Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

Sadhbh Sheeran recently took part in the RCSI Mini Med course. Here she writes about her experience. Warning: it is not for the squeamish...


Monday was slightly daunting. There were over 150 TY students from around the country sitting in one of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) lecture theatres. Once I got past the first awkward ten minutes it was all great. Meeting the other TY students was interesting as we all had a strong interest in medicine and everyone seemed to be really bright. I met brilliant people over the course of the week and I hope to stay in contact with some of them. I could not begin to describe all the things we got up to during the week the variety and sheer volume of lectures and workshops were so huge! So I am just going to mention some of the highlights of my week.

In terms of the lectures my favourite were Neurology, Orthopaedics and Accident and Emergency. I liked the neurology because in the end everything comes down to the brain. The surgeon who spoke to us was funny and charismatic. He was willing to take a myriad of  questions. He also showed us x-rays, CT scans and MRI’s of some of his past patients so we got to see everything from bullets to arrows to pencils lodged in people's skulls. Both Orthopaedics and A&E appealed to my gory side. Orthopaedics seemed to be about imaginative reconstruction a lot of the time which I found fascinating where as the sheer rush, buzz and adrenaline of A&E as well as the organisation needed was compelling.

In terms of the workshops I loved them all. Over the course of the week I attended one on Physics in Medicine, which was surprisingly interesting. I also attended a workshop on CPR, I learnt how to set up and take ECG’s as well as meeting Fred (their breathing, eating, talking, sweating, excreting, teaching dummy) When it came to learning to sew stitches I was not a natural but I picked it up after a while. My highlight of what they called “Clinical Skills” however was undoubtedly when I got chatting to a doctor about broken bones. When I explained I had never broken anything so had never had a cast and had always wanted one, he told me to roll up my sleeve...within five minutes I was kitted out with my very own authentic cast, I was so proud! I probably had the most fun in the “Chemical Chaos” workshop, mainly because my bench was the least serious and most entertaining! I mean who couldn’t be amused by bouncy polymer balls?! We were deemed the best Chemical Chaos group ever by the mentors purely due to our enthusiasm.

One of the  highlights of my week was getting to see the surgeries. My favourite was the keyhole surgery to remove a woman’s gall bladder .The experience was indescribable. We met both patient and surgeon and were able to ask them questions. Within 20 minutes the patient was on the operating table, we were able to see both the operating theatre and directly inside the woman’s abdomen via video link to the lecture theatre. The whole thing was slightly surreal! Throughout the surgery we were able to ask the surgeon and his team questions and he asked us for our opinions as well. He wouldn’t remove the detached gallbladder until one of us worked out how to do it, it took us at least 10 minutes! As soon as he had completed the operation the surgeon came back to us to take any more questions and the next morning both he and the patient paid us another visit to answer any remaining queries we might have.

From the start of the week the part I was most looking forward to was meeting my idol. Is it odd that my idol happens to cut up the state's murder victims?  State Pathologist Marie Cassidy was just as inspiring as I had thought she would be! My favourite of her lines being “I would much rather be going to see a dismembered body at 2am than a patient with a headache!” I was thrilled when at the end of her talk I with some of my new friends were asked to remain behind to ask her more questions and have our photo taken for the Irish Times. The photos made last week’s HEALTHplus supplement accompanied by an article on the Mini Med School Course, in which I was quoted!

I have mentioned just a few of the lectures and workshops I attended and I hope what I have written reflects the incredible time I had. It was completely worth the two hour commute from school to Beaumont. It was probably one of the best things I’ve done so far this year and I would like to thank the RCSI as well as Mr. McCarthy who offered me the opportunity.