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Ireland’s Future Doctors to Benefit from Trinity College Dublin’s New State-of-the-Art School of Medicine

Posted on: 16 February 2012

Trinity College Dublin’s new premises for its School of Medicine was officially opened by the Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock on February 15th last. Funding of just over  €21 million* was provided by the Higher Education Authority/Department of Education & Skills for the new building situated in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute.

The School of Medicine delivers multi-disciplinary education across all levels of healthcare to 750 medical undergraduate and 550 postgraduate students, including PhD and MD students. Medicine at Trinity College Dublin is ranked in the top 100 Schools of Medicine globally*.

Stephen Hatton and Meagan Wiebe, both first year medical students at Trinity College Dublin, show Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock the facilities in the new state-of-the-art School of Medicine.

Welcoming the initiative, Minister Sherlock stated: “Ireland’s future doctors and  medical scientists  will benefit from the best of  teaching facilities in this state-of-the-art building for Trinity College’s new School of Medicine, where leading technology  and bespoke setting will augment quality teaching, research and learning for  generations to come.”

The world standard teaching equipment includes teaching laboratories with the latest technologies, 300-seat lecture theatres, seminar rooms and a specially designed Anatomy Dissection Room with extensive audio video equipment facilities to enhance the learning experience.

All pre-clinical medical education and training activities are now situated in the one building for the first time in the School of Medicine’s history.

The School also benefits from the collaborative nature of the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, bringing together research activities across five schools* to drive cutting-edge 21st-century biomedical research.

The Head of the School of Medicine and Vice Provost for Medical Affairs, Professor Dermot Kelleher said: “It is unique to have medical students benefiting from the high-level multidisciplinary research environment where they can learn first-hand the bench-to-bedside approach to research and how it translates to the patient. This has been a hallmark of Trinity’s medical education and is strengthened with the opening of this new facility.”

Building on 300 years of academic achievement, in 2012, the School of Medicine has internationally recognised research excellence in the area of immunology, cancer, infectious diseases, psychiatric genetics and public health, and has contributed to a number of major scientific discoveries in medical research in recent years.   TCD researchers in the biomedical sciences have delivered the technologies that underpinned the nicotine patch, they’ve identified new genes for major diseases such as childhood eczema and they’ve pushed the boundaries of our understanding of how diseases function such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and arthritis.

The future research that will be conducted at Trinity’s School of Medicine will continue to lead to the improvement of human health.

“The primary aim of Trinity’s School of Medicine is to develop medical graduates who will contribute to patient care and medical science. Our students have the advantage of leading-edge facilities for medical education and research in this magnificent new building, which will have a real impact on the training of future generations of doctors and researchers and ultimately improved healthcare, “Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast concluded.

About the School of Medicine

– 750 Students

– From 35 countries

– 220 PhD students

– 330 postdoctoral researchers

– *The QS world rankings (2011) – medicine, TCD is ranked between 51-100

Some of the School of Medicine’s innovative educational programmes are unique in international terms. Intercalated MSc programme in molecular medicine, neuroscience or bioengineering has been offered and is based on TCD’s strengths. Medical students who choose this route graduate with both a medical degree and masters in bioengineering, neuroscience or molecular medicine.

*Funding
Funding was provided by the Higher Education Authority/ Department of Education & Skills for the building (€17.225m Building & €4m Equipment) arising from the Fottrell review of medical education. The new building addresses the undergraduate medical needs as identified in the Fottrell report (2006) ‘Medical Education in Ireland: A New Direction – Report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training’.

The total cost of the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, in which the School of Medicine is now housed, was €131 million. The state support, in the form of HEA Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) funding, co-financed by the ERDF, and National Development Plan 2007-13 medical education funding contributes €80 million towards the overall costs, with the balance financed by the College through delivery of commercial accommodation and underpinned by investment from the European Investment Bank.

*Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute
Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute consolidates the research activities across five schools:  Medicine; Chemistry; Engineering; Biochemistry & Immunology; Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, achieving the close interdisciplinary collaboration required to drive cutting-edge 21st Century biomedical research which will copper-fasten Trinity’s, as well as Ireland’s, position as a leader in international scientific research.

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