Alumni Spotlights
Dr Paul O'Dwyer - Dental Surgeon & Healthcare Manager
I studied dentistry, graduating in 1997. However, like most students, I had an insatiable curiosity for other subjects – and in the first two years on campus, occasionally attended other lectures – particularly Sociology, History, Politics and French … (shhhh – don’t tell the Fees Office!!!)
Best memory of UCC
Like so many alumni, I have many happy memories of time in “De College”. Perhaps an abiding memory is the end of exams week in May. That lost bastion of wild abandon, The Western Star – was the annual venue for the end of exams. With the gruelling timetable of closely spaced exams., usually scattered around campus (with locations as diverse as Kampus Kitchen and Highfield Rugby Club!), the class and a large section of the student body would descend on the mammoth beer garden in The Western Star. As the sun set Lee side, on those balmy May evenings, the whoops and hollers of relief echo still, as almost everyone you knew was gathered on that hallowed ground with the promise of an endless Summer stretching out ahead.
How has your time at UCC helped you to get to where you are now?
Mark Twain famously said: “Never let schooling interfere with your education”. A credo I personally took to heart. With so many opportunities available to students, I threw myself into studies and the social scene at UCC. In final year, I was preparing a scientific paper for publication, studying for final examinations, finishing patient treatment plans and, as Auditor of the Dental Society (Dent Soc), working with the committee to host the Dental Ball. Those hectic days in my early 20s inadvertently taught the skill of multi-tasking. A skill necessary now, more than ever, for the demands of a busy work/life balance. As I now juggle the demands of National Group Clinical Advisor with the demands of Adjunct Faculty at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – I have found those early days of prioritisation and time-management have stood to me.
I work part time – as I am also pursuing a PhD through the SPHeRE Programme. This is a doctoral programme delivered by UCC, RCSI and TCD together. My area of research is in oral health communication – particularly non-verbal communication at the dental surgery. I recently attended UCC for lectures as part of the SPHeRE Programme – evoking many happy memories of time in the Boole!
You now volunteer with UCC in different ways - why is that important to you?
I am privileged to be a UCC graduate. I am honoured to speak at scientific and social events each year - all connected with healthcare. My introduction's first line always starts with "...a 1997 graduate of UCC..."
Aside from the accredited training, education and technical skills, I learned many other things at UCC - chief amongst them the value of friendship. In thinking about my own undergraduate years, and the happy hectic pace, I am delighted to volunteer as part of the Mentorship programme. This inspiring initiative pairs the value of graduate insight to help the undergraduate's journey. At its core is the abiding friendship that fellow UCC people have - held with that singular common bond: the College. I very much look forward to this programme each year - and am also honoured to deliver the Alumni Welcome Address to the School of Dentistry at UCC at conferring. Reconnecting with old College friends and seeing the next generation's achievements is what being an Alumni Volunteer is all about.
What person/people at UCC had the most positive influence on you?
Professor Robin O’Sullivan of the Department of Anatomy provided the most inspiring lectures. Under his mentorship, in Third Dental, I completed Health Research Board (HRB) funded research – for which I was honoured to receive the Intervarsity Undergraduate Research Award for College in 1995. Professor O’Sullivan’s enthusiasm for the core sciences, lead to hosting an International Symposium on Oral Biology at UCC, allowing us undergraduates to rub shoulders with the giants of the field. Names usually seen on the spines of textbooks were present in college to lecture and exchange ideas. He recently received an Honorary Fellowship from the Faculty of Dentistry RCSI - the highest award that they confer. I am privileged to call Robin a friend to this day.
An honourable mention should also be given to my circle of friends in the various faculties – who provided the camaraderie, friendship and occasional solace (when needed) during those hectic years – a network of stalwarts whom I regularly meet Lee-side still.
Were you involved in any Clubs or Societies?
Elected Class Rep., and latterly Auditor of Dent Soc., I recommend all students to get involved. I have found since leaving college that those who get involved, generally tend to cross paths in later life – with many Presidents of Dental Council tracing their fledgling leadership skills to UCC.
Favourite legend or superstition from campus
In the days before social media, mobile phones and the internet, good “intel” was hard to come by. Many UCC students from the 1980s and early 1990s will recall “The Fla Wall” (Cork people will know what a “Fla” is… !!!) The story, apocryphal or not, suggests that the female students would write the name of a particular male student with request for details – with the legend “any info on….” The location of this mythical oracle was the wall in the Old College Bar ladies loos! To this day, almost a quarter of century from entering UCC, I wonder if the secrets and honours of such a mention lie hidden beneath the paint work of the Old College Bar…..