We write to advise you that we still have places available for the following CPD courses and meetings that will take place in the coming weeks. Places are very limited for all our courses, so early registration is advised to avoid disappointment.

We know from research that 70% of all the important decisions affecting a patient's life involve a laboratory or pathology test. Applied pathology and the principles underlying system-specific pathology underpin most areas of clinical practice and are core areas of knowledge for Membership and Fellowship examination across all postgraduate medical training bodies in Ireland and Internationally.

RCSI in partnership with the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine https://acslm.ie/have developed a CPD/CME programme to maintain and develop their competence in this critical area of clinical practice.

The ACSLM is theprofessional body representing over 3000 medical scientists in Ireland. Medical science is a regulated and state-registered profession.

This partnership with RCSI Surgical Affairs aligns with the ACSLM’s vision, which is “To support excellence in clinical science and laboratory medicine, and in doing so, enhance patient outcomes”.

Laboratory medicine is a clinical service and the clinical sciences that underpin laboratory medicine are; Cellular Pathology (Histopathology), Clinical Chemistry, Haematology, Immunology, Medical Microbiology, Molecular Diagnostics, POCT, Transfusion and Transplantation Science and Virology. Medical scientists are at the forefront not only in the provision of these services but in the management and delivery of the services.

With the ACSLM, RCSI are developing a comprehensive programme of short online courses (2 CPD credits each) covering 25 areas of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Today together we are launching the first seven courses in this series which cover the following areas:

• Cancer Diagnostics
• Surgical Microbiology
• Blood Transfusion
• Coagulation
• Surgical Immunology
• Heart Failure Assessment in the Emergency Department
• Near Patient Testing (NPT)basic and applied pathology

These courses are open to all Healthcare Professionals and are funded for NCHDs through the HSE’s CPDSS and TSS schemes.

For more details and to register for these asynchronous self-directed courses

https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/professional-cpd/cpdss/medical-science-for-surgery-and-emergency-medicine/course-details

Date: 28 April 2023

Duration: 7 hours

CPD Credits: 7.5

Location: RCSI, Dublin

Please note the course requires a suitability assessment before confirming your place

This course will enable you to perfect and practice your laparoscopic knot tying and intracorporeal suturing skills, using virtual reality, synthetic and animal-based simulators in our wet lab facility.

This course will give the attendee the opportunity to have a two-way discussion on the up-to-date laparoscopic operative management in topics such as laparoscopic hepatobiliary, gastric and small bowel surgery under the guidance of experienced laparoscopic consultant surgeons.

Once suturing techniques have been mastered, you will practice this skill by performing a common bile duct closure, attaching a Graham patch to the duodenum, and performing a sutured bowel anastomosis laparoscopically. This course has been designed for senior registrars in general surgery, who are already doing laparoscopic cholecystectomies independently.

Learning outcomes

• Perform an intracorporeal suture placement and knot tying more efficiently.
• Knowledge of the more complex laparoscopic gallbladder procedures.
• Knowledge of the more complex laparoscopic common bile duct procedures.
• Better practical knowledge of the decision-making and management of peptic ulcer disease.
• Increased confidence in performing a simulated laparoscopic bowel anastomosis.

Suitable for 

Registrars in all surgical specialties who have experience with laparoscopy

To apply, please click here.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve our CPD offerings, we would like your take on what courses we should offer over to our CPD students.

Please take 30 seconds to complete this short survey and select which courses you would like RCSI to offer in the near future.

Complete the survey here

We are delighted to announce that we are providing surgical NCHDs with access to the RCSI Logbook.  

This service is available free of charge to Surgical NCHDs registered on our CPD Support Scheme. It is completely voluntary for you to use this, but this logbook has been specifically designed by RCSI to support those who wish to build their surgical careers. It is part of our commitment to support all who work in the provision of surgical care to patients in Ireland.  

Access to the RCSI Logbook will provide an opportunity for those in non-training places to use the same electronic logbook as is being used by trainees in our core and higher surgical training programmes. Our logbook is familiar to all our consultant trainers and supervisors which gives us the opportunity to have our logbook records validated. Your data will be stored securely by RCSI, backed up, and protected against loss 

 Our dedicated team will happily provide support via our email nchdlogbook@rcsi.com  

We hope you will avail of the logbook and enjoy an Irish focused, easy to use, mobile first secure experience.  

