Crumlin to become associated teaching faculty partner to RCSI School of Pharmacy
Tuesday, 19th May 2015: TheRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has signed a strategic partnership with Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlinwhich will see the hospital becoming an associated teaching faculty partner to the RCSI School of Pharmacy.
The aim of the partnership is to enhance paediatric care through the delivery of practice-based research. The research activity will include evaluation of services and initiatives to promote safe and effective use of medicines and ultimately to conduct clinical trials which will provide an evidence base for improved therapeutics and interventions in children.
RCSI pharmacy students will be afforded the opportunity to undertake experiential learning in a clinical setting under the tutelage and direction of experienced pharmacy practitioners where students will enhance their clinical pharmacy knowledge and experience.
This new mutually beneficial collaboration with RCSI School of Pharmacy will facilitate access to innovative educational initiatives at RCSI, enabling the exploration of novel training programmes tailored specifically to the needs of the hospital pharmacy department staff and enabling the development of a mutually agreed, mutually beneficial translational research strategy in paediatrics.
Speaking at the announcement, Mr. Lorcan Birthistle, CEO of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin said: “We are pleased to partner with the RCSI School of Pharmacy, who have a track record for innovation in pharmacy education and training. This strategic partnership will significantly enhance and strengthen the advancement of collaborative research opportunities between the RCSI and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. Ultimately the aim of our partnership is to enhance and improve patient outcomes while giving RCSI pharmacy undergraduates invaluable clinical experience working with our experienced pharmacy department here at the hospital”.
Professor Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences said: “The Pharmacy Department at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin has established an excellent record as being clinically-focused, research driven and innovative. It is with great pleasure therefore that I sign this memorandum of understanding between our School of Pharmacy and Ireland’s largest paediatric hospital”.
“This partnership will build on our engagement with the Hospital through our medical school - and enable our pharmacy students to also witness a collaborative approach to paediatric care, to have excellent access to paediatric bedside teaching, to learn from the multidisciplinary child-centric ethos of this hospital, and to facilitate research opportunities for the Hospital and the College,” Professor McGee concluded.
Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin® is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital. Our Lady's mission is to constantly improve the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents in a safe environment which is driven by quality healthcare and supported by excellence in Knowledge, Education and Research. In 2014 the hospital had 34,770 emergency attendances, 17,700 day cases, 10,467 in patient admissions, 74,843 outpatient attendances and performed 14,744 surgical procedures. It is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital and is responsible nationally for the provision of the majority of quaternary, tertiary and secondary healthcare services for children. It is the national centre in Ireland for a range of specialities including children’s childhood cancers and blood disorders, cardiac diseases, major burns, cystic fibrosis, clinical genetics and rheumatology. The hospital is also involved in the teaching of medical personnel. Undergraduate students from University College Dublin, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin receive training in Paediatrics at Our Lady's Hospital
RCSI is among the top 50 most international universities in the world (Times Higher Education University World Rankings, 2014-15). It is a not-for-profit health sciences institution focused on education and research to drive positive change in all areas of human health worldwide. RCSI is headquartered in Dublin and is a recognised College of the National University of Ireland. In 2010, RCSI was granted independent degree awarding status by the State, which enables the College to award degrees alongside its traditional powers to award licentiates.
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