UL sees off struggle for appointments

By Aoife Connors.

The University of Limerick (UL) Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) has struggled at times to get senior academic appointments in place during the first few years of the School, Prof Paul Finucane, Head of the School, told Irish Medical Times last week.

His comments came following the graduation of the first 32 UL GEMS students conferred with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BM BS) degrees.

Speaking at the conferring, Prof Finucane said it represented “a hugely significant milestone in the history of the UL Graduate Entry Medical School”.

He said: “The School is delighted to graduate 32 of the finest young men and women who will undoubtedly change the face of medical practice in Ireland in the years ahead.”

Commenting on the School’s success, he told IMT: “I think one of the things we have struggled with a little bit over the years is to get senior academic appointments in place, particularly in the clinical area, as speedily as we would have liked.”

He said it was down to the inertia in the system: “I’m afraid it is a time-consuming and cumbersome process, particularly when you are working across two areas. We’ve had to work with the HSE, and the HSE has had to work with us.” It was always more difficult when there was more than one agency involved, he added.

Prof Finucane said it had taken longer than anticipated to get professorial appointments in all of the clinical disciplines including surgery, medicine, general practice, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology.

Although the UL GEMS has secured all of these appointments, he added: “The last piece of that link or jigsaw happens in the coming weeks, when we interview for a Professor of Medicine.” Interviews for the post will take place on June 28.

“There will be a process to follow; the preferred candidate has to be identified and the decision has to be ratified both by the Public Appointments Service and the governing authority of the University of Limerick. Then a contract will be issued. We hope to be in a position to issue a contract about a month after the interview date,” Prof Finucane said.

aoife.connors@imt.ie