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NUI Galway helping students move up in the world of medicine By Cathy Lee
FREE STUDENT NEWSPAPER | VOL 18, ISSUE 02 | 27 SEPT 2016
PARALYMPIC GLORY
NUI Galway lecturers return home as Paralympic heroes By Darragh Berry Dr Eoghan Clifford, a Civil Engineering lecturer at NUI Galway and Dr Patrick O’Leary, a lecturer above the bar in the School of Chemistry made headlines for their feats at the recent Paralympic Games in Rio, Dr Clifford securing Gold and Bronze medals with O’Leary finishing sixth in the final of his event. Dr O’Leary, a native of Cork who now resides in Moycullen, became Ireland’s first ever Irish Para-canoeist to qualify for the KL3 canoeing final. Rio 2016 is the first time that Para-canoeing has been included in the games. He finished third in his heat with a time of 45.97 seconds before eclipsing that time by a second and a half to earn him a spot in the final, which took place on Thursday 15 September. Speaking to SIN, Dr O’Leary was asked about his look whilst canoeing, the back to front cap on his head beautifully showing off the tri-colour logo in the Rio sun; “If it’s warm I usually have a bandana on my head but there was problems with the apparel police with wearing it, so the next best thing was a cap, albeit back to front.”
Dr Eoghan Clifford. (Photo: Limerick Leader) Dr O’Leary lost his knee to bone cancer at the age of 18 and in the midst of his Leaving Certificate exams was subject to intense sessions of chemotherapy. It was also in school where Dr O’Leary’s love of canoeing began and despite the loss
Dr Pat O'Leary (Photo: Paul Mohan, Sportsfile)
of his knee, Dr O’ Leary was able to keep up the sport as it didn’t put as much of a strain on his knee as other sports. In 2011, a reoccurring infection in Dr O’Leary’s leg meant that it would have to be amputated. It was less than two months after having a prosthetic leg fitted that Dr O’Leary returned to canoeing and he had one thing on his mind: qualifying for Rio. He finished in sixth place in the final out of a total of eight athletes who took part in the race. Winning a medal was not his sole ambition. Qualifying for a place in the Paralympics was the initial dream, followed by qualifying for the final and he smashed both of those expectations. “It was amazing to share the experience with my family,” he told SIN. “I am truly delighted to have finished 6th which is higher than what my expected ranking was coming into this race. It was the best race I have ever executed which is nice to be able to say and I am honoured to have been part of such a positive and passionate Ireland team at this Paralympic games.” Continued on page 2
NUI Galway have been funded to begin a new PHD programme that will allow medical students access to further development of their research and training abilities. The trainee programme will begin in 2017 and will open to eight students over a five year period. The programme will provide these trainee doctors with integrated clinical and research skills up to consultant level. The estimated figure of funds being put in to this programme is close to €13 million. Nearly half of this was funded by the heath research board and Wellcome. Wellcome is a global independent charitable body that has gotten involved with academic research, businesses, governments and civil societies around the world. The system involves partner universities both northern and southern Ireland with students, partner universities encouraged strongly by Molecular Medicine Ireland. This expansion of interest in this particular area has been welcomed by various universities across Ireland including TCD, UCD, UCC, the Royal college of Surgeons and Queen’s University Belfast as well as here at our own NUI Galway. The programme will be taking applications from autumn 2016 for its first intake of students. This programme will then begin in July 2017. Minister for Health Simon Harris described this as a “significant investment in the future of the health service” outlining his hopes for the future success of the project. It’s clear that the funding given here is to go a long way to help both students and in turn then the general public being looked after by these future fully trained and skilled doctors. A lead investigator on this programme Conall Dennedy of NUI Galway told the Galway Advertiser that “this marks a fantastic opportunity for medical trainees to develop careers as clinician scientists” and that “this programme demonstrates how we can work together across academic, training and healthcare institutions”. He is one of a team of seven other investigators that vary from those teaching in colleges across the country as professors and those involved with Wellcome. He described the system as “cutting edge” with a new landscape for Irish medical training opening up like this. To apply online to this new programme visit http://www.molecularmedicineireland. ie/career-opportunity-molecular-medicineireland/ and download the pdf available there. You must send a detailed CV and cover letter explaining your background and experience as well as your suitability for the role. You must also have three references and all must be sent to icat-pm@molecularmedicineireland.ie. Following this if you are selected, a series of interviews will take place in the coming months. The deadline for applications is Monday 17 October at 12 noon.