Ennis General Hospital in1998 and the appointment of Dr.Conor O’Shea to the Bon SecoursHospital as interventional Cardiologistin 2003. Also in 2006, Dr. NiallColwell took up post in SouthTipperary General Hospital in Clonmeland Dr. S. Abbas in Nenagh Generaland Limerick Regional Hospital. DrBriain McNeil was appointed toWaterford Regional Hospital in 2008.A consultant at Kerry General Hospitalis long overdue but will hopefullybecome a reality in 2009. Dr PeterKelly has returned from the ClevelandClinic and joined the UCC cardiacgroup based at South InfirmaryVictoria University Hospital and CorkUniversity Hospital from July 2008.

While I have focused on the MedicalPersonnel in the development ofcardiac services in the South ofIreland, it is clearly essential toacknowledge the help from all theother medical services includingnursing to radiology, cardiactechnicians and administration, andthe team work involved to bring theservices to their present level. A fewin particular deserve special mention,Prof. Denis O’Sullivan, EileenBrosnan, Eleanor Mills, CatherineKeane, Martin Hargrove, MaryO’Byrne, Tony McNamara and Christy

Walsh whose contributions over manydecades and difficult circumstancesare much appreciated and wereinstrumental in keeping developmenton track.

In 2004 as part of Irelands EUpresidency initiative the Minister forHealth and Children, Micháel Martin,brought the European leaders inCardiology to Cork to discuss andadvise on the means of standardizingdata collection across the enlarged EUfor cardiac events and interventions tobetter inform government decisionmakeup. Later in the same year theMinister brought the Health Ministersfrom all the EU countries to Cork tocopper-fasten the recommendations ofthe EU cardiology community andsigned a memorandum ofunderstanding with US Secretary ofState for Health Thompson tofacilitate EU-American collaboration infighting Cardiovascular disease. Bothof these meetings were made possibleby the government’s initiative inlaunching “Building Healthier Hearts”and Dr. Peter Kearney’s membershipof the Board of the European Societyof Cardiology. All in the Irish Cardiaccommunity appreciate Peter’scommitment to making the Irish voiceheard in Europe. The Minister andPeter have together ensured thatIreland contributes beyond its size tothe European effort, and must augerwell for the future.

The above story shows a remarkablephase of development over a 50 yearperiod from the opening of St.Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire in1956. However while much work hasbeen done, the opportunities now arebetter than ever for managing andpreventing cardiovascular disease inthe population. So while much workhas been done, there is much more todo and there are even more excitingtimes ahead with the plannedCardiorenal development at the CUHto facilitate the centralisation ofinvasive facilities for the whole cityand region scheduled to open in2010.

(Reproduced with permission of the IrishHeart Foundation)

Dr Will Fennell

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Jennings Gallery – Michael Hanna

In one of the earliest issues of the Medical Alumni News, I contributed an articleabout Brookfield – it was brand new then back in 2006 – which was a call tothose of you who have a love of the visual arts to share in an effort to furtherbeautify a beautiful building and I suggested some ideas that might bring thatalong. While donors did not tumble out of theether with offers to become involved inquite the way I had hoped,nevertheless we have made progress.With the help of €15,000 fromBuckley Foundation we have convertedthe central landing in BrookfieldHouse into the Jennings Gallery,named in honour of the Jenningsfamily, builders and owners ofBrookfield House in 1897 andproviders in one way or another ofmost of the land on which UCC nowstands. It is fitting I think that wehave a corner of our campus thatbears their name. Our logo (seepicture) was designed by Alan O’Sheaof “designmatters” of Ballygarvan, CoCork and is taken from the plasterworkdecoration on the ceiling of the frontentrance hall of the house. The fleursymbol suggests both the historyassociated with the house and thecreative growth of the artists whoexhibit in the Gallery.

