UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science. Excellence in Education & Research.

UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science. Excellence in Education & Research.

Patients & Patient Advocates

Serving Society's Needs

We are acutely aware of the privilege and and responsibility associated with the practice of medicine and the tuition and mentoring of the next generation of doctors, radiographers and healthcare proessionals.  We encounter patients and their families during times of great personal stress.  They rightly expect us to deliver the best possible care always in the patient’s best interest.

We are frequently humbled by this privileged encounter and by the dignity and generosity of our patients. Our patients regularly participate as volunteers in clinical research programmes allowing us to build the scientific evidence base.  They have also been enthusiastic participants in our Patient Educator initiative ensuring that the next generation of doctors and radiographers are fully equipped to provide the best possible healthcare.

Patient Educators

Patients with chronic disease conditions encounter many doctors during the course of their care. We have trained a number of such patients to become Patient Educators giving valuable feedback to our students during our teaching of clinical examination skills.

Our students greatly appreciate the opportunity to improve their clinical skills and our patient educators are delighted to help shape the doctors of tomorrow.

Patient Advocate Groups

Patient Advocate groups play an important role in raising the awareness of specific disease conditions and provide essential research resources from their fund-raising activities.  These groups are strong supporters of our student summer research programme. Included below are a few case studies of our commitment to developing a truly patient-centred standard of medical education. 

Patient Educators

Patients, particularly those suffering with chronic disease, typically encounter many doctors during the course of their healthcare experience. As a result, they develop a strong sense of what makes an effective doctor from the patient’s perspective.

Our innovative Patient & Advocate Centred Education initiative was introduced in 2008 when we invited a number of patients to become teaching assistants within our medicine degree programme.  Patients and patient advocates were invited to give a small number of presentations within the School's Understanding Disability module.

Students have also begun partnering with voluntary organisations to conduct research during their summers.

More recently, with the introduction of the Graduate Entry to Medicine programme, we have developed a Patient Educator programme. Our patient educators, trained in giving feedback to students, participate in our clinical skills education modules as subjects for students developing their history-taking and examination skills. At the end of the student-led consult, the patient reflects back to the would-be doctor on those aspects of the consultation which worked well and those areas which require attention.

Our students have reported high satisfaction with this approach and are very appreciative of the patient volunteers. Similarly, our patient educators appreciate the opportunity to help shape the health system by influencing the communication and consultation skills of young doctors in training.

Our Primary Care group have led the way in introducing early patient contact for students within our medicine programmes. Consistent with the philosophy of treating the patient and not the condition, the primary care group encourage students to understand the patient experience. The first encounter takes place in a community setting rather than the traditional acute hospital setting. Our students gain a strong and immediate sense of the medical vocation and develop an understanding of their role within the continuum of healthcare. The current Patient Educator initiative aims to expand the opportunities to meet and learn from patients in the early years.

Volunteers at UCD Clinical Research Centre

The UCD Clinical Research Centre provides a sophisticated and professional location for our clinicians to undertake vital clinical investigations.

Patients and members of the general public participate in the 50+ research projects which are active at any one time.  They help us build biobanks which fuel fundamental biomedical research and volunteer in investigator- and industry-led clinical trials which evaluate new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.

In the first five years of its operation, the UCD Clinical Research Centre has had over 22,000 patient contacts.

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Rare Genetic Disorders Module

The UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science continually strives to use innovative methods to equip our students with the necessary skills and knowledge to become competent and caring healthcare professionals who are life-long learners.  We are responsive to evolving advances in biomedical science and technology and to the needs of society. 

In line with this we have developed an innovative elective module on Rare Genetic Disorders and the Medical Healthcare Professional which aims to increase awareness among future medical healthcare professionals.  Rare genetic disorders are those that affect less than 1 in 2000 people, but with over 7,000 different rare disorders,  - it is in fact not rare to have a rare disorder. 

Though the clinical aspects of the diseases may differ, people and families affected with rare disorders face many of the same obstacles and issues.  They face many ongoing challenges on a daily basis, from getting a diagnosis, having access to treatment and services, finding information about the disease and research into it. 

The patients are often the driving force behind overcoming these obstacles and the role of patient support groups cannot be underestimated.  Over the course of this module we have a variety of lectures from clinicians, scientists, representatives of pharmaceutical industry, patients and patient support organisations, to explore some of the clinical, political, economic and societal issues around rare disorders.    A highlight of the module will be talks from patients affected with rare disorders which will give a personal insight into selected rare disorders and are bound to make a lasting impact on our future medical healthcare professionals.