Research

The Medical Education Unit aims to conduct high-impact translational research, shaping policy and practice in medical (and other health professions) education and training, and on to continuing professional development. Here you will learn about the Medical Education Unit's research groups and projects we are currently working on:

• Workplace Learning and Professional Identity Development
• Planetary Health Education Research Group

Workplace Learning and Professional Identity Development

This research group is principally focused on investigating medical students’ and doctors’-in-training learning in clinical environments. Projects include studies of transitions in clinical education, preparedness for practice, development of professional identity, measurement of clinical learning environments, and the design and evaluation of workplace learning and teaching experiences. This group conducts mixed methods research and has expertise in qualitative methodologies including thematic analysis, phenomenology, constructivist grounded theory and critical discourse analysis. The MEU recently led a HRB / Medical Council funded project where the objective was to provide evidence-based guidance to the Medical Council and other relevant stakeholders to enhance doctors' engagement with regulation of professional competence.  

Research group members: Deirdre Bennett, Niamh Coakley, Irina Korotchikova, Colm O’Tuathaigh, Catherine Sweeney, Anél Wiese.  

Sample publications

How to…analyse qualitative data in different ways. Bennett D, Barrett A, Helmich E. Clin Teach. 2019 Feb;16(1):7-12. doi: 10.1111/tct.12973 

'Waiting in the wings'; Lived experience at the threshold of clinical practice. Coakley N, O'Leary P, Bennett D. Med Educ. 2019 Jul;53(7):698-709. doi: 10.1111/medu.13899

Experience Based Learning (ExBL): Clinical teaching for the twenty-first century. Dornan T, Conn R, Monaghan H, Kearney G, Gillespie H, Bennett D. Med Teach. 2019 Oct;41(10):1098-1105. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2019.1630730

Doctors' attitudes to, beliefs about, and experiences of the regulation of professional competence: a scoping review protocol. Wiese A, Galvin E, Merrett C, Korotchikova I, Slattery D, Prihodova L, Hoey H, O'Shaughnessy A, Cotter J, O'Farrell J, Horgan M, Bennett D.. Syst Rev. 2019 Aug 22;8(1):213. doi: 10.1186/s13643-019-1132-3 

Funding: Health Research Board of Ireland, Association for the Study of Medical Education, Irish Network of Healthcare Educators, National Doctors Training and Planning.

Internal & External Collaborators: Queen’s University Belfast, NUI Galway, Maastricht University, University of Calgary, University of Groningen Medical Centre, Medical Council, National Doctors Training and Planning, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Southern Intern Training Network.

We welcome applications from students interested in pursuing PhD or MD studies in this area. Contact Prof Deirdre Bennett for further information.

Planetary Health Education Research Group

The Planetary Health Education Research Group is dedicated to advancing education and research that equips healthcare professionals to respond effectively to the challenges of climate change and environmental sustainability.

Our work focuses on producing actionable, evidence-based knowledge to support healthcare professionals, their educators, regulators, and employers. By addressing current gaps in education and training, we aim to strengthen the capacity of health systems to deliver sustainable, climate-resilient care.

Research group members: Prof Deirdre Bennett, Dr Niamh Coakley, Dr Anél Wiese, Marah Elfghi, Dr Deborah Heaphy, Edel Burton, Caoimhe O’Brien.

Funding: Health Research Board

External Collaborators: Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, Queens’s University Belfast, HSE SSWHG.