The Gallery was opened by ourChancellor, Dr Garret FitzGerald, inlate January, coinciding quiteincidentally with the first visit to theCollege of Medicine and Health ofProfessor Michael Berndt of MonashUniversity, our new Head of College.Michael was on a week long visit tomeet faculty and found himself in themiddle of a bizarre evening of mirthand celebration with over 50 picturesof all sizes and varying moods andsubject matter painted by theresidents of the Kilkenny Collective forArt Talent, a derivative and successorto the Camphill Community for those

with various kinds and degrees ofdisability. During his speech, Garretgave us some delightful anecdotes ofRuairi Quinn at the cabinet tablearresting other ministers in full flightby quietly passing around cartoondoodles of their performances. Thenthe KCAT artists responded with awinsome directness and simplicity thatwas deeply moving. We sold 16pictures on the opening night and thatclimbed to 22 in succeeding weeks,including a large 12 foot by 4 footcanvas by Thomas Barron that nowbrightens up the atrium andcomplements the Matt Lamb facingthe front door.

Some weeks later, Mary Leland,feature writer in the Examiner, wrote afine article about the gallery and aboutthe Brookfield building as a wholewhich did great justice to a buildingthat is still remarked on by those whovisit for the first time and is greatlyloved by those lucky enough to work init (Examiner Property Supplement8/3/08).

It was a great privilege recently to beable to host a collection of 17paintings by secondary schoolstudents, all finalists in a competitionrun by the Student Health Service atUCC on the occasion of the IrishStudent Health AssociationConference at Jury’s Hotel Cork onFriday 7th March. The overall winnerwas awarded the Robin GodfreyMemorial Prize, presented by MaryGodfrey. The competition was thebrainchild of Dr Michael Byrne, the

medical director of the Student HealthCentre who invited students inselected schools around Cork tocontribute pictures under the themesof Health, Student Life, Learning, andLife in Cork.

Side Streets of Cork by Ruth Kelleher (Mayfield Community School)

The pictures will find a lasting homein the newly refurbished StudentHealth Centre on College Road. It is awonderful demonstration, ifdemonstration is needed, that visualcreativity, the power of the imaginationto instruct the hand in the making ofimages that reflect our personal viewsof the world is all around us. Michaelwelcomed the students and theirteachers and parents in a fluent Irishand the President, Dr Michael Murphy,presented each with a reproduction oftheir winning painting. Two of theprize-winning paintings are shown.

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here.

So much to do, so little time by SeanLayton (Colaiste Colum)

There is one other show that hasbecome a regular feature of theBrookfield calendar and has beenmoved to the Jennings Gallery to greateffect. This is the annual display ofthe work of the first year OccupationalTherapy class. This can be in paint,textiles, ceramics, or sculpture invarious media. The module is aboutself development and challenges thestudents to explore their owncreativity. We use the gallery walls andthe exhibition cases (converted yellowbrick fuel bunkers!). We boughtreusable picture frames of differentsizes from Habitat and use these todisplay the students’ works on paper.We run into problems with the Healthand Safety Office as the gallery is alsoa potential escape route in case offire. So the way around this is to makebetter use of our “bunkers” – newplate glass doors and moveable glassshelves so we can get more individualpieces in there. If they are behindglass, then problem solved.

Our earnings from the sales of theshow, and a print hire scheme

launched just before Christmas,covered our Opening Night andcontributed a little to an art fund. Weare now drawing up managementprinciples and SoPs to provide a basisfor more shows in the future. TheGallery will be managed within theframework of the UCC Visual ArtsPolicy and has the following aims:

1. To provide a focus for the visual arts at

the western end of the UCC campus.

2. To mount a diverse range of

exhibitions, from individuals or groups,

by invitation from the organising

committee, which bear on the work

and mission of the College of

Medicine and Health in providing

education and research into human

health.

3. To contribute to creative personal

growth by encouraging visual creativity

and appreciation among staff and

students of UCC.

4. To encourage students to see visual

creativity as something that crosses all

social and health divides.

