21 Jun 2007

First graduates of new degree programmes conferred at UCC, June 21st

“Thursday, June 21st 2007 represents a historic occasion in the history of UCC” said UCC President, Dr Michael Murphy.  Dr Murphy was speaking on the occasion of the conferment of degrees for the first time on 84 graduates of three new health professional programmes at the two-day Summer Conferrings.  At the ceremony, Dr Murphy said that this was the first occasion on which three new professional degree programmes come to fruition on a single day in a single conferring ceremony at UCC.
 
Graduating for the first time were 38 students with an honours degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm), 22 with a BSc (Honours) Occupational Therapy and 24 BSc Honours (Speech & Language Therapy).  

Among the 287 students who graduated were 101 with a MB,BCh, BAO (Honours), 29 with a BDS (Honours) and 9 Master’s in Dental Public Health.  A further three graduated with a Doctorate in Medicine followed by three PhD’s in Medicine. Twenty graduated with an MMedSc (Sports and Exercise Medicine).

A DSc was conferred on Dr Elke Arendt. Thirty seven students were awarded doctorates from the Colleges of Science, Engineering and Food Science; Business and Law; Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences.  

The Conferring addresses were delivered by Dr Michael Murphy, President, UCC (attached) and Professor Gerald O’Sullivan, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (attached).

In his speech, Dr Murphy said: “Following publication of the Bacon reports on manpower deficits in Pharmacy in 1999 and later (2001) in the Clinical Therapies, UCC established new training programmes in Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy.  Over €75 million was expended on new facilities and 25 new academic staff were recruited from around the world.”  All of the programmes were accredited by the relevant professional bodies and, according, to Dr Murphy, the programmes in UCC are now regarded as the best in the country, equal to those found in long established international schools.  UCC programmes now require applicants to exhibit the highest CAO leaving certificate points in these disciplines throughout Ireland.”  

He went on: “Having trebled in size, adding six new undergraduate degrees  to complement its Medical and Dental Schools UCC now has the largest and most diversified portfolio of health professional courses of any University in Ireland, offering students in each degree course the unique opportunity to be educated alongside students of all the major health professions.  Interdisciplinary teaching, clinical training and research enables UCC students to acquire a unique understanding of the nature of the healthcare team that is so fundamental to the delivery of holistic care of patients.”

“Graduation of large numbers of new professionals from these new programmes will significantly enhance the capacity of the HSE to meet ever increasing demands and expectations of the population.  Our graduates are uniquely trained to meet these challenges and will enable the HSE to meet its goals for greater access to better health care in the years to come.”

Dr Murphy paid particular tribute to clinical colleagues in the hospitals, primary care and community care sectors who gave voluntarily of their time and experience to mentor the graduates from these new programmes.  

He concluded by congratulating the graduates on their remarkable contributions to the University during their courses, noting that so many had achieved sporting glory, academic prizes as well as the profound respect of their peers and teachers.
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CONFERRING ADDRESSby Dr Michael Murphy, President, University College Cork, at Conferring of Degrees, University College Cork on June 21st  2007.

Academic colleagues, graduates and distinguished guests,
The conferring ceremony is one of the highlights of the university year.  It is a celebration of achievement.  On behalf of the University I congratulate all of our new graduates in Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy and Speech and Language Therapy, on successful completion of what I know were challenging and fulfilling courses.  I also wish to congratulate in particular those who have been awarded the highest academic distinction that the university can confer, the doctoral degree – in Philosophy and in Medicine.  As I have said in another forum, it is the scale and quality of the doctoral programme that distinguishes a university from other third level educational institutions.  Well done to you all.

I want to welcome parents who have come to celebrate, and the partners, spouses, or “significant others” of our new graduates.   Everyone knows that academic success is a team effort – the sweat, tears, and financial burdens have been shared over the years and it is appropriate that the celebrations and affirmation are now shared as well.  

