THE University of Limerick celebrated the graduation of 156 students on Tuesday from the Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) and Clinical Therapies Department.
Among the graduates were 106 doctors who were conferred with their medical degrees as they became the fifth graduating class of the Graduate Entry Medical School at UL.
A further 50 Clinical Therapies graduands received their awards – 24 from the MSc in Occupational Therapy and 26 from the BSc in Physiotherapy.
Established in 2007, the Graduate Entry Medical School Programme at UL is open to graduates from any discipline and employs practical and interactive approaches to learning.
Among the doctors who graduated at UL this week are students with undergraduate degrees varying from zoology, business, law, languages and sociology.
The programme is the only medical education programme in the country founded on the principles of Problem Based Learning (PBL), which encourages team-working and self-directed enquiry.
Professor Don Barry, UL president, paid tribute to the healthcare professionals who “gave so willingly of their time to engage our students and allow them their first glimpses into their future careers”.
He added: “I would like to pay particular tribute to the Health Service Executive and to express my appreciation for the support that we have received from its staff at local, regional and national levels.”
“We are looking forward to the opening next September of the Clinical Education and Research building, a shared facility to be located on the University Hospital Limerick campus which will enhance the delivery of our healthcare programmes but also support the post-graduate education services required by the University Hospital Limerick community.”