30% of the proceeds of sales will goto the UCC Medical Visual Arts Fundwhich will run the gallery and fromtime to time, as funds permit,purchase works for the College ofMedicine and Health. There will be alocal management committee withstudent representation and with anominee from the Glucksman Gallery.Our next venture is an exhibition ofworks by medical alumni which weplan to launch at the beginning of thenext academic year. In time we maybe able to extend the gallery to theupper landing where we currentlydisplay a large canvas commissionedfrom Professor John Fraher called“Primum non nocere”. How fitting thatstudents entering the upper landing ofthe Medical School wing should seethese words every time they attend a

seminar or visit the Medical SchoolOffice. Peter McGrath and hisFacilities team were wonderfulthroughout. Nothing was any troubleand everything was thought throughand carried out with the utmost care.A few weeks ago Peter becamesuddenly acutely ill and died in amatter of days. All of us who workhere were deeply shocked andsaddened and are still coming toterms with a Brookfield without Peter.However, Peter McGrath appreciatedthe many and different abilities of hisstaff and trusted them withresponsibility so that when he diedwith such suddenness, everything keptbeing done as before – this in itselfwas a tribute to his leadership and tothe warm regard in which he was held.He is greatly missed in Brookfield.

I would like to conclude this shortarticle by expressing my thanks to theBuckley Foundation for making theJennings Gallery a reality and to saythat if any reader of Medical AlumniNews would like to make a donation to“the UCC Medical Visual Arts Fund”,they can make a cheque payable tothat fund and send it to me at theCollege of Medicine and Health Office,Brookfield Health Science Complex,UCC where it will be used to put newdoors, lighting and moveable shelvinginto the yellow brick storage bunkers.

Plasterwork on the ceiling of theentrance hall of Brookfield House

Michael Hanna

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UCC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INTRODUCESGRADUATE ENTRY TO MEDICINEWhile possession of a prior degree has been a pre-requisite for entry to medical school in North America for decades, directentry from secondary (high) school has been, until very recently, the norm in the UK and Ireland. Several factors have conspiredto change attitudes to entry to medicine in these islands, including the recognition that many do not come to realize their truevocation until they are well into their degree course and that others, who do not make it through the points race, are eminentlysuitable to practice medicine. The latter, coupled with recent analyses predicting an imminent short-fall in the numbers ofmedical practitioners, led the government to announce, in 2006, the introduction of a graduate entry stream for medicine (GEM)in Ireland. This led to the initiation of two GEM programmes in 2007 at the new medical school at the University of Limerick (aGEM-only school) and at RCSI. In January 2008, the funding of further GEM places within the NUI medical schools wasannounced with UCC and UCD to offer places in September 2008 and NUIG to follow at a later date.

ENTRYThe basic requirement for entry to anyof these GEM courses is a 2:1 honoursdegree in the candidate’s firstBachelors degree. It is important toemphasise that while it is expectedthat many whose primary degree wasin the biomedical area are likely to beattracted to the GEM programme, adegree in a science, bioscience orbiomedical area is not a prerequisitefor consideration for entry; indeed, wewelcome applications from eligiblegraduates in other areas and academicexcellence in the humanities andsocial sciences is encouraged andrecognized. Scores in a standardizedaptitude test (the GAMSAT), developedin Australia for evaluating prospectivemedical school entrants, is then usedto rank applicants. GAMSAT evaluatesthe nature and extent of abilities andskills gained through prior experienceand learning, including the masteryand use of concepts in basic science,as well as the acquisition of moregeneral skills in problem solving,critical thinking and writing. Therewill not be an interview. If a candidatecan meet the requirements for theGAMSAT, the absence of a biomedicalbackground should not deter them.However, it is acknowledged thatsuccess in GAMSAT is unlikely withoutknowledge and ability in the biologicaland physical sciences, however this isacquired.

