Trinity students co-found Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland student section

The society involves students engaged in various fields including psychiatry, surgery, and pathology

Two Trinity students have co-founded the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (RAMI) student section, which caters to various disciplines including psychiatry, surgery, pathology, and odontology. The society was co-founded by Trinity undergraduates, Caoimhe Gaughan and Anurag Nasa, alongside Trinity graduate and Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) student, Elena Roman.

Speaking to Trinity News, Nasa, who is Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the new student section, explained that “while RAMI has existed since 1882, they haven’t been very inclusive towards healthcare students and have mostly catered for interns, doctors, and other healthcare professionals”.

He noted that while “student membership has previously been available at a lower annual membership rate”, there had been “no area of the Academy directed specifically towards students”. Nasa identified this as a “niche which needs to be filled, given that medical students and dental students are an integral part of the medical community”.

Addressing their plans for the future, they noted that they hope to “make the medical and dental student body aware of all the opportunities RAMI has to offer as the main institution that the new student section is a part of”. They are hopeful that “students will begin to utilise this section as a means for career development and to feel like an integral part of RAMI and the medical community as a whole”.

The group recognised the work of Dr Darren Roddy from the Research in Depression, Endocrinology, Epigenetics, and NeuroiMaging (REDEEM) lab, who following discussions with RAMI, the co-founding students, and other students from medical colleges around Ireland, assisted in the establishment of the student section. REDEEM focuses on “discovering the role of neural pathways in the pathophysiology of various psychiatric conditions”.

The group is made up of members from each medical course in Ireland, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and held its first meeting of the council on March 15. The meeting saw co-founders Gaughan and Nasa elected as Trinity Undergraduate Student Representative and PRO respectively. Roman was also elected Student President.

The group outlined its plans to hold essay competitions, educational talks, and research conferences “for the benefit of medical and dentistry students”. They also hope to “integrate the medical and dental student body with this age-old society”, where they may become “meaningful members”. The body noted that it plans to hold its inaugural meeting for all student members in mid-April.

Peter Kelly

Peter Kelly is the current Assistant Editor of Trinity News. He is a Junior Sophister Law student, and a former Deputy News Editor.