There is a well worn formula for the traditional conferring speech, but this is no day for the ordinary.   For this is no ordinary conferring  ceremony– this is quite a remarkable ceremony.  It is the first time in our 162 year history that UCC has held a conferring ceremony where degrees have been awarded for the first time, simultaneously, on graduates of three new professional programmes.    In this faculty, Medical degrees were first conferred in 1851.  It took another 65 years to add the BDS, the degree in dentistry, and a further 80 years to the addition of the bachelor degree in Nursing, in 2002.  Here we are, only 5 years later conferring degrees for the first time in Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Pharmacy.  Quite extraordinary!  

You new graduates, our university, and society in the region owe a debt of gratitude to the many who have made this occasion possible.  I will recognise some but it is not possible to name all.  

Pharmacy School
Thirteen years ago a Pharmacy School in Cork was a twinkle in the eye of Professor Peter Weedle and Professor Kamal Sabra, who began scheming in my office in the Cork University Hospital in 1994.  Both became tireless lobbyists, cajolers and negotiators, whose skills were sorely tested over ten years in pursuit of funding and approval for the school.  Following its creation, they became outstanding teachers, role models and mentors for you – our new graduates and new members of the pharmacy profession.

We enlisted the support of many to whom gratitude is owed – a wide cross-section of academic staff within UCC, members of the profession throughout the country, representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, of business, and many social organisations in our community.  We are particularly indebted to Tom and Marie Cavanagh for their generosity and support for the project.  

Today marks the culmination of a superb team effort. The school has a Faculty to be proud of, led by Professor Caitriona O’Driscoll (the first head of the School of Pharmacy), ably supported by the indomitable Professor Anita Maguire and the exuberant Professor Julia Kennedy – who led a terrific team of lecturers, technicians and administrative staff.  Together they have developed a wonderful facility, architecturally beautiful and equipped to the highest standards.  They have, in spite of still limited resources, established a reputation as the best School in Ireland with an inventive curriculum and excellent clinical training delivered by a network of professionals in the hospital, community and industrial sectors.  They have already made notable contributions in research and scientific publications, won peer reviewed research grants, and captured national and international prizes.  The University and profession are proud of what you have achieved and I now ask Caitriona, Peter, Kamal and the rest of the staff of the School of Pharmacy to take a bow.

School of Therapies
When Dr Peter Bacon published his report on manpower deficits in the clinical therapies in 2001, a small cadre of hard pressed visionary professionals in the city were galvanised into action.  In each of the programmes – Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy and Physiotherapy – this region was lucky in having wonderful, enthused and highly motivated professional leaders who saw the opportunity to drive the development of the discipline in this region.  Apart from recognising that degree programmes in Cork would address the national shortage, they also knew that local programmes would attract students into the region who would later remain here (retention of staff is best addressed in any region by local training) but more importantly they saw the value of education and research in the discipline in raising the quality of clinical practice locally.  

In the summer of 2001 I had the privilege of working with remarkable people such as Trish Diamond and Anne Horgan in Speech and Language, Linda Horgan, Aileen Ryan, Mary Sharkey and Yvonne Finn in Occupational Therapy and Maire Murphy and Greta Crowley in Physiotherapy.  Along with equally hard pressed staff from clinical, bio-medical and other disciplines in UCC, they designed the programmes, drew up the budgets, drafted the building plans, imagined the new faculty and, literally working morning, noon and night, in addition to their full time jobs for almost six months, they toiled to convert the dream to reality.  And what a reality!  We were unlucky in the case of Physiotherapy but prevailed in receiving approval and funding to develop Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy.
 
In 2002, we were fortunate to attract Professor Susan Ryan from London to lead the OT programme.  A remarkable woman with an international reputation for innovation in Occupational Science, Susan, in turn attracted superb young faculty whom she has nurtured and developed over the past five years.  Again, grants have been won, books and papers published, international conferences organised, buildings built, clinics established, post-graduate courses initiated and a wonderful rapport established with staff and leadership in the Health Service Executive.  It is deeply regrettable that we now have to say goodbye to Professor Ryan.  Under employment rules in Ireland, she must retire, but under more sensible rules in Australia she is free to take up a chair in the University of New South Wales.  While envying Australia the greater sanity of its employment legislation we wish her well and thank her for her Trojan efforts here.  Can I ask Susan and all of her colleagues in the Department of Occupational Therapy to take a deep bow.