BRINGING GEM TO UCCWhile not possessing, up until now, adistinct GEM programme, the medicalschool at UCC has decades ofexperience in educating graduate

entrants to its traditional,predominantly direct-entry, course.Such entrants have come to usthrough our, very limited, mature entrystream or from North America, throughthe Atlantic Bridge programme. Ourfaculty and staff have, therefore,accumulated considerable experiencein the learning styles and academicand pastoral needs of the graduateentrant. Furthermore, UCC was anactive participant, with UCD, TCD andNUIG, in the IUMC bid, in response tothe original 2006 call for new GEMprogrammes, for a nationally-coordinated and integrated GEMprogramme. Though unsuccessful atthat time, valuable experience wasgained in designing a GEM programmeaccording to current, international bestpractice but in line with Irish needs.Nevertheless, the short time line fromthe very recent announcement(January 2008) of funding forgraduate entry at UCC and aSeptember 2008 start date haspresented a considerable challenge toall involved and has requiredconsiderable commitment of time andenergy from the entire GEM workinggroup.

THE GEM PROGRAMME AT UCCIn contrast to the direct entryprogramme, which takes five years,the Graduate Entry programme will be4 years. In the Graduate Entryprogramme, the biomedical scienceswill be compressed into a 40-weekfirst year and the first term of thesecond year (also extended to 40weeks). Thereafter, as the studentsenter the more overtly clinical years,

there will be significant overlapbetween the direct-entry and GEMprogrammes, to the mutual benefit ofboth streams.

The learning methods will be inkeeping with the maturity and moreadvanced learning styles of thegraduate entrant. Traditional lectureswill, therefore, be kept to a minimumwith an emphasis on small group andcase-based learning. Clinicalinstruction will be provided ab initioand students will deal with issuessuch as professionalism, medicalethics and interactions betweenhealth, disease and society from day1. What will not be different betweenGEM and direct entry streams will bethe clinical experience; it will be justas extensive and intensive as in ourdirect entry programme. The finalqualification will be the same for bothprogrammes: the MB, BCh, BAODegree. In terms of support, GEMstudents will have some of their ownteachers; will have a separateprogramme director and separateadministrative support.

The GEM course is now set to start onSeptember 1st 2008 when UCC willadmit 50 students to its new GEMprogramme; I know that everyone atUCC will welcome this new cohort ofeager and enthusiastic medicalstudents.

Prof Eamonn Quigley

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MEDICAL ALUMNI OCTOBER 9 – 10, 2008

BROOKFIELD HEALTH SCIENCES COMPLEXIntroductionThe Annual Scientific Conference is a multidisciplinarygraduate meeting for all graduates, staff and medical friends ofUCC which is organised by the Medical Alumni Committee.

Programme

Thursday October 9

8.30 Registration and Coffee

9.15 WelcomeProf David Kerins, Head, School of Medicine, UCCProf Michael Berndt, Head, College of Medicine and Health, UCC

Session 1 – Clinical Challenges

Chair – Prof Barry Ferriss / Dr Paule Cotter

9.30 Irritable bowel or Irritable brainDr Seamus O’Mahony, Bon Secours Hospital, UCC,Cork

9.45 Strategies to Redeem the Refractory Epilepsy PatientDr Norman Delanty, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin

10.00 Osteoporosis: Looking beyond boneDr James Griffith, Prince of Wales Hospital,Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

10.15 Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty: Is it a procedure ofthe past?Dr Peter Kelly, SIVUH, Cork

10.30 Coffee Break

Session 2 - The Challenges of change in theModern Age

Chair – Dr Len Harty / Dr Catherine Keohane

11.00 Risk and Drug DevelopmentDr Kevin Horgan, Philadelphia

11.20 The role of the laboratory in the control ofantimicrobial resistanceDr Olive Murphy, Bon Secours, Cork

11.40 Meeting the Challenges of Quality in the Modern AgeDr Tracy Cooper, HIQA, Cork

12.00 Problems with twinsDr Edward Kiely, Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London

12.45 Lunch break

Session 3 - The Challenges of change in theModern Age

Chair – Prof Fergus Shanahan / Dr Joe Dillon

14.00 Cervical vaccinationsDr Matt Hewitt, CUMH, Cork

14.20 New directions in Medical Education at UCCDr Rob Gaffney, UCC, Cork

14.40 History of Medicine – Shaw & ImmunologyDr Eleanor Molloy, National Maternity Hospital,Dublin

15.00 Conquering down under – A polar experienceDr Clare O’Leary, South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel

