Recruitment is now open for AIPEC 2026. Sign up here!

4 Nov 2025

All Ireland Interprofessional Healthcare Challenge for students.

UCC colleagues are invited to share the recruitment notice for AIPEC 2026 with their students in health and social care programmes.

AIPEC is an intervarsity, interprofessional student competition with eight student teams representing eight universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland (University College Cork, University of Limerick, University of Galway, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Ulster).

AIPEC 2026 will be hosted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Dublin on 26^th March and the case will focus on a patient with breast cancer from the travelling community. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn more about collaborative cancer care and inclusion health. It is designed for students in their final or penultimate year.

Students are invited to sign up using the QR code or alternatively, can sign up here.

The UCC local heat will take place in mid-March.

We are delighted to announce that all students who participate in AIPEC 2026 in UCC will be eligible for the EmployAgility award Open Pathway and will recognise and award students participation and development of employability skills gained in AIPEC.

UCC has had great success in AIPEC, holding a local heat in 2024 and 2025, with the 2025 UCC student team winning  the All-Ireland final in University College Dublin in March 2025!

The winning team was: Riona Bowen Paramedicine, Catherine Hegarty Social Work, Margaret Quigley Physiotherapy, Niamh Robertson Graduate Entry Medicine, Rachael O’Sullivan Pharmacy.

Huge congratulations to our winning team members, this achievement highlights the strength of collaborative learning and the impact of teamwork in healthcare education. AIPEC 2025 was hosted by UCD Health Affairs with an engaging programme including an expert panel and expert by experience discussion on heart failure. Further information on AIPEC 2025 is available here.

AIPEC won across two categories at the Irish Education Awards 2025. As a collaboration across eight universities, AIPEC won the Best Collaboration Project category, and was awarded the prize for Overall Excellence at the awards. AIPEC was commended by the judges for “outstanding achievements across research, teaching, innovation and community impact”, describing the collaboration as “a leader in higher education, setting the standard for excellence in Ireland and beyond”.

Speaking on AIPEC, Dr Aoife Fleming Vice Head for Interprofessional Learning, CoMH notes:

“I am delighted to see AIPEC go from strength to strength in UCC and across the Island. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain experience of working in an interprofessional team over a number of weeks on building a comprehensive patient management and care plan. This is vital training for our students, preparing them for future collaborative practice in healthcare settings working in teams.”