Finally, it is mandatory to hold an active RCSI email account (@rcsi.com) or a Google email account (@gmail.com) to successfully register for the RCSI Logbook.  Please sign here to request access to the RCSI Logbook.  

Please be aware that the Training Support Scheme, managed by HSE, has increased the funding for non-consultant health doctors working full-time by €500 increasing from €1,250 to €1,750

CPD Support Scheme courses are accredited for TSS reimbursement (subject to approval). For more information, please click here to download the guidance document recently released by the HSE.

*TSS funding is provided on a “training year” basis. The definition of a “training year” is the second Monday in July until the second Monday in July of the following year.

We wish to remind you that you have now access to the Professionalism in 21st Century online course as part of your CPD_SS enrolment. Access details were sent via email. Please email us with the details below if you have any issues accessing it. 

Elevate your medical foundations to deliver the highest quality of patient care

The Professionalism in 21^st Century Medical Practice course is fully-online and aimed at all registered medical doctors in all specialties. This flexible course has been built to suit the busy schedules of medical doctors and is delivered in a digital format through our online teaching platform.

There are 12 online modules in total (60 CPD credits) covering different aspects of medical professionalism, with each module worth 5 CPD credits. Candidates enrolled on this course can take the modules in any order and at your own pace.

Modules include:

For any queries, please email cpdss@rcsi.com

RCSI are delighted to inform you as part of your enrolment to the Continuous Professional Development Programme (CPD) you are entitled to free access to Affiliate Membership of RCSI for the remainder of 2022/23 subscription year and the 2023/24 subscription year, worth €25 per year. You are now an RCSI Affiliate Member until 1 May 2024.

RCSI Affiliate Membership provides you with exclusive access to a range of ‘member-only’ services aimed at supporting and supplementing your personal, practical, academic and professional development, and supports your overall career progression by becoming part of an international network of over 10,000 surgeons and aspiring surgeons.

RCSI through our Fellows and Members Office and Department of Surgical Affairs is here to support our international network of Surgeons and aspiring surgeons. This year, our Fellows and Members Office launched our new RCSI Affiliate Member Portal which will expand your knowledge of the surgical profession, help you stay engaged in what’s happening in the field of surgery by providing access to RCSI communications channels, surgical publications and resources and global networking opportunities.

For more information on accessing the benefits now available to you, please visit the Affiliate Member Portal HERE or email the Fellows and Members Office at fellows@rcsi.ie.

Handover Course:  https://msurgery.ie/course/handover-course/

This online course aims to support clinicians to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively prepare and participate in clinical handover. The course demonstrates how good communication skills can achieve continuity and safety of patient care during handover. The application of ISBAR3 is examined in a variety of clinical settings using video analysis of everyday handover situations.

CPD Points

The course is recognized for 3 CPD points.

Video Consultation Course:  https://msurgery.ie/course/video-consultation-course/

Many healthcare staff are now carrying out consultations using video calls. This is often a type of consultation that staff have not encountered prior to COVID-19 and can be an area of anxiety. Building on the previous course on telephone consultations, this course shows you how to apply the core skills of the Calgory-Cambridge Guide to video consultations provides a structured and patient-centered approach.

​​​​​​​The MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice is open to all non-consultant health doctors in Ireland within non-surgical specialities such as Radiology, anaesthesiology, general practice, emergency medicine, pathology, public health, occupational health, and all general medical specialities.

The programme has been developed to supplement the clinical experience with structured clinical teaching and training. Programme modules are designed to equip you with a versatile skill set that will help to better meet the demands which are an essential part of the professional life of the modern practicing clinician.

The class comprises of scholars from different clinical backgrounds and experience which allows a rich mix of expertise thus providing for healthy discussions and case studies.