15.20 Coffee Break

15.45 Annual General Meeting – Medical Alumni CommitteeAgenda items invited from Graduates, in advance

16.15 Opening Brookfield Art Gallery – Exhibition of Medical Graduates

17.00 Close

19.00 Wine Reception followed by Gala DinnerAula Maxima, UCC (by ticket only)

Friday October 10

Session 4 - Breast Session - Round table in BreastDiseases: Investigation & Management

Chairs – Dr Martin O’ Sullivan / Dr Brian Jordan

9.30 Breast Imaging UpdateDr Josephine Barry, CUH, Cork

9.50 Surgical Approaches to Breast DiseaseMs. Deirdre O’Hanlon, SIVUH, Cork

10.10 Pathology – taking breast diagnosis furtherDr Margaret Sheehan, University College Hospital,Galway

10.30 Panel Discussion

10.45 Coffee Break

Session 5 - Dermatapathology

Chairs – Dr Gillian Gibson / Dr Michael Bennett

11.15 Itching for an answerDr Michelle Murphy, SIVUH, Cork

11.30 Current treatment options for the aging skinMr. Sean T. O’Sullivan, CUH, Cork

11.45 A view from General PracticeDr John Loughnane, GP, Newcastle West, Limerick

12.00 Panel Discussion

Continuing Medical Education (CME) points will beavailable from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

Registration Form included with this Newsletter.

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OLLSCOIL na hÉIREANNTHE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELANDTEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY:PROFESSOR DAVIS COAKLEY, Professor of Medical Gerontology, in Trinity College, Dublin on 6 June, 2008, on the occasion of theconferring of the Degree of Doctor of Medicine, honoris causa, on MICHAEL HYLAND

It was William Osler, the great NorthAmerican physician, who said to hisstudents “medicine is not a trade, it isa mission.” We only need to lookback through medical history to findindividuals who have dedicated theirlives to seeking cures for disease or todiscovering new approaches to thesociomedical issues of their time. Withpioneering vision, Dr. Michael Hyland,has devoted his life to establishing anew approach to the health and well-being of older people.

Michael Hyland was born in Yorkshirein 1934. His father Edmond was aCorkman who grew up on College Roadjust a short distance from UCC, wherehe studied medicine, graduating in theearly twenties. After graduation, hisfather sought a position in England,like most UCC graduates of the time,and he set up a practice in Yorkshire.Michael’s mother Mary was also fromCork, growing up on a farm on BlarneyRoad. Michael’s parents maintainedstrong links with their Irish rootsspending their holidays every year withtheir three children in Ballycotton andMichael has fond memories of thesecarefree days. The family was onholidays as usual in Ballycotton whenthe Second World War began.Michael’s parents decided to leavetheir children with their grandmotheron the farm on Blarney Road. Michaelwas sent to school at the ChristianBrothers College, or ‘Christians’ as it ismore familiarly known. After the war,the children returned with theirparents to Yorkshire.

The family moved back to Ireland in1947 and settled on Orchard Road.In 1951, Michael followed his father’sfootsteps by choosing to studymedicine at UCC. After graduation,he interned at the North Infirmary andstayed on subsequently as senior

house officer and registrar. He wasunsure about his future career, so in1961 he decided to do some locumsas a general practitioner in Yorkshire.

It was during this period that hebecame aware of the ground-breakingapproach to the medical care of olderpeople being brought about by thenew specialty of geriatric medicine.The specialty developed from thepioneering work of Dr. Marjorie Warrenat the West Middlesex Hospital inLondon. Michael began his training ingeriatric medicine in the CentralMiddlesex Hospital where he cameunder the influence of the charismaticDr. (later Professor) Gordon Mills.After four years, Michael moved to theWest Middlesex Hospital where heworked with Dr. Jimmy Andrews,another well known advocate of thespecialty.

