The partnership will offer clinical placement opportunities in the Galway Clinic to final year medical students as part of their training programme at NUI Galway. Student nurses from the university currently fulfil part of their degree course training in the Galway Clinic.
Prof Timothy O’Brien, Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, commented: “The college welcomes the opportunity to integrate more from an educational and research perspective with public and private healthcare providers within our region, consistent with the strategic plan of NUI Galway.
“The partnership with the Galway Clinic will provide our medical and nursing students with excellent exposure to clinical practice in the private hospital setting and also greatly facilitates enhanced educational and research opportunities across both organisations.”
Mr Joe O’Donovan, CEO of the Galway Clinic, added: “The staff and management of the Galway Clinic are proud of its recognition as an affiliated teaching hospital of NUI Galway effective from 1 January, 2016. As part of this arrangement, the Galway Clinic will provide clinical placements for the university’s undergraduate medical students as part of their final year studies. The medical education programme will also complement the NUI Galway School of Nursing degree course with training partly delivered at the Galway Clinic.”
Mr O’Donovan outlined that the 146-bed Galway Clinic has “impressive, state of the art, clinical and diagnostic facilities” and provides “extensive” specialist patient services including joint replacement, cardiothoracic and robotic prostate surgery, interventional cardiology, CT and MRI scanning, medical oncology/ radiotherapy, and emergency and intensive care medicine.
The medical curriculum at NUI Galway is a five-year programme with an annual intake of approximately 180 students. According to the college, its curriculum provides for early patient exposure, immersion in a variety of clinical environments and, from the 2015-2016 academic year onwards, it will also be emphasising “intern preparedness” to a greater extent.