Modules include:

Core modules - 55 ECTS

• Research Methods Protocol Development, Design and Analysis - 15 ECTS
• Healthcare Ethics and Law - 10 ECTS
• Research Dissertation - 45 ECTS

Optional modules - Must complete a minimum 35 ECTS from below

• Clinicians as Educators – Effective Teaching Skills - 10 ECTS
• Leading Your Service and Organisation - 10 ECTS
• Medical Technology and Innovation - 10 ECTS
• Professionalism and Advanced Communication - 10 ECTS
• Lean QI and Healthcare - 5 ECTS
• Global Medicine and Surgery - 5 ECTS
• Primary Care (Orthopaedics) I - 10 ECTS
• Primary Care (Orthopaedics) II - 10 ECTS

For more information, please visit www.rcsi.com/macp 

Kind Regards, 

The MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice Team

Learn more about our inter-professional and flexible postgraduate academic programmes in surgery and medicine.

RCSI Surgery have launched brand-new 2023 brochures for the following postgraduate academic programmes:

• Online PG Diploma/MSc in Human Factors in Patient Safety
• MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice
• Master of Surgery (MCh) by Module

Applications are currently open for each academic programme. To find out more, please click the relevant programme above or email surgerymarketing@rcsi.ie

RCSI President Professor Laura Viani warmly invites our Fellows and Members, Trainees, Trainers and NCHDs in Offaly, Roscommon, Mullingar, Laois, Tipperary, Westmeath and Galway East to a meeting in Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore (Scott Building, HSE). 

This is an opportunity for you to engage directly with the RCSI President and the team from Surgical Affairs, and learn about how the College can support you as the next generation of the leaders in surgical practice and listen to your concerns about local issues. 

Prof Viani would be delighted if you could join her and the team for dinner afterwards.

You can register for this event HERE and we look forward to seeing you there.

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to confirm that the third Annual University Hospital Waterford Video Surgery Webinar will take place on Thursday 8^th June 2023 @ 6.30p.m. Participants will be able to link in virtually for their presentations. This forum is open to all proceduralists working in the healthcare setting. There will be plenary oral and non-plenary oral presentations, with prizes awarded for the best presentation in each category.

Download webinar flyer here.

To view the abstract guidelines, please click here.  Please submit abstracts to jennie.oleary@hse.ie, the deadline for abstract submission is Thursday 20^th April 2023.

The purpose of the meeting is to showcase, recognise and celebrate the world class expertise in Irish healthcare.  

Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained from Ms. Jennie O’Leary, Postgraduate Surgical Administrator, University Hospital Waterford on 051 842684 or by email at jennie.oleary@hse.ie.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Peter M. Neary MB, MScLHPE, MA, MD, FRCS(Colorectal)

Professor of Surgical Oncology

Consultant General & Colorectal Surgeon

South East Cancer Governance Clinical Lead

University Hospital Waterford/University College Cork

RCSI Centre for Professionalism in Medicine and Health Sciences, supported by the Bon Secours Health System (Lead Sponsor) and Medical Protection Society are delighted to announce the date for our annual conference:

Professionalism : The Cost of Caring

Join us on the 28th April 2023 for a day of exciting talks & presentations.

This year we are delighted to host a hybrid (online and in person) event which gives you the opportunity to participate and engage with our conference, no matter where you are in the world.

The event focuses on Medical Professionalism and promises to be a great day of exciting talks and presentations from an international panel of speakers from Canada, USA, Australia, UK, UAE and Ireland! We will be joined by colleagues such as Johanna Westbrook from University of Sydney, Colin West from the Mayo Clinic and Yvonne Steinert from McGill, Dr Henry Marsh of "Do No Harm" fame, amongst many others.

Download MedProf agenda

Registration for the online event is FREE!

Please note there is a nominal fee to attend in person

5 CPD points.

To register, please click here.

Put the date in your diary and register now.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and use #MedProf23

As part of the WHO: Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences; the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community and DoH will host an online parallel session entitled 'Two innovative approaches to scaling-up the healthcare workforce – comparative case studies from Ireland and Africa'.

This online session will take place at 9.45am on 4 April 2023. The 90-minute session will comprise of panel presentations, group work and an interactive Q&A session, and will draw on the experiences of practitioners from the fields of nursing and midwifery, physician associates and non-physician clinician surgeons; and senior Irish and African health planners.

The speakers will use examples from Ireland and sub-Saharan Africa, comparing the different healthcare systems in place in these locations, exploring the evidence and experiences from establishing two innovative health workforce models. The session will address challenges in establishing these models, they will include decentralised models of education for expanding the skills and roles of existing health professionals; and establishing new health workforce cadres, to whom basic and essential clinical skills can be task-sharing, having traditionally been undertaken by health professionals whose training is longer and more expensive.  

