Irish Medical Lives

• Ep. 7 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Rachel McNamara

  Considering a career in public health medicine?Or wondering if there’s any point in getting involved in ‘medical politics’?In this episode, Dr Rachel McNamara, a Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine, former National Fellow for Innovation with the HSE Spark Innovation Programme and the first female Chair of the Irish Medical Organisations NCHD Committee, discusses the wide range of public health issues with which her speciality is engaged at the moment, from the recent Covid-19 pandemic and ‘quad-demic’ to the assimilation of Ukrainian refugees and the HPV ‘catch-up’ campaign, and she recalls her role with the IMO in bringing about some landmark protections for NCHDs in Ireland in the last few years and highlighting the particular challenges for women in medicine. Rachel also explains how her career choice was partly shaped by her father’s tragic death at an early age, why in addition to her MRCPI and Master’s in Public Health Medicine at University College Cork, she has obtained diplomas in Health Innovation, Medical Law, and Palliative Care, and why she now feels - on a personal level - that she is just where she is supposed to be - determined ‘to bring a user-centred, innovative lens to improving health services, driving improvements in patient outcomes and looking after the workforce along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Ep. 6 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Maia Springael

  What’s it like being a medical student in Dublin these days?And is there more to the Intern Year than exhausting drudgery?In this episode, Dr Maia Springael, a June 2024 medical graduate and Intern at Tallaght University Hospital, explains how French schools differ from those in Ireland, describes the lasting benefits of an early career in artistic gymnastics, and explains how she ‘came out of her shell’ during her Leaving Certificate year, and made the decision to study medicine. Maia also enthuses about the annual Student Medical Summit, the Intervarsity ‘SimWars’, her hugely useful ‘electives’ in Paris, Toulouse and Cork, and the envy-inducing medics’ professional completion programme at University College Dublin. She is also remarkably upbeat about her current job.This is a must-listen for anyone considering a career in medicine or wondering how to survive (and thrive in) that first ‘Intern Year’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Ep. 5 Irish Medical Lives with Dr. Chris Luke and guest Dr Paddy Barrett

  Are you baffled by conflicting advice about 'bad habits'? Do you really want to live a longer, healthier and more meaningful life?Dr Paddy Barrett, Consultant Cardiologist at Dublin’s Blackrock Clinic, is one of Ireland’s leading experts in lifestyle medicine, online and clinically, with particular emphasis on exercise and ‘aggressive management’ of cardiovascular risks factors, from lipid and blood pressure levels to irregular sleep patterns. He is also a veteran of - and expert in - burnout among medics. In this wisdom-peppered episode, Paddy recalls career-changing moments, like a near-drowning while surfing off the Donegal coast, when his only thought was ‘if I die now, my boss will kill me’, and his pivot away from a training programme in interventional cardiology in New York, after the suicides of several colleagues. He reflects on a career that has taken him from flying lessons and developing wearable health technology in San Diego to working in emergency medicine in Sydney, from an interest in burnout and subsequent collaboration with experts including Deepak Chopra and the founder of the Headspace meditation app, to daily application of Socrates’ famous but often disregarded dictum: ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’. Paddy quips that offering burned-out medics a free mindfulness app is more likely to make them quit their jobs than promoting genuine reflection, that focuses on identifying personal core values and allows people to ‘design’ – and ‘course correct’ - their own lives.This episode will be especially useful for those who are unfamiliar with lifespan, healthspan and soulspan, and who’d like to enjoy a longer life, ‘packed with meaning and human connection’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Ep. 4 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Peter Keenan

