Med Day 2009

The 2009 Trinity Med Day took place on Friday, November 6th and, alongside the annual day of high jinks, 400 students undertook a mass street collection for their teaching hospitals. And happily for St. James’s, for the third year in a row, the hospital will benefit. The students have raised €50,000 in total and a portion of this will be contributed to the hospital’s stroke service for the purchase of vital equipment for the management of dysphagia, a potentially life-threatening complication of stroke.

Med Day Chairman, Michael Durand (a 4th year medical student currently on rotation in The Coombe Hospital), said: “It was brilliant to see the entire medical student body brought together. We were thrilled to have an opportunity to help the patients that we learn so much from.”
The Med Day Committee of 4th year medical students arranged an intense day of back-to-back fun and fundraising that started with the collectors’ breakfast at 7.30 am and concluded with a late night party. And, along the way, there was a bachelor/bacholerette auction and a talent show as well as the great fundraising. Pfizer Ireland provided significant support to the students this year – providing seed funding for the event and providing health screening for 100 Trinity staff during Med Day.

Dr Joe Harbison, Consultant Geriatrician, said “Thanks to the medical and nursing students we will be one step closer to our ultimate aim for the Stroke service – to care for our patients with safety, dignity and comfort, and to improve outcomes. And we are extremely grateful to Pfizer Ireland for their support.”

St. James’s Hospital admits between 400 and 450 stroke patients annually from all over Ireland – more than is admitted to any other hospital in the state. The hospital is focused on supporting stroke patients by developing organised specialist care and, since 2006, has reduced the one month mortality from 18% to 11% and the average length of stay has been reduced by seven days. The hospital aims to fundraise €250,000 before the end of 2010 to provide a range of specialist facilities that will enable further improvements to the stroke service and ensure outcomes consistent with best practice throughout the world.

The 2009 Med Day Committee were Michael Durand (Chairman), Sinead O’Shaughnessy (Secretary), Blaire Mulvey (Treasurer), Ariane Gill, Nicky McAlister, Mathew Mullins and Ikpeme Ukpong Neto.

Contact Us

St. James’s Hospital Foundation
St. James’s Hospital
James’s Street
Dublin 8

Telephone 01 428 4086
Email foundation@stjames.ie