HANDS ON: Learning radiation therapy at Trinity College Dublin.
KUCHING: Ireland maintains a strong tradition of excellence in education and medicine, with the Irish Universities and Medical Schools Consortium (IUMC) enjoying over 100 students from Malaysia who go there in pursuit of a quality medical education each year.
The consortium comprises NUI Galway (NUIG), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Cork (UCC) and University College Dublin (UCD).
The distinction of an Irish education extends beyond equipping students with knowledge. The ethos is to challenge students to step out of structured rote learning and develop their thought processes, just as it did over 100 years ago with three famous individuals and their contributions to modern medicine.
Dublin-born Dr Francis Rynd (1801-1861), was working as a doctor at Dublin’s Meath Hospital (still running today since its founding in 1753). During his time at the hospital, he began working on producing a drip needle to enable the intravenous administrating of drugs – a feat that, up to then, had been considered impossible. In fact, back then, drugs were mostly only introduced to the body orally.
Rynd’s development experienced a breakthrough in May of 1844, when he developed the first hypodermic needle.
What spurred Rynd to develop this new means of administering drugs was his intention to cure patients of neuralgia, a disease that quickly attacks the nerves, by injecting sedatives directly into their bloodstreams.
Prior to his discovery, such illnesses were often left untreated.
John Joly (1857-1933) was both a geologist and a physicist. As a geologist, his work saw him devise a meldometer to determine the unique melting point of each mineral, which led him to the discovery of the importance of radioactivity. This was the basis upon which he worked on developing his treatment of cancer through radiotherapy.
Though just one of his many accomplishments during his lifetime, this has left an indelibly mark in medical history.
In 1914, Joly developed a method of extracting radium, which he applied to cancer treatment.
Joly was Governer of Dr Steevens’ Hospital in Dublin, and, working closely with Walter Stevenson, the pair devised effective radiotherapy methods. From there, they went on to establish the Royal Dublin Society of the Irish Radium Institute, where they were the pioneers of the Dublin Method, which comprises the use of a hollow needle for deeper radiotherapy.
This technique has since gained momentum, and is a practice adopted throughout the world.
Finally, born in Hillsborough, County Down, Professor James Francis ‘Frank’ Pantridge (1916 – 2004), a physician and cardiologist, was the inventor of the portable defibrillator. This invention has almost single-handedly transformed the face of emergency paramedic services, and saved the lives of countless cardiac patients.
It was in 1957 that Pantridge and his colleague Dr John Geddes introduced the modern system of CPR as a means of early cardiac arrest treatment.
This led Pantridge to the discovery that many such resulting deaths were caused by ventricular fibrillation – a disturbance to the heart’s rhythm. He was motivated to develop a portable defibrillator so patients could be immediately administered an electric shock to the chest before being admitted to hospital.
The first defibrillator was installed in a Belfast ambulance in 1965. It weighed approximately 70 kg and was operated by car batteries.
Since then, Pantridge has been called the Father of Emergency Medicine.
With such inspirational figures woven into the history of their learning, studying at the IUMC is a move in the right direction for aspiring medical students.
For more information on Study in Ireland, the public are advised to call 03-21632302, email [email protected] or visit www.iumc.com.my.