HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The School of Medicine at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
(known until 2005 as the School of Physic), is the oldest
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
in Ireland. Founded in the early eighteenth century, it was originally situated at the site of the current Berkeley Library. As well as providing an undergraduate degree in
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, the school provides undergraduate courses in
physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...
,
occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...
,
radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...
, human
nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...
& dietetics and human
health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
&
disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
, over 20 taught postgraduate courses, and research degrees.


History

Medical training has taken place at Trinity College since the seventeenth century, originally on a rather unremarkable basis; extant records suggest that by 1616 only one medical degree had been conferred. In a letter to James Ussher in 1628, Provost William Bedell commented, "I suppose it hath been an error all this time to neglect the faculties of law and
physic Physic may refer to: * The study or practice of medicine * A substance administered as medicine, or the medicinal plant from which it is extracted: ** '' Gillenia stipulata'', a plant known commonly as Indian physic ** ''Jatropha'', a genus of pla ...
and attend only to the ordering of one poor College of Divines." From 1618 the post of "Medicus" had existed among the
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
s, this post later being formalised under Bedell's revised College statutes in 1628 and by Royal
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
in 1637, but in practice the office was usually held by Junior Fellows who did not hold medical degrees and who participated in no real sense in medical education; for example, the first Fellow to be chosen Medicus, John Temple (son of the then-Provost of the College,
Sir William Temple Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet (25 April 162827 January 1699) was an English diplomat, statesman and essayist. An important diplomat, he was recalled in 1679, and for a brief period was a leading advisor to Charles II, with whom he then fell ...
), went on to pursue a prominent legal career. The Public (later Regius) Professorship of Physic was for the most part used as ceremonial title for a practising doctor. A 17th-century manuscript preserved in the Trinity College Library, describing the ceremonies accompanying conferral of degrees, makes no mention of graduates in medicine. The first recorded named holder of a Dublin medical degree was John Stearne, a Trinity graduate who had trained as a doctor in England (possibly at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
), and was appointed a
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
upon returning to Trinity in 1651. From 1662 until his death in 1669 he was Professor of Physic, and during this time was instrumental in the foundation of a college of physicians, which later became the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland; this institution had originally functioned as a daughter institution of Trinity College, located at the former Trinity Hall on Hoggen Green (now
College Green College Green or The College Green may refer to: * College Green, Adelaide outdoor venue at the University of Adelaide * College Green, Bristol, England * College Green (Dartmouth College), New Hampshire, primarily known as "the Green" * College ...
). Trinity Hall had been intended as a place of residence and tuition for students of the College, but a dispute arose, as the property fell into disuse and disrepair following the
rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantation ...
, and
Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...
demanded its return, as the conditions by which the Corporation had provided it to the College were not being upheld. The matter was resolved by Stearne, who offered to raise funds to cover the costs of restoring the building (which the College could not afford at the time) as a daughter college for the education of physicians, with Stearne as its president, and with medical students there first becoming members of Trinity; the agreement stated "that the College should have the nomination of the President of the College of Physicians, and that the President and Fellows of that College should give their professional services without fees to the Provost and Senior Fellows of Trinity College and their successors whenever they should require them to attend them during illness." A "Colledge of Physitians in Dublin" was thus granted a
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
in 1667, but no records survive from the time of Stearne's death in 1669 to confirm whether medical students from Trinity were in residence, and in subsequent years the College of Physicians gained virtual independence from the university, largely due to the mother institution being unable to supply sufficient qualified physicians to administer it. The College was given the right of granting medical licences within a radius of seven miles of the city of Dublin. In 1692 it was rechartered as the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, and provision was made for representatives of the College to examine candidates for medical degrees of the University of Dublin—this arrangement persisting until 1760—and for holders of Dublin medical degrees to be admitted without further examination or fees to the College. By the 18th century, the Board of the College was moved to urgently rectify and formalise the state of its pre-clinical medical education. In 1710 it approved both the construction of a two-storey "Elaboratory" to the west of College Park in Trinity (at the site of the current Berkeley Library), and the establishment of lectureships in anatomy, chemistry and botany. The building was designed by Thomas Burgh and was formally opened on 11 August of the following year with lecture facilities, a dissecting room, a museum and a chemical laboratory. For clinical training, students would then rely on tutorials from the Professor of Physic, and on lectures from same at the Royal College of Physicians. It was agreed with the College of Physicians that, in addition to the normal examinations for all students at the University, medical students would also be examined in "all parts of Anatomy relating to the '' Œconomia Animalis'', and in all parts of Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, and that every candidate Doctor in Physic be examined as to the aforesaid subjects, and likewise in the explanation of
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
'
Aphorisms An aphorism (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often hand ...
, and in the theory and cure of external and internal diseases." A bequest drawn up in 1711 by the eminent physician Sir Patrick Dun provided for the endowment of further professorships of physic at Trinity, to be appointed jointly by Trinity, the College of Physicians and the
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
. To allow this to be carried out, a
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
was sought to establish the School of Physic under the joint government of both Colleges, and this was granted in 1715. The school expanded significantly in the first half of the 20th century, with the establishment of professorships in pathology, bacteriology and biochemistry, and lecturerships in radiology, anaesthetics and psychological medicine, among others.


