The annual School of Medicine Prize-Giving Ceremony took place on Friday 16 November, 2018 in Brookfield Health Sciences Complex.

20 Nov 2018

The Dean of the School, Professor Paula O’Leary welcomed the large number of prize-winners, their families and friends to the Ceremony.   The Dean pointed out that the Brookfield Complex has now been open 13 years and the facilities in the building are central to the Medical School structure. 

Professor O’Leary emphasized how proud the School is of the achievements of the medical students receiving prizes at today’s event. The Dean warmly welcomed family and friends of deceased family members and past graduates of the University to the Ceremony. The Dean highlighted the lasting legacy of these past graduates and indeed the fond memories that many current faculty have of them from their student days. A full list of the prizes awarded is listed below.

The Dean was very pleased to introduce the Quercus Talented Student Scholars at the School of Medicine. The Dean praised these students for their academic success and extra-curricular achievements. Professor Ken O’Halloran, Vice-Head, presented acknowledgment scrolls to the Scholars;

Aoife Casey, BSc MHS1 student - in absentia - Quercus Sports Scholar, in recognition of her many achievements in rowing

Ciara Cullinane, DEM2 student –Quercus Creative and Performing Arts’ Scholar, in recognition of her many achievements in her musical career.

Tommy Kirkham, GEM3 student - in absentia –Quercus University Scholar, in recognition of his exceptional academic achievement.

Paul O’Donovan, GEM1 student - Quercus Sports Scholar, in recognition of his astounding success in rowing as an Olympic silver medallist and world champion.

David O’Sullivan, GEM4 student –Quercus University Scholar, in recognition of his exceptional academic achievement.

Sumitha Pandiaraja, DEM4 student- Quercus University Scholar, in recognition of her exceptional academic achievement.

In addition the Dean was delighted that many of the students who excelled in this year’s national Dr. Henry Hutchinson Stewart competition were also at the Ceremony. UCC School of Medicine had another excellent performance winning 12 awards in total – 4 scholarships, 4 second places and 4 third places – as follows:

Edward Ahern - Scholarship in Ophthalmology

Alexandra Brickley - Scholarship in Medicine

Wen Wei Chionh - 3^rd Prize in Pharmacology

Jiahong Cedric Chua - 2^nd Prize in Pharmacology

Dane Gunter - 3^rd Prize in Medical Microbiology

Anne Lanigan - 2^nd Prize in Public Health

Katie Liston - 2^nd Prize in Clinical Radiology

Cathriona Murphy - Scholarship in Physiology

Elaine O’Connell - 2^nd Prize in General Practice

Kate O’Donoghue - 3^rd Prize in Surgery

Sinead O’Riordan - 3^rd Prize in Medicine

Lindsay Tetreault - Scholarship in Biochemistry

The School acknowledges that excellence in Clinical Sciences and Practice rests firmly on excellence in the foundation years and pre-clinical subjects; the high performance of our students across the range of HHS competition is testament to the hard work and commitment of students and teachers alike.

In addition the Dean stressed the importance of research in the medical curriculum and congratulated the following students for their success in research activity in the past year.

Deirbhile Una Cunningham, Caoimhe Duggan, Tommy Harty, David O’Sullivan, Eve Quinn (in absentia), and Sean Seltzer - who were each awarded a Health Research Board (HRB) Summer Student Scholarship this year, and

Jeremy Cavers, Luke Harris, Mika O’Callaghan-Maher and Lisa Palubiski - who each received a bursary under the 2018 UCC College of Medicine and Health SURE Scheme.

As a small number of prizewinners had sent their apologies Professor O’Leary read out their names & successes and congratulated them in their absence. On behalf of the School, the Dean also thanked sponsors for their continuing support for a number of prizes and awards.

To close the Ceremony Ciara Cullinane gave a beautiful performance of ‘Nella Fantasia’.

The following prizes were presented by invited guests and faculty members to the successful recipients in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the 2017/2018 academic year:

Awarded in absentia: