NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 06
EXAMINATIONS:
Significant changes
Primary exam:
to
Timetable:
Historically, the Primary
FCARCSI exam was held
over 4
contiguous days.
Each exam candidate was
expected to attend on the 1st
day for the MCQs and
having passed that, they
were then timetabled for the
OSCEs/Vivas on either the
2nd, 3rd or 4th days. This
format is set to continue.
However, starting from
Spring 2007 there will now
be a gap between the MCQs
on the 1st day of the exam
and
the
remaining
OSCEs/Vivas days.
The
length of this gap will vary
from season to season,
depending on the college
calendar.
See Exams Timetable, under
the Examinations section for
the opening date & exam
dates for Spring 2007. Note
that as a result of having an
earlier exam date than usual,
applications will also open 2
weeks earlier than usual.
Structure:
The number of OSCE
stations has increased to 15.
This extra station will be
introduced in the Autumn
2006 exam.
More on-line content for
the Final exam:
Written exam: Model answer
for Essay & Short Answer
Questions now available
under the Examinations
section.

Beginners Welcome Talk
– 10th January 2007

SpR 1-3 interviews
– January 2007

Vascular Access Workshop
– 12th Feb 2007

Echocardiography
Workshop – 23rd Feb 2007

Delaney Medal
Competition – 1st Mar 07
Maria Golden,
Barbara Conneely,
Marguerite Harvey and other
invigilators

Abbott Presentations
– 2nd March07

Paediatric Workshop
– 25th April 2007
Barbara Conneely, Exams

Irish
Congress
of
Anaesthesia
– 10th & 11th May 2007
Hospital Clinicals & Vivas:
Assigned hospitals and
allocated viva times will be
uploaded
to
the
Examinations section after
the Callover date.
**********************
TRAINING
EDUCATION
&
There have been a number of
changes
within
the
Education
&
Training
Departments in the College
of Anaesthetists in the last 6
months.
The
two
departments which were
separate before have now
been amalgamated, which
we hope will be of benefit to
fellows and trainees of the
College.
Maria Golden and Ruth
Kilgallon are the two
members of staff who will be
responsible for fulfilling all
duties
of
this
newly
restructured department.
The following will be taking
place in the coming months