Chairing the event is Professor Thomas Kearns, Executive Director of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. 

Speakers include:

• Professor Yoswa Mbulalina Dambisya, Director General of the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC), Tanzania
• Professor Lisa Mustone Alexander EdD, MPH, PA-C, Director of the RCSI Physician Associate Programme (Ireland)
• Professor Eric Borgstein, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi
• Ms Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Ireland

Download Programme Flyer

To register, please click here. 

Following negotiations with the IMO and with effect from January 2023, the HSE will be implementing a new procedure that is designed to alleviate the impact of reduced cash-flow for those NCHDs who have been placed on emergency tax and USC on commencement of employment with the HSE, or on rotation from one payroll area to another area. This payment is recoverable.

How will it work?

Eligible NCHDs will receive a Temporary Recoverable Payment on your first pay date after commencement or rotation to a new HSE area.  If you are paid fortnightly this temporary payment will then be deducted/recovered from your third payment. 

The payment will appear on your payslip as an allowance of €850.00 (gross) and when it is deducted/recovered it will also appear on your payslip as an allowance but it will be a negative amount.

If you are paid monthly you will receive the payment on your first pay date and the payment will be deducted/recovered from your second payment, which will be the following month.

Who is Eligible?

NCHDs who are moving from one payroll area to another area or commencing employment with the HSE for the first time are eligible. 

If following rotation you will be paid from a different payroll area you will receive the Temporary Recoverable Payment.

What do I Need to Do?

The payment will be applied automatically in your first payslip.  There is no need for you to contact payroll or medical manpower to initiate this payment.

Why is the Temporary Recoverable Payment set at €850?

The purpose of this agreement is to help NCHDs during the period when emergency tax is applied following a change in rotation or starting employment with the HSE.  The payment of €850.00 gross which nets to €408.00, is the equivalent of the difference in a normal net payment over 2 fortnights or 1 month, when on Emergency Tax and Emergency USC, based on a single standard rate cut off point and single tax credit. 

Other factors that may exist on a personal basis with Revenue for some NCHDs cannot be considered.  The payment is a standard amount and will be reviewed annually in line with Revenue changes to the single tax credits and the single standard rate cut off point and pending the introduction of a single Hire to Retire solution for NCHDs.

The Intercollegiate SAS/LED Education Website Launch will take place on Monday, 3 April at 6:30pm BST.

The newly formed Intercollegiate Surgical Education Committee for SAS, LED and Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors (ISECSN) is responsible for the educational development of SAS Grades and those in related grades and aims to bring together experience, assess needs, and support the development of educational provision specifically required for this group of doctors. For the vast majority of SAS, support with career progression to allow doctors to work to their full potential is the most pressing need. This webinar marks the launch of the ISECSN website bringing together key information, resources, and various access to support, helping those in SAS grade posts to enhance their skills and progress in their career.

For more information, please click here. 

In collaboration between The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), we bring you the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) Women in Leadership Conference.

Taking place on 27-28 April 2023, the event will bring expert speakers from across healthcare, financial services and government, to discuss how we can enhance opportunities for women in leadership, tackling the issues faced such as the gender pay gap, and how to widen participation in order to drive continued growth and diversity for those looking to break into leadership and management positions.

Key speakers confirmed for the conference include Dame Sally Davies, Former CMO and Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Anne Richards, Chief Investment Officer, Fidelity International and Nadine Heggie, Vice President, Media Sales & Brand Partnerships, National Geographic at The Walt Disney Company.

Opportunities for both in-person and virtual participation are available. Click here to view the full programme and secure your place today.

RCSI & Beaumont Hospital are delighted to host Prof Peter Hutchinson, University of Cambridge who will deliver a lecture ‘Neuro Monitoring for Traumatic Brain Injury’ on Monday 27^th March.

The Lecture will be held in the Richard Carmichael Lecture Theatre, Beaumont Hospital with the option to join by Teams.

When? Monday, 27 March at 6pm

Where? Richard Carmichael Lecture Theatre, Beaumont Hospital and Online

To join online, click here

Meeting ID: 378 618 885 681 

Passcode: rmpfrH