Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

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Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Coláiste Ríoga na Máinlia in Éirinn

Motto	Consilio Manuque (Scholarship and Dexterity)
Established	February 11, 1784
Type	Private
Students	1500
Location	Dublin 2, Ireland
Address	123 St Stephen's Green
Telephone	+353-1 402 2100
Campus	Urban
Registrar President	Michael Horgan Mr. Gerald O'Sullivan FRCSI
Affiliations	NUI, RCPI
Website	http://www.rcsi.ie

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a Dublin based private medical institution, situated on St. Stephen's Green. The college is one of the five Recognised Colleges of the National University of Ireland. The college dates back to 1784 and at present incorporates schools of medicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy and nursing, providing both undergraduate and postgraduate levels of medical education. The word "Royal" in RCSI came from the fact that Ireland used to be in union with Great Britain. It must be noted that as medical institutions, the use of the term "Royal College" in the UK right now generally indicates an oversight body for medical education rather than a provider of medical education. The use of the word "surgeons" is due to RCSI's early involvement in medicine. English is the most commonly spoken language in the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, at the RCSI, the language of instruction is English.

1 History
2 Admissions
3 Student Life
4 International Outreach
5 Honorary Fellowships
6 Trivia
7 Notable Alumni
8 Footnotes
9 External links

[edit] History

Before the founding of the college, the practice of surgery was regulated by Barber Surgeons' Guild. To have a separate organisation focused on providing standardised surgical education became one of the goals leading to the establishment of the institution. Meeting in the boardroom of the Rotunda Hospital, the founders gathered for the first time. As a result, a hall that was idle in Mercer Street, near Mercer's Hospital, was purchased. A royal Charter was granted on 11 February 1784. The current location, at the corner of York Street, was acquired in 1810. It was previously an abandoned Quaker graveyard. A supplemental Charter was granted by Queen Victoria in 1844, dividing medical graduates into Licentiates and Fellows. Initially, physicians were trained alongside with surgeons. These two disciplines were merged in 1886; and, the medical school began operation. Due to these historical reasons, graduates of medicine today receive historical Licentiates and are awarded MB (Bachelor of Medicine) BCh (Bachelor of Surgery) BAO (Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics). Ever since the 1980s, the Beaumont Hospital has been the principal centre for medical training.

[edit] Admissions

For the four-year Pharmacy program, graduates are awarded B.Sc in Pharmacy. For the three-year Physiotherapy program, graduates are awarded B.Sc in Physiotherapy.^[1] For the medical program, currently, there are two main entry routes. The first one being the graduate entry scheme leading to a total duration of 4 or 5 years. And, the second one being regular entry scheme for high school graduates leading to a total duration of 5 or 6 years. Entry requirements are based on the country of origin. In the case of North American applicants with bachelor's degrees applying to the medical program, MCAT scores, GPA and recommendations are used for evaluation. Similar applicants from Australia, for example, may use GAMSAT results.

[edit] Student Life

Students at RCSI are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities that promote service in the community and cultural awareness. As a side note, 80% of the student population are from outside the European Union, with a significant portion coming from North America and Malaysia. A complete list of current student societies and clubs can be found on the RCSI website.^[2]

[edit] International Outreach

As a leading international medical institution, RCSI is active in all medically related sectors of education around the globe. During the South African Apartheid, for example, RCSI provided medical education to those that were discriminated.^[3] In 2005, RCSI Dubai was founded and currently offers a master's program in Healthcare Management. The Medical University of Bahrain is a fully owned constituent university of RCSI and already has nearly 200 registered students. The first cohort commenced medical studies in October 2004 and graduates are entitled to the M.D. degree. In 2006 the Medical University of Bahrain established a new School of Nursing which is due to take its first cohort of students at the end of September 2006. In Malaysia, Penang Medical College became RCSI's far east launching pad. Established in 1995, Malaysian medical students may choose to complete their pre-clinical studies at either UCD Dublin or RCSI. For students at the home institution of RCSI, electives could be taken abroad as a result of collaborative agreements with other medical schools around the world. Currently, these medical schools include Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Tufts University School of Medicine. There are also informal agreements with other institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University and Mayo Clinic. More than 60 countries around the world are represented in the RCSI student body.

The Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland

[edit] Honorary Fellowships

Louis Pasteur (1886)
William Mayo and Charles Mayo (1921)
Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1988)
Sultan Azlan Shah (1991)
Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohammed (1991)
President Mary Robinson (1994)
His Excellency the Emir Shaikh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa (1995)
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1995)
President Nelson Mandela (1996)
Professor Alfred Cuschieri (1996)
Professor Seamus Heaney (1998)
President Mary McAleese (1998)
His Majesty, Sultan Azlan Shah The Yang Di Pertuan Agong IX (2000)
His Highness, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2004)
An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern (2006)

[edit] Trivia

Former United States First Lady Nancy Reagan visited RCSI in 1984 and liked one of the carpets used by the college. She eventually ordered a similar one for both the American embassy in Ireland and the White House.