Alumni

Notable alumni and former students include: *
George James Allman George James Allman FRS FRSE (181224 November 1898) was an Irish ecologist, botanist and zoologist who served as Emeritus Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh University in Scotland. Life Allman was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Jam ...
(1812–1898), British biologist *
George Johnston Allman George Johnston Allman (28 September 1824 – 9 May 1904) was an Irish professor, mathematician, classical scholar, and historian of ancient Greek mathematics. His fame rests mainly upon his authorship of ''Greek Geometry from Thales to Euclid' ...
(1824–1904), Irish mathematician and botanist * Leonard H. Ball (1900–1966), Australian surgeon *
Edward Hallaran Bennett Edward Hallaran Bennett (9 April 1837, Charlotte Quay, Cork – 21 June 1907, Dublin) was an Irish surgeon, now remembered for describing Bennett's fracture. Life Bennett was born at Charlotte Quay, Cork, the fifth and youngest son of the lead ...
(1837–1907), Irish surgeon * Dame
Beulah Bewley Dame Beulah Rosemary Bewley ( Knox; 2 September 1929 – 20 January 2018) was a British public health physician and past-president of the Medical Women's Federation on the General Medical Council. Early life and education Bewley was born ...
, British epidemiologist *
Noël Browne Noël Christopher Browne (20 December 1915 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Health from 1948 to 1951 and Leader of the National Progressive Democrats from 1958 to 1963. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1 ...
(1915–1997), Irish politician and physician *
Denis Parsons Burkitt Denis Parsons Burkitt, MD, FRCS(Ed), FRS (28 February 1911 – 23 March 1993) was an Irish surgeon who made significant advances in health, such as the etiology of a pediatric cancer, now called Burkitt's lymphoma, and the finding that rat ...
(1911–1993), Irish surgeon * Sir Charles Cameron (1841–1924), Scottish politician and newspaper editor * Sir Dominic Corrigan (1802–1880), Irish physician *
Ara Darzi ARA may refer to: Media and the arts * American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences * '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia * Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Acad ...
(born 1960), British surgeon and politician * David Drummond (1852–1932), British physician and academic * Michael ffrench-O'Carroll (1919–2007), Irish physician and politician *
Oliver St. John Gogarty Oliver Joseph St. John Gogarty (17 August 1878 – 22 September 1957) was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel ...
(1878–1957), Irish otolaryngologist, writer and politician *
William Crampton Gore William Crampton Gore RHA (1871–1946) was an Irish painter. The son of an army officer from Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Gore studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1897 and practising until 1901. An intervening perio ...
(1871–1946), Irish painter *
Robert James Graves Robert James Graves, F.R.C.S. (27 March 1796 – 20 March 1853) was an eminent Irish surgeon after whom Graves' disease takes its name. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Fellow of the Royal Society of London and t ...
(1796–1853), Irish surgeon * Edward Hand (1744–1802), Irish-American military and political leader * Samuel Haughton (1795–1873), Irish scientific writer *
William Hayes William Hayes may refer to: In politics *William Hayes (Irish politician), Irish Sinn Féin politician *William Hayes (Canadian politician) (1879–1939), member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta * William P. Hayes (1866–1940), American la ...
(1918–1994), Irish-Australian microbiologist and geneticist * David Healy, Irish psychiatrist * Mary Henry (born 1940), Irish politician and physician * William Irvine (1741–1804), Irish-American military and political leader *
Sophia Jex-Blake Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (21 January 1840 – 7 January 1912) was an English physician, teacher and feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a University education when she and six other women, collectively known as the Edinb ...
