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Health Sciences
184
Course content
This four-year programme will be offered in partnership with two
linked maternity care providers: The Coombe Women’s Hospital
and The Rotunda Hospital. The first three years combine
learning in university and midwifery practice in the maternity
hospitals and will take place during the academic year with the
usual academic holidays. The final year will include a 36-week
period of internship in midwifery practice.
This programme will provide you with the knowledge and skills to
meet the needs of women and their families in an individualised,
culturally sensitive manner. There are two components to the
midwifery degree programme – a theoretical component and a
midwifery practice component.
Like all professional courses in health sciences, Midwifery
places extra demands on students’ time. It can be demanding,
both physically and emotionally and so you should ensure that
you are in a position to fully engage with the course during your
time in College.
Theoretical component
The theoretical component of the course will be taught in the
Trinity College School of and Midwifery, D’Olier Street and in
the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences in St. James’s Hospital.
Teaching methods include lectures, small-group teaching,
tutorials and practice classes. You will typically spend 3-4
days in theory classes each week and each day will consist
of approximately 6 hours per day in lectures, tutorials and
laboratory practicals.
The programme content will cover such areas as:
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Midwifery practice – knowledge and skills
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Communication and interpersonal skills
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Professional, personal, ethical and legal issues
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Knowledge base for midwifery practice to include: biological
sciences, psychology, pharmacology, non-pharmaceutical
approaches
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Social theory for midwifery practice
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Research
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Health promotion
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Maternal and social care services in Ireland
Midwifery practice component
For the practice component you will be based in one of the
maternity care providers: the Coombe Women and Infants
University Hospital or the Rotunda Hospital. Midwifery students
will also undertake other clinical placements, for example,
mental health, medical and surgical. In the first three years
students will be required to complete three, four to six-
week clinical placements, which will consist of 30-35 hours
(approximately) supernumerary practice per week in a practice
setting. The final year will include a 36-week period of internship
in midwifery practice.
Midwifery clinical placements take place throughout the
four years of the programme. You will begin your first
midwifery clinical placement in November of the first year of
the programme. Before this placement you will have spent
approximately one day per week with lecturers and midwives in
the maternity hospitals.
Which maternity care provider
will you train with?
After you accept an offer to this programme, you will receive a
welcome pack from Trinity College. This pack contains a form
asking you to indicate which maternity care provider you would
prefer to be linked with. Requests are dealt with on a first-come,
first-served basis. Where possible you will be assigned your
first choice, however, if the number of applicants exceeds the
number of places available you will be assigned your second
choice. A reserve list is held and if a vacancy arises it may be
possible to transfer to your first choice.
Assessment
Assessment of learning in midwifery practice is an important
component of the programme and will take place throughout
the programme. Other forms of assessment include written
examinations and assignments, presentations, debates,
teaching sessions, etc.
Career opportunities
As a graduate you will be eligible to apply to have your name
entered in the midwives division of the Register of Nurses
maintained by An Bord Altranais and begin your career as a
midwife. Midwives may choose to work in a variety of health
care settings. The majority of midwives practise within the Health
Service, in maternity hospitals, maternity units of large and small
general hospitals, in private maternity hospitals, etc. Midwives
can also practice independently and there is a small-group of
midwives who do so. There are also a number of midwife-led
initiatives being developed.
Midwives have an option to develop their career in many
different ways; progress is along three broad pathways: practice,
management, education and research. The opportunities are
endless. Midwives educated in the Republic of Ireland may
move freely within the European Union and in most countries
worldwide.
Further information
E-mail:
Tel: +353 1 896 2692
