TEACHING FACILITIES

This is a landmark time in the Department’s history as it has recently moved to its new teaching and research facilities in the Western Gateway Building. The new teaching lab is named the Anatomy FLAME laboratory, with FLAME being acronymic for Facility for Learning Anatomy, Morphology & Embryology. This new state of the art facility offers huge potential for further development of teaching and research in the Department. Moreover, changes in medical education and advances in Medical Imaging are changing the landscape of how Anatomy is taught in professional programmes.

RESEARCH FACILITIES

New research facilities are also coming online in the Western Gateway Building which coupled with the development of the PRTLI-V funded Neuroscience Hub in the same building (expected to open in early 2012) ensure that the Department is able to make significant research advances in the Neurosciences. The mysteries of how the brain develops, functions and malfunctions are among the most challenging and fascinating in modern medicine where new techniques at the molecular and cellular level are opening up exciting avenues for scientific pursuit.

The new teaching and research facilities ensure that the Dept is excellently poised to keep abreast with such changes. Thus the teaching mission of the dept is to enable high-quality innovative teaching and assessment of anatomy & neuroscience at both undergraduate and postgraduate level within a context that is clinically meaningful and related to the competencies required by Health Professionals and research and industry-based scientists.

RESEARCH PROGRAMME

From a research perspective the Dept. of Anatomy at UCC has a long-standing focus on neuroscience research and our goal is to continue to develop an internationally recognised research unit in the neurosciences to advance knowledge, and to educate both students and society of the mechanisms and potential treatments for brain disorders.

NEUROSCIENCE

The Dept. offers both a BSc in Neuroscience (entered through the CK402 Biological & Chemical Sciences programme) in addition to teaching Basic and Clinical Anatomy to host of students in the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Clinical Therapies, Pharmacy and in the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science and College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science .

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH

We also offer you first class opportunities for postgraduate study and research and continuing professional development. Our aim is to provide doctors, health professionals and scientists of the future with a world class, student-centred education, based on current knowledge, informed by research and with an awareness of societal needs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Over its long history the Department has made a huge contribution to the training of doctors, dentists and other health professionals in addition to many scientific and medical discoveries. However, much of this training is dependent on those who are generous enough to donatetheir bodies for the purpose of medical science and education. Such donations are essential to our proper functioning as a medical and other health science schools.

The generosity of donors is marked by a sculpture which is located in the department. It is a commissioned abstract piece in the form of a flame. It represents the flame of knowledge which leads to the light of understanding and forms the basis of the renaming of our new teaching laboratory.