Finally, to Speech and Language Therapy - but only because of the curse of alphabetical order. Again, this programme represents an exemplary collaboration between University academic staff and leaders of the profession in the health service.  During three months of pandemonium in 2001 between the first hint of a competitive bidding process and the closing date, we engaged in frenetic planning for curriculum, staffing, equipping, budgeting, temporary accommodation, clinical placements and so on.  

Again, there are too many to acknowledge individually – but above all I must complement excellent leadership.  We were so fortunate to attract Professor Paul Fletcher, Head of the School of Speech and Hearing Sciences in the University of Hong Kong who took a leap of faith and moved to Cork.  He has been a superb leader, mentor and innovator, unflappable and wise.  He has combined his leadership of Speech and Language Therapy with that of Foundation Head of the School of Clinical Therapies, chief negotiator with the Department of Health and the HSE, and he has also put together a superb faculty in his discipline.  So can I ask Professor Fletcher and all his colleagues in the Department of Speech and language Therapy to take a bow!

Two particular phenomena should be noted.  Firstly in recruiting new staff the College made an impressive blow for gender equality, increasing the female professoriate of the University by almost 50%.  Secondly, we made huge strides in internationalising the faculty, recruiting excellent staff from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Egypt and many parts nearer home.  They have truly enriched the College of Medicine and Health.

Nothing would have been achieved without the wholehearted support of the Health Service and of the Department of Health & Children.  I will mention  a representative few  - Sean Hurley (CEO of the Southern Health Board) was a staunch supporter as were managers of the local hospitals – Tony McNamara in Cork University Hospital, Ger O’Callaghan in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and John Murphy, succeeded by Mr Pat Madden, at Mercy University Hospital.  We are also indebted to leaders in the community sector – Pat Healy and Ger Reaney in particular.  Truly, you have all shown an understanding that education of health professionals is a team venture, impossible without close co-operation between the health service and the University.

Of course we also enjoyed the support of University leadership at UCC and are indebted in particular to the former President Gerry Wrixon, the former Registrar, Professor Aidan Moran and the former Bursar, Dr Michael Kelleher and to the Deans and Heads of the various departments.  Magnificent co-operation guaranteed magnificent results.

In welcoming many of these dramatis personae to  today’s conferring , it is particularly fitting that I should also welcome leaders of the professions and of the accreditation bodies.  You have been tremendously supportive, guiding us on the right path, while assuring the public and government that the education and training on offer here is as good as, maybe better than that available on the international stage.

My list of “thank yous” would not be complete without mentioning the indomitable Mr Michael Hanna, Manager of the Faculty who brought to UCC benefits of many years of experience guiding the introduction of new programmes in Trinity College Dublin.

You will now understand why it is has been necessary for me to deviate from the formula of conferring speeches.  The university owes many thanks to many people for today’s celebration.  But, it would be remiss of me to neglect our raison d’etre today – you, the new graduates.  Our thanks and those of the University and staff are also due to you.  As the first cohort in the new programmes you encountered many unusual challenges. The curriculum evolved as you proceeded through the years.  For you - few signposts of the content of the later years as you puzzled over the relevance of all that basic science in the first years.  The staff were as new to UCC as you were, many new to Ireland.  You found yourselves in temporary buildings which were far from “designed for purpose”.  Books were sometimes scarce on the library shelves and timetables required frequent juggling.  We thank you sincerely for your forbearance and marvel that you have performed so well in the face of such adversity.  But no triumph is sweeter than triumph in adversity.