Professor Denis O’Sullivan wasappointed to the chair of medicine inUCC in 1961. He recognised theimportance of developing a specialisedservice for older patients and asked DrJ H Sheldon, whose book on the socialmedicine of old age was offundamental importance, to advise onthe care of the elderly in Munster. Thiseventually resulted in the firstadvertisement for a geriatrician in thiscountry. Michael was appointed to theposition and commenced duty inJanuary 1969.

Three months after taking up theappointment, Michael marriedRosaleen Crowley whom he had met atthe Central Middlesex Hospital whereshe was nursing. Rosaleen had asimilar background to Michael’s. Herfather Dr. Patrick Crowley hadgraduated in medicine from UCC inthe 1920s and was Medical Officer ofHealth in Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

At St. Finbarr’s Hospital, Michaelgradually built up a multidisciplinaryteam and in 1972 he appointed hisfirst registrar, Dr. (now Professor)Cillian Twomey. Shortly afterwards,Michael opened his first day hospitaland he managed to persuade theDepartment of Health to build a new80 bed rehabilitation unit in St.Finbarr’s Hospital. When the newRegional Hospital opened in 1978, itincluded an acute admission ward forolder patients. One might ask, howdid Michael achieve so much soquickly? He has ability obviously, buthe also has an open and genialpersonality which, combined with hissense of humour, managed to opendoors which others would find firmlyclosed.

Michael was appointed lecturer andexaminer at UCC soon after hereturned to Cork. He was a remarkableteacher and he set time aside to teacheach morning. His clinics were someof the best attended in the medicalschool. Michael became a role modelfor many of the students and juniordoctors in Cork. Most of these wentinto fields other than geriatricmedicine but they are quick toacknowledge Michael’s influence onthem.

Michael Hyland is a gifted clinicianand his knowledge of medicine isextremely broad. He has always kepthimself at the cutting edge ofdevelopments and patients under hiscare were guaranteed to get the bestof diagnostics and the best therapyavailable.

Several young doctors who trained inCork were attracted to the specialty ofgeriatric medicine because ofMichael’s enthusiasm and dedication.Most have gone on to hold consultant

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posts in Ireland, North America, theUnited Kingdom and Australia. It issignificant that four of the professorsof geriatric medicine in this countrywere inspired by Michael to followcareers in the specialty and three ofthem worked with Michael as youngdoctors and were also his students.Michael, who is widely regarded as thepioneer of the specialty in Ireland,gave generously of his time todeveloping services for the elderly on anational level. Towards this end, heplayed a key role in several nationalsocieties and working groups. One ofthe latter produced a seminal reportentitled ‘The Years Ahead’ in 1989. Itis still regarded as the mostcomprehensive review of services forolder people in Ireland.

The famous 17th century physician,William Harvey, complained in his daythat few men above the age of fortyseemed able to accept his discovery ofthe circulation of the blood becausethey had already closed their minds tonew ideas. This certainly cannot besaid of Michael who remains a

perpetual student, always open to newideas, absorbing them into his clinicalpractice when relevant and sharingthem with his students and staff.After retirement he continued bedsideteaching until his 70th birthday andover the past ten years he has beenchairman of the Clinical ResearchEthics Committee of the Cork TeachingHospitals. This is an onerous task andhis appointment is a reflection of hisenergy and integrity.

Michael encouraged young doctors onhis team to become involved inresearch and many projects initiatedin this way were subsequentlypublished in peer reviewed journals.In 1997, he played a key role in alarge clinical trial being undertaken byresearchers in three universities, theuniversity of Leiden, the university ofGlasgow and UCC. The trialdemonstrated that elderly individualsat risk of vascular disease benefittedfrom treatment with statins and thesefindings were published in the Lancetin 2002.

Michael was one of the early membersof the British Geriatrics Society, whichwas the first society for ageing in theworld for consultants in this field andwhich has developed into a largeinternational society. The society heldits spring meeting in Cork in 1999and Michael was awarded thePresident’s Medal of the Society. Thismedal is awarded in recognition ofoutstanding service to geriatricmedicine.

