Overview

Public Health & Primary Care came into being with the establishment of the Chair of Social Medicine in 1952. The establishment of the Chair recognised the contribution of the social environment to people's health or ill health, and the importance of informing and training medical students for delivery of health services in the community setting. Since then, the Chair of General Practice was established in 1991 followed by the Chair of Population Health Medicine in 2009.

We are a multi-disciplinary team with public health medicine and general practice forming the core of the discipline. Epidemiology, psychology and the social sciences are also represented in the team makeup.

Public health refers to all organized measures to prevent disease, promote health and prolong life among the population as a whole. Its activities aim to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases. It is the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy-making and research, for disease and injury prevention.

Primary Care is all of the health or social care services available in the community, outside of hospital. It focuses around General Practice (GP) and includes Public Health Nursing and a range of other services, which provide a single point of contact to the health system. Depending on the nature of the health condition, patients may be referred for secondary or tertiary care.

Public Health & Primary Care delivers courses as part of the 1st and 4th year medical curricula. We also participate in the research modules in the 2nd medical year.

The TCD/HSE Specialist Training Programme in General Practice is a part of the department, providing a network of teaching and training practices.

List of facilities in Russell Centre

Health Services Executive – 1st, 2nd and 4th floor
GP Practices – 3rd floor

Teaching floor – 5th floor
Research and education floor – 6th floor
Research and education floor – 7th floor

Staff on 6th floor
Public Health and Primary Care
Prof Noel McCarthy, Chair of Population Health Medicine
Prof Susan Smith, Chair of General Practice
Prof Steve Thomas, Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Policy
Prof Catherine Darker, Associate Professor in Health Services Research
Dr Darach O Ciardha
Dr Jo-Hanna Ivers, Research Fellow
Dr Dónal Wallace, Assistant Professor in General Practice
Dr Geraldine Jordan, Executive Officer
Mr James Lyons, Research Assistant

TCD/ICGP GP Training Unit
Dr Aisling Ni Shuilleabhain, Director
Ms Audrey Murray

School of Nursing and Midwifery
Prof Catherine Comiskey, School of Nursing and Midwifery
Prof Gabrielle McKee, Associate Professor Biological Sciences
Dr Sonam Banka, School of Nursing and Midwifery

Staff on 7th Floor
Prof Lina Zgaga, Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Prof Catherine Hayes, Associate Professor of Public Health