The medical faculty was first opened by the then Dean and Professor of Surgery, Dr. Denis Brenan Bullen. Dr. Bullen had advocated widely for the establishment of a College-based School of Medicine. 22 students, including Dr. Bullen’s son who was the first enrolled student of the faculty, registered on that day. Students of Medicine have graduated from the School of Medicine, UCC every year since 1854.
The Head of the College of Medicine and Health, UCC Prof. Helen Whelton congratulated all staff past and present. “We are immensely proud and grateful to the fantastic staff we have at our School of Medicine. Many of our staff are joint appointees with the health service and many more who work in the health service contribute to our extensive and wide-ranging programmes. We continue to deepen the partnership between the life sciences and the university and the health service through an academic health sciences system. We look forward to continuing our work to strengthen the university’s relationship with the health service so the two sectors can provide mutual benefit, deliver quality healthcare hand-in-hand with teaching, training, research and innovation, incorporating the full spectrum of the healthcare workforce”.