Michael retired in 1998 leaving athriving department with fiveconsultants on its staff. He is veryhighly regarded not only in Ireland butalso internationally. Yet he neverspeaks of his own achievements orsuccesses. He is a very private manwho treasures the hours he spendswith Rosaleen and their family.

It is most fitting that Michael shouldbe honoured here in the Aula Maximaof his own university. Ireland oweshim an immense debt of gratitude forhis contribution to the health care ofthe nation.

Pat Rice LLD, Niall Mellon LLD, Dr Michael Hyland MD, Samantha Power LLD, Prof Patrick Fottrell DSc

UCC Medical Alumni News is intended for circulation among UCC Medical Alumni. The opinions and views inthe publication are those of the contributors and are not necessarily shared by the UCC Medical AlumniAssociation.

Contact Details:Ms. Rachel Hyland,Med Alumni Association,Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, College Road, Cork

Tel: +353 (0)21 4901587Email: medalumni@ucc.iehttp://www.ucc.ie/en/DepartmentsCentresandUnits/SchoolofMedicine/MedicalAlumni/

Please send us your e-mail address to update our files.

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3 October 20081988 MB Class ReunionHayfield Manor, Cork

4 October 20081978 MB Class ReunionSheen Falls Hotel Kenmare.

9 October 2008UCC Medical Annual ScientificConferenceMedical & Health Sciences Complex,Brookfield

10 October 20081968 MB Class ReunionCommon Room, UCC

7 November 2008Annual UCC Alumni & Friends NewEngland Dinner (IEF)To be confirmed

18 November 2008UCC Alumni & Friends Chicago ReceptionThe Monroe RoomUniversity Club of Chicago

5 December 20082008 UCC Alumni Achievements AwardsAula Maxima, UCC

24 April 20091984 Graduates Silver Jubilee ReunionAula Maxima, UCC

8 June 20091959 Graduates Golden Jubilee ReunionAula Maxima, UCC

22 August 20091974 Medical Gradutes 35th AnniversaryReunionSt Johns, Newfoundland, Canada(for details contact: Pat Parfrey:pparfrey@mun.ca)

17 September 2009UCC Medical Annual ScientificConference, UCC

For further information on the aboveevents and/ reunions, please contact theUCC Alumni Office on Tel: + 353 21 4902016 or E-mail graduates@ucc.ie.Additional events will be announced on anon-going basis, so remember to check thealumni website regularly athttp://alumni.ucc.ie

Plan a gift to University College CorkA legacy or planned gift is one way that a graduate can supporttheir alma mater. It can take various forms but most often is inthe form of a bequest included in a will. A charitable bequestincluded in one’s will provides a favourable way in which to saveon inheritance taxes and also enables the donor, who mightotherwise not be able to make an outright gift during his or herlifetime, to provide support for the future. The giving of legaciese.g., money, objects, securities, bonds or property, in a will, nomatter what size, can offer an opportunity to commemorate anindividual and enables the University to continue to provideexcellence in teaching and research. For additional informationabout exploring the options of planning a gift or legacy to UCC,please contact Dr Jean van Sinderen-Law, Director ofDevelopment on Tel: +353 21 4902205 or Email:j.law@ucc.ie

2008/2009Diary ofGraduate Events

Congratulations to the UCCMedicine Class of 2008on your recent graduation. The UCC Alumni Office wishes you every successand fulfilment in your future career. You are now part of the vibrant graduateworldwide network of over 65,000 alumni which keeps you in touch with fellowgraduates and with UCC. Remember to stay in touch with your alma mater andupdate your contact details with the Alumni Office if you move house or changejobs. The Alumni Office administers the Graduates’ Association which providesmembers with a wide range of benefits and services including invitations toalumni events, mailing of the UCC Graduate Magazine and access to Campusfacilities. Further details and membership forms can be accessed on the UCCalumni website at http://alumni.ucc.ie <http://alumni.ucc.ie/> or by emailing E:graduates@ucc.ie