MRCSI Conferring Ceremony

RUMC  December 2^th 2018

 

Welcome to …

Chancellor NUI

Registrar NUI

Vice President,

Members of Council

Chief Executive RCSI

Academic Staff

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

And especially to our new graduates who have received MRCSI awards today.

 

It is my pleasure to preside over this conferring ceremony and welcome you and your families.

 

This ceremony is a fitting recognition of the hard work and commitment that you have shown in your studies and your training and practice over the last number of years.

 

 

Postgraduate qualification require focus, time management, dedication and real commitment.  It is indeed a tribute to you all to have been successful in your quest for further professional qualifications some of you whilst working fulltime.

 

This award of the Royal College of Surgeons is a prestigious, internationally recognized qualification. Holding one of these qualifications demonstrates to colleagues, peers, and employers a doctor or scientists knowledge, clinical and technical skills and commitment to his or her practice and profession.

 

These qualifications also recognise your ability to use your intellectual knowledge and critical thinking in the clinical setting, skills which are vital for a successful professional career, which lies ahead.

 

Your qualification also open up a world of wonderful opportunity as you set out on an exciting journey, which will allow you to continue your training or practice in various specialties worldwide.

 

Today we also acknowledge your families who have supported you during your years of training and practice. We understand those who have made sacrifices to support your career and rightly are proud of your achievement to date.

 

Medicine and the Health Sciences today however, face many challenges and it is certain that all of you will work in increasingly complex health care and educational environments where you will need to use all of the skills that you have gained during you training.

 

Surgeons of the future will need to be adaptive to the constant expansion of medical and scientific knowledge, changes in technology, medicines, increased patient, and societal expectations in addition to regulatory change; all of which require a commitment to life-long learning and an ability to adapt to the changing world that we live in.

 

The awards presented here today will give you a solid foundation to continue on this exciting journey.

 

As your careers progress and for you to reach your full professional potential, I would also encourage you to contribute to the training of your more junior colleagues, contribute to your professional organisations and societies and engage constructively with the educational and healthcare administrative structures you work in.     

 

To support you in such journeys and manage the challenges all healthcare professionals face, we would not only encourage you to maintain the strong links you now have with RCSI, but we would also encourage you to form close bonds with those you work with, as increasingly in the health sciences, there will be an emphasis on team working which requires the ability to communicate effectively, demonstrate leadership and acquire an understanding of the working of the healthcare management and the administration in which you will work. 

 

It is also increasingly apparent that no healthcare system can fully support all the healthcare needs of society so it is important to be an advocate for not only each of your patients but it is also important to understand the broader societal needs in the communities you will work in and use the resources at your disposal carefully.

 

Despite the challenges, facing health care services throughout the world the basis of all patient care is empathy, which is the ability to understand and share the feeling of others.

 

This must form the basis of your medical practice even when working in difficult circumstances and it is this, which makes the professions we represent so rewarding.

 

Today is also a time to acknowledge the commitment of the teachers and trainers who taught and supported you over the last number of years. It is their endeavours which have given you the skills to practice Medicine and Science and which will allow you make a significant contribution to the well-being of the communities in which you will work.

 

RCSI is rightly proud of our mission statement, which refers to developing healthcare leaders who make a difference worldwide; this is our ambition for you.

 

 

Today we confer 31 candidates with MRCSI.

 

You will all add to the growing body of RCSI graduates who practice around the globe and we look forward to your contribution to our other 17,000 RCSI alumni working in just under 100 countries who are making a difference worldwide and who we are so rightly proud of.

 

All countries around the world today have difficulties with Health Care delivery but despite these current challenges I am confident that you the Class of 2018 – you and your generation with the educational achievements we celebrate today, have the ability to meet the challenges we all face, in leading the world to better health – which is the Mission of RCSI – to Educate, Nurture and Discover for the Benefit of Human Health.

 

 

Finally, let me congratulate again all our graduates and acknowledge the support of your families. I wish you every success in your personal and professional lives and I am confident that your award today will equip you well for the challenges you will encounter in your further training and future careers.

 

 

Mr. Kenneth Mealy

President

 

2/12 2018