Today we welcome you into your new and noble professions. Most of you will work in our health service and it is our earnest wish that you will have fulfilling and enjoyable careers in the service of fellow humans, repairing and preventing ill health.  You are joining a health service to be proud of.  I joined it 31 years ago and in those years I have encountered hundreds, probably thousands of some of the hardest working, most dedicated and professional people one could hope to meet.  You will inherit the mantles of some retiring after long service, and some of you will be creating new services or enhancing those sorely in need of more hands.  Yes, it is a service to be proud, of notwithstanding the daily barrage of bad news stories in the media.  There is no doubt that we have challenges in Ireland in ensuring better access to services, but let no one mistake that flaw as an indictment of the whole service.  Personal experience over those thirty years supported by the results of repeated patient satisfaction surveys, has convinced me that once citizens access the Irish health service, they are well cared for.  Repeatedly 90-95% of patients of the Irish Health Service testify to their satisfaction, with the respect they are accorded, and the treatments rendered.  And, I have no doubt that, following the rigorous education and training that you have received here, from experienced professionals, you will embellish that reputation.  

You are graduating from what is now I believe the largest and most diverse health sciences college in the country, of which UCC is particularly proud.  You have had unique opportunities to mingle with and at times learn with students from other disciplines.  Consequently, you should have a unique understanding of the importance of team play and of the dynamics of the healthcare team, the backbone of modern multidisciplinary service to the client.  You should have a keen understanding of the different skills of your colleague professionals and you should have developed the mutual respect so fundamental to an effective, high performing team.  Respect for the client or patient, and respect for fellow members of the team is a hallmark of professionalism.

Now to the home stretch, to the final part of the formula.  In your education and training you have been the beneficiary of extraordinary voluntary contributions from your elders, whether being mentored by experienced teachers, often clinicians giving of their time voluntarily to train their successors or, as beneficiaries of equipment, books, and facilities donated by generous benefactors.  Today, the torch is been passed to you.  Most of you will receive your first cheque in a month’s time.  Can I ask, that throughout your careers you will always be conscious of an obligation to give a leg-up to those coming after you.  Today you have become members of the University, a status conferred for life and as members you will have the opportunity - indeed the obligation to support the continuing development of your disciplines, of your schools and of the University. I really do want to see you all becoming active members of the Graduates Association and the Alumni Associations within your disciplines.  

So, I hope that UCC has served you well; that we have prepared you for the career challenges that you face in the immediate future; that we have given you the skills to continue to learn and to continue to adapt, and that we have imbued in you some sense of loyalty to the institution.
 
On behalf of my colleagues in the University, in The College of Medicine and Health, in the Schools of Pharmacy and of Clinical Therapies, I wish you well in your new careers.  May you enjoy your work, may you find it rewarding and may those you serve respect you.  My sincere congratulations to you all.


CONFERRING ADDRESS by Professor Gerald C O’Sullivan,
President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland at Conferring of Degrees, University College, Cork, June 21st 2007

Professionalism in a Changing World

President Murphy, Vice Presidents, Deans of Faculty, Most importantly new graduates, parents, family and friends; it is a very proud occasion for me to address you today as a medical graduate of University College Cork, a consultant surgeon from the Mercy University Hospital, a medical researcher and professor in this College and currently, President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Today for you is a great occasion, a milestone, a celebration of achievement. A time to reflect, to dream and to give thanks. No one can belittle your accomplishments which were obtained through outstanding ability, diligent application, sacrifice, excellent teaching and, in particular the support of family and friends.

I am delighted to celebrate with you not only your achievements but also your promise and your ambitions. A graduation speech is often called a commencement address and rightly so for occasions such as this mark a new beginning, a transition to a life of employment, challenges and responsibilities.

You are starting your careers in the healthcare service which has been transformed by scientific developments, technology, regulations and opportunities in ways that could not have been remotely dreamed by mine or any prior generation on graduation day.