  Dr Peter Keenan was Ireland’s first consultant in paediatric emergency medicine. Appointed in 1984, at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin, he was immediately thrown in the deep end in an emergency department that catered for around 50,000 attendances annually.In this podcast episode, Peter recounts how he set about the management of the huge number of patients, which he compares to dealing - afresh every day - with ‘a great military retreat’. He talks about the crucial importance of reducing the number of ‘reflex’ admissions by managing as many cases within the ED itself as possible. He cites the example of self-limiting febrile seizures, and in response to the often stated “You can’t be too careful”, he says, “Yes, you can!”, pointing out that unnecessary admissions to hospital are not only inconvenient, costly and associated with avoidable and sometimes-distressing tests, but they are also a significant factor in overcrowding within a paediatric ED. His antidote? ‘Sensible diagnostic thinking’ with this, as with every other presentation. Beyond bringing some order to a perennially busy inner-city ED, Dr Keenan was also a major mover in Ireland in the once-marginalised area of child abuse. He recalls here how the understanding and management of childhood sexual abuse in Dublin was often based on the accounts of women who attended the Rape Crisis Service at the Rotunda Hospital, just a few hundred metres from Temple Street, as well as the aftermath of the notorious Cleveland Child Abuse Scandal in the UK, in 1987. Sadly, Dr Keenan also reflects on the ‘multi-generational’ nature of such abuse, and how much of it is driven by deprivation and intoxication.In his own hospital and beyond, Dr Keenan is a much-loved and charismatic paediatrician, famous for his energy, good humour and pride in his ‘Northside’ pedigree. However, he says he owes a great debt to many of his colleagues in Temple Street for their willingness to help out, including Professors Denis Gill, Niall O’Doherty, Niall O’Brien, Michael O’Keeffe and others. And in a particularly moving reflection, Peter talks of how his ability to cope with a series of personal tragedies, including the death of his son, Stephen, in a ‘free-diving’ accident in Egypt, was at least partially and paradoxically eased by the amount of trauma and tragedy he had already faced in his place of work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Ep. 3 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Diarmuid O’Shea

  Dr Diarmuid O’Shea is a Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, former President of the Irish Gerontological Society and National Clinical Programme Lead for the Older Persons Programme of the HSE and RCPI and, presently, the 143 rd President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Dr O’Shea’s clinical and research interests include syncope, drug metabolism, and dementia, and his organisational initiatives have been largely directed towards the enhancement of patient care and of medical training in Ireland.In this podcast episode, Dr O’Shea reflects on a very happy childhood in South Dublin, in a family of high-achievers, including his father, Jerome, the famous footballer from Caherciveen with three All Ireland medals for Kerry, and two ‘celebrity’ brothers, (Endocrinologist, Professor) Donal and Conor (of international rugby fame), and he offers some amusing insights into life-long sibling rivalry!Diarmuid also recalls his enjoyable undergraduate years in UCD, and his training in the Mater, St. Vincent’s, St Columcille’s, and Wexford Hospitals, before he moved to Nashville in Tennessee, and then Newcastle, in Tyneside.Since 2000, Dr O’Shea has worked at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, and he observes that it was his exceptional good fortune to have worked with two giants of geriatric medicine in Ireland, Dr Morgan Crowe and the late Dr Denis Keating, who gave him invaluable guidance and career advice. We also hear why he is careful not to bump into his brother, Donal, in a lift!Diarmuid enthuses about his long-term passions, especially medical education, and he touches on his work as a past-Chair of the Irish Committee of Higher Medical Training, and Vice-President of Education and Professional Development at the College, along with the successful RCPI Masterclass Series (which he established), and he offers a tour d’horizon in terms of the College’s work to improve patient care, the quality of medical practice and the health of the population as a whole.In his role as the President of the RCPI, Dr O’Shea acknowledges and identifies many of the current challenges across the Irish health and social care system, and he explains why he firmly believes that ‘collaboration, recruitment and retention, as well as innovation and the ability to adapt, will be central to improving the environments in which we (all) work and train, and to delivering fit-for-purpose 21st Century training and medical care’. The Irish Medical Lives podcast is sponsored by Eolas Medical, the easy-to-use online platform that provides medical knowledge at the point of care, ensuring every healthcare professional has access to the answers they need, when they need it most. Visit eolasmedical.com to learn how to create a space for your service or download the app to gain access to thousands of clinical resources. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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