(1840–1912), British physician, educator and feminist * Robert Kane (1809–1890), Irish chemist * Charles Lever (1806–1872), Irish novelist *
John Martin John Martin may refer to: Business *John Martin (businessman) (1820–1905), American lumberman and flour miller *John Charles Martin (fl. 1913–1931), American newspaper publisher *John Martin (publisher) (born 1930), American founder of Black ...
(1812–1875), Irish nationalist *
Joseph Moloney Joseph Moloney (1857 – 5 October 1896) was the Irish-born medical officer on the 1891–92 Stairs Expedition which seized Katanga in Central Africa for the Belgian King Leopold II, killing its ruler, Msiri, in the process. Dr Moloney took ...
(1857–1896), British military medical officer *
William Fetherstone Montgomery William Fetherstone Montgomery (1797–1859) was an Irish obstetrician credited for first describing the Glands of Montgomery. Life Montgomery was born, raised and educated in Dublin, Ireland. He attended medical school at Trinity College D ...
(1797–1859), Irish obstetrician * George Morrison (born 1922), Irish documentary maker * Francis Murphy (1809–1891), Australian politician and pastoralist * Sir Thomas Myles (1857–1937), Irish surgeon and nationalist *
Edmund O'Donovan Edmund O'Donovan (13 September 18445 November 1883), Irish war correspondent, was born in Dublin. In 1866 he began to contribute to ''The Irish Times'' and other Dublin papers. He was the first journalist killed in the Kurdufan area during the S ...
(1844–1883), British journalist *
Barry Edward O'Meara Barry Edward O'Meara (1786–1836), born in Newtown House, Newtown-on-Sea (now known as Blackrock), Dublin, was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club, who accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and became his physician, having bee ...
(1783–1836), Irish surgeon * Alexander Charles O'Sullivan (1858–1924), Irish pathologist *
Edith Pechey Mary Edith Pechey (7 October 1845 – 14 April 1908) was one of the first women doctors in the United Kingdom and a campaigner for women's rights. She spent more than 20 years in India as a senior doctor at a women's hospital and was involved ...
(1845–1908), British physician and feminist *
Maxwell Simpson Maxwell Simpson (15 March 1815 – 26 February 1902) was an eminent Irish chemist. Life He was born in Beach Hill, County Armagh, Ireland, son of Thomas Simpson. He attended Dr. Henderson's school at Newry before continuing to Trinity College, ...
(1815–1902), Irish chemist * Robert William Smith (1807–1873), Irish surgeon * William Stokes (1804–1878), Irish physician * Sir William Stokes (1839–1900), Irish surgeon *
John Anderson Strong John Anderson Strong (18 February 1915 – 15 December 2012) was a Scottish physician/internist and academic, who served as Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburg ...
(born 1915), Scottish surgeon and academic * Jeremy Swan (1922–2005), Irish cardiologist * John Todhunter (1839–1916), Irish poet and playwright *
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...
(born 1979),
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
* Thomas Wilson (1663–1755), British bishop * Sir Robert Henry Woods (1865–1938), Irish physician and politician * Sir Almroth Wright (1861–1947), British bacteriologist and immunologist


References


Further reading

* Bewley, Dame Beulah. "Ireland's first school of medicine" ''History Ireland'' 19.4 (2011): 24-2
online
* Clendinning, John. ''Observations relative to some defects of the medical school of Dublin, in a letter addressed to the Board of Trinity College '' (1827
online
* Kelly, Laura. ''Irish medical education and student culture, c. 1850-1950'' (Oxford UP, 2018). * Kirkpatrick, T. Percy C. ''History of the medical teaching in Trinity College Dublin and of the School of Physic in Ireland'' (Hanna and Neale, 1912
online


External links


School of Medicine – Trinity College Dublin
– official website {{DEFAULTSORT:School Of Medicine (Trinity College Dublin) 1711 establishments in Ireland Trinity College Dublin Medical schools in the Republic of Ireland