With these advantages come greater challenges and responsibilities. What you therefore must adopt and develop are those professional values that will enable you to practice and contribute in a world where change, globalisation and information turnover are happening at a frenetic pace.

Two hundred years ago one of my predecessors Abraham Colles would have sat with his fellow academics and council members in the relatively young Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Their monthly Council transactions for a few years about that time were not recorded -just the record of attendance. These were difficult times after the Act of Union and there was no freedom of expression. They would have known Robert Emmett – he was a contemporary and on friendly terms with Colles in Trinity College.

They obviously lived in fear of state intrusion but they never lost their professional values. They believed in academic freedom, equality and tolerance, and elected as president on several occasions people of different religious persuasions who were precluded by law from holding high office. Surgery at that time was a hazardous profession with approximately ten per cent of surgeons dying of septic complications acquired from patients – one such case Richard Dease was witnessed and reported by Colles.

This great man sought no personal honours. He declined a knighthood on two occasions. His final act on behalf of his profession and humanity was to give instructions by letter to Robert Smith on the conduct of his post mortem and I quote:

My Dear Robert,
I think it may be of some benefit, not only to my own family, but to society at large, to ascertain by examination the exact seat and nature of my last disease. I am sure you will grant my request that you will see this be carefully and early done. The parts to which I would direct particular attention are the heart and lungs, a small hernia immediately above the umbilicus, and the swelling in the right hypochondrium. From the similarity of the Rev. P Roe’s case with mine, I suppose there is some connection between the swelling of the hypochondrium and the diseased state of the heart.
         Yours truly, dear Robert
                                                  A Colles

The Colles legacy in addition to his seminal contributions to medicine and surgery was advocacy and compassionate dedication to patient care, practice to the highest ethical principles, lifelong learning and study, commitment to training the next generation of doctors, application of scientific methods to solve diseases, and active participation in the continued development of professional colleges and hospitals.

One hundred and fifty years ago this year, we record the opening of the Mercy Hospital in Cork and the hospital records allow us to follow the progress in medical care. We witness an example of volunteerism – a response to social need not catered for by society or state agencies at that particular time. The early records show that medical treatment was dependant on shelter, nutrition, herbal derived drugs and a small number of operations.

There were also at that time some of the earlier graduations of this medical school. There were of course revolutionary medical developments such as availability of anaesthesia, and the discovery of asepsis by Lister and Semmelweis.

About one hundred years ago we see the conjunction of technological developments, scientific discovery and progress in medical practice. Distribution of electricity, x-ray techniques, discovery of radium, drug isolation, blood groups and blood transfusions, allowed a standard of scientific based practice where benefit of intervention exceeded risk and where, with certainty, many diseases could be cured by surgery – most notably injuries, appendicitis and certain cancers.

The last fifty years has witnessed extraordinary progress. Developments in bioengineering brought us joint replacement, open heart surgery, modern endoscopy, minimally invasive surgery and radiology techniques. Precise measurement of functions by electrical and molecular methods coupled with ultra resolving microscopes has allowed the understanding and cure of many diseases. Chemical synthesis has advanced sufficiently to provide most drugs in common usage.  In particular the new antibiotics and anticancer agents are the products of molecular design.

During my lifetime of practice, since I graduated in 1969, we have seen the elimination of many diseases and the appearance or increasing prevalence of many others. It is rare today to operate for ulcer disease or the deformities of polio or TB. But there is an alarming increase in frequency of Crohns and ulcerative colitis. Many cancers became curable but other more recalcitrant ones such as those of the oesophagus became more prevalent. There has also been the emergence of new diseases and threats such as AIDS, antibiotic resistant bacteria and prion disease. Success of medical practice now is such that costs of treatment and quality assurance exceed our social priority resulting in inequities and social disparities.