Train the Trainer Course
– 26th & 27th October

Ethics and Legal Medicine
Workshop – 17th Nov. 06

GSK Medal Presentations
– 17th November 2006

Winter College Lecture
– 17th November 2006

Obstetrics for BSTs
– 8th December 2006
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Please
consult
www.anaesthesia.ie for all
Education
&
Training
information.
Maria Golden,
Education &Training
Maria Golden
Conneely
and
Barbara
************************
CURSORY
INDUCTION
TO ANAESTHESIA
A visit to the Rotunda
Hospital 15th August 2006
At 10:40 hrs I arrived at the
Rotunda Hospital and met
with Dr Bill Blunnie at the
reception area. He took me
to the medical staff area and
showed me the changing
room where I donned scrubs.
First Birth
Dr Bill Blunnie and I entered
the maternity unit where an
African lady was lying on a
theatre trolley about to give
birth by caesarean section.
She appeared to be in good
form as she already had her
anaesthetic injection before
my arrival. The obstetrician
made an incision in her
abdomen to deliver the baby.
A baby boy was born to her
sometime later. I observed
the
afterbirth
internal
cleaning and stitching of the
patient’s abdomen.
Infertility
Dr Bill Blunnie took me to
another room where a lady
was having an anaesthetic
(part morphine and part local
anaesthetic, I am told) by an
SpR. He watched over her
carefully to ensure that the
anaesthetic
took
effect
before the Gynaecologist
performed a laparoscopy on
her. I observed the patient’s
ovaries on the TV screen
whilst the gynaecologist
performed the necessary
procedure to remove the
obstacle preventing her from
falling
pregnant.
This
examination took a short
time. The patient was
removed from the theatre to
rest whilst the anaesthetic
wore off.
Epidural
Dr Bill Blunnie and I entered
another room to see a young
pregnant Portuguese lady
who was crying with labour
pains.
Dr Bill Blunnie
proceeded to give her an
epidural to the spine to numb
her pain whilst explaining
this procedure to me. We
then left the room.
We returned shortly after to
find that the injection had
taken effect and the lady was
sitting up in the bed and
smiling. I did not get to see
the Portuguese girl again so I
do not know the gender of
her baby.
Second Birth
At approx 3pm I entered the
maternity room again to
observe another birth by
caesarean section to an Irish
lady. A different obstetrician
performed
this
section.
Another baby boy was born
that day.
Prolapsed Womb
I was back again in the
theatre and saw a 87year old
lady who was suffering from
a prolapsed womb receiving
an anaesthetic to the spine
from the anaesthetist to
ensure that she felt no pain
during
her
pending
examination.
My visit to the Rotunda
Hospital
was
most
interesting.
Maura O’Mahoney, Finance
************************
GOLF CLASSIC
The GOLF CLASSIC hosted
by the College took place on
September 7th 2006 in
Milltown Golf Course.
It was a great success with
teams enjoying the bright
weather, the evening dinner
and the prize distribution.
Pharmaceutical companies
sponsored
some prizes,
including Tipperary Crystal,
Golf-bags and Golf trolleys.
The money raised through
team-charges, sponsorship
and the raffle goes toward
the Education Fund and
ultimately to Malawi and a
Missionary
Hospital
in
Tanzania.
Dr Jeanne Moriarty thanked
Dr James Gardiner on behalf
of the College for looking
after the Golf Classic all
these years. Dr Gardiner is
looking forward to retiring
shortly,
however
Dr
Moriarty expressed her hope
that he will continue to be
involved in the Golf Classic.
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A date is proposed for 2007
and we hope that many more
teams will join us.
Dr Gardiner with his team
Maria Pongracz, PA
************************
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Communication is vital and
part of my policy is to
attempt to keep fellows
abreast of what the College
is doing on their behalf.
Presently with all the
developments
that
are
occurring it is vital that
robust
two-way
communication
between
fellows and the College
Council
is
maintained.
College Council is conscious
of its responsibility to
promote and develop the
speciality of Anaesthesia in
Ireland and it needs the
continued active support and
participation
and
constructive contribution of
its Fellows to achieve its
aims. Council is developing
and implementing policies to
ensure that the relevance of
the College is maintained in
the current and future
environments of the health
service. In the meantime the
day to day functions of the
College in education and
training examinations etc.
continue. The College website www.anaesthesia.ie has
a members’ section. Access
to this members’ section is
easy and we encourage you
to use it
Tutors Day
In the time since my
Presidency
began
the
College hosted a most
successful Tutors day on the
24th June. There was an
excellent attendance and it is
a tribute to the interest and
dedication of our tutors that
they give so generously of
their time to the College and
to the promotion of training
and education of our
trainees. I would also like to
thank you and all our trainers
without whom our training
programme would fail.
Orientation Day
July 5th saw the orientation
day for our newest trainees.
This was held at the College
and is an opportunity for our
newest
recruits
to
anaesthesia to meet with the
Dean and President and to
familiarise themselves with
the College and what it has
to offer and also to answer
questions on its training and
education programmes.
HSE-METR
July 11th saw an important
meeting with officials from
the HSE-METR group to
discuss the funding of
innovative
educational
programmes developed by
the College. I pay a special
thanks to our Postgraduate
Dean Dr I Surgeon and our
Registrar Dr O McCaul for
their sterling work in the
preparation of the proposals.
Their work was most
successful and has ensured
the allocation of funding for
many
educational
programmes.
Comptroller and Auditor
General’s Office
The 19th of July saw a
meeting
between
the
President, Mr C Donnolly
and Dr B Golden from the
Comptroller and Auditor
General’s
office.
The
Registrar also attended. The
purpose of the meeting was
to examine the role of
Anaesthetists in the health
system. This was part of a
broad information gathering
process by the Comptroller
and
Auditor
General’s
Office.
UEMS
In October the College hosts
the UEMS (Division of
Anaesthesia) in Ireland. The
Mater/UCD
Campus,
through the offices of Prof D
Moriarty and Dr B Blunnie,
have made their facilities
available for the meeting.
The College are deeply
appreciative. The College
also acknowledges the hard
work of Ms M Harvey
Examinations Officer COA
for all the effort she has put
into the organisation of the
meeting.
Professors Committee
The inaugural meeting of the
Professors and Academics
Committee was held on 2nd
August.
The
changing
environment envisioned in
the Buttimer report demands
greater co-operation between
the HSE, Training Bodies
and University departments.
Now that there is a
Professorial department in
each of the Universities
attached to the NUI it is
appropriate to bring all
academic departments of
anaesthesia in the island of
Ireland together in a forum
where areas of common
interest can be discussed and
advanced. We have also
included
the
statuary
lecturers in our committee.
We wish this new committee
every success.
Strategy Group
As part of our development
the College has formed a
strategy group to look at the
overall development of the
College in the immediate and
longer term. This will
include
structural
development on our present
site consistent with our needs
but will also take account of
3
potential development in the
future. The scope and role of
the MSc is being developed
and expanded and the
objective is to recruit for
July 2007.
SOAP Meeting
The College held a very
successful reception at 22
Merrion Square for the
Committee and speakers of
the SOAP meeting held in
Dublin ending on 11 August.
Postgraduate Training Forum
The College is presently
engaged with the 13 other
training
bodies
in
a
Postgraduate Forum, the
brain-child of the Conjoint
Board of the RCSI and RCPI
discussing the challenges
and opportunities posed in
the changing climate in
medicine in Ireland.
The College also took the
opportunity to respond,
within
the
constraints
imposed by our standing
orders to the published
Heads of Bill.
In
the
meantime
the
everyday business of the
College continues. I am
grateful for the dedication of
our officers and council
members and for all their
work advice and guidance. I
am also very grateful to our
administrative team for their
constant good humour and
highest
standards
of
professionalism.
DrJ McAdoo, President