We currently are experiencing greater changes which are unprecedented in magnitude, diversity and pace. Innovations in technology, discoveries at molecular level and developments in therapeutic design are promising a more precise investigation of patient illnesses with a prospect of earlier diagnosis and more targeted, safer and more effective treatments. A ten year vista suggests clinical practice in general will differ more from today’s experience than what occurred through the total changes over the past twenty five years. We are only beginning to understand the challenges and consequences of disease management at the extremes of life. More people will live to greater ages where invasive or toxic therapies are less tolerated. The viability of premature babies has been extended - foetal surgery and therapeutically regulated organ and tissue development are at an advanced level. Many of the current incurable diseases will be forestalled by regeneration and gene based developments. Computer linked implants are now being used to modulate tissue growth and rehabilitate diverse functions of brain, ear, spinal cord, muscle and heart. Molecular techniques will predict high risk of disease development and pre – emptive therapies including surgery will be demanded.

Medicine is too important to be left solely to the mercy of marketplace values. The professional values defined by Colles’ life are just as relevant today and are the bedrock of professionalism. These are values that transcend generations and without which our qualifications are meaningless.

All of you in the Class of 2007, wherever you practice and whatever your specialty in the future, will participate in a world that is becoming increasingly globalised, informed and market driven. You will interact, directly or indirectly, with people from diverse parts of the world representing colleagues, patients and friends. Increasing globalisation and the consequences of global warming will bring new diseases or alter the geographic distribution of known ones such that surveillance, responses and knowledge dissemination will need to be instantaneous and truly international.

Progress in general is only achieved by the scientific method and your practice must be evidence based and capable of withstanding robust scrutiny. There is no place for quackery or alternative approaches. However science alone has neither morality or ethics and the ethical boundaries of recent developments or treatments particularly in the face of incurability can only be defined by you and always with the best interest of the patient. Science has neither feeling nor pity and the essence of good doctoring is compassionate care.

Major problems are looming at delivery of care. Patient expectations and perception of risk has been altered such that they are willing to undergo major surgical procedures of considerable complexity and risk in order to alter body image and conform to social pressures.

Fiscal restraints on health care throughout the developed world impose restrictions in patient access, demand a prioritisation of need based on disease state, are a cause of protracted waiting times for treatment and consequent staff stress in our hospitals.

Complexities of many diseases are such that investigation and treatment require advanced technologies and multidisciplinary teamwork which are only available in larger institutions. More and more doctors will need to work in disciplined teams in order that the degree and continuity of specialised care is delivered with skill in the context of multimodal programmes. While it may be easier to comply with fiscal expediency or patient demands or the comforts of teamwork you have a professional imperative to advocate and counsel in the best interests of your patient.

Many of you will work in a multicultural environment where expertise of novel diseases is required and where understanding and family support may be suboptimal. You now have a knowledge base and skill repertoire that permits you to practice medicine in backgrounds of cultural diversity or varied economic development. You have the solemn obligation to provide the highest standard of medical care available to individuals irrespective of their cultural or ethnic background or their socio-economic status.

You will work in changing organisations and will need the knowledge and leadership capability to guide constant innovation and to effect the necessary adjustments in organisation and care delivery. You must embrace programmes of continued professional development to renew and sustain competency in the face of specialty development and scientific progress.

In the fields of medical education and healthcare delivery there will always be a degree of uncertainty. We are on a continued journey towards improvement with no definite endpoints or fixed destination. The signposts are the wisdom of tradition and experience, scientific inquiry, rigorous professional standards, a humanitarian concern, and a commitment towards personal, professional and institutional development. Our training programmes may not always be able to anticipate the future developments or indeed keep pace with the cycle of knowledge. None of us know what the future holds but what we do know is it is you that will mould the future.

As doctors and surgeons of the future, you have by training and by achievement, the capability to continuously source and evaluate new knowledge, and to apply new methods and techniques with safety and with advantage.

Aristotle said “man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals” You have achieved one of your goals today. It is now time to set yourself new goals as you enter this noble profession. Set your targets high. Expect much of yourselves and little from others. You will not be disappointed.

Good Luck and God Bless.

472MMcS









    


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