Innovation at centre of medical school at University of Limerick

THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick’s School of Medicine may be considered young in comparison to its third level counterparts in Ireland and around the world, but its youth has proven to be key in bringing out its innovative edge throughout the pandemic. 

When campuses nationwide shut their doors due to Covid-19 restrictions, many programmes up and down the country essentially scrambled to fast-track exams, roll out e-lectures, and restructure modules. Many students missed out on precious, hands-on education. 

But that was not the case for the Graduate Entry Medical School, which changed its name to the School of Medicine at the height of the pandemic’s first wave in May, following an expansion of its programmes. 

And thanks to the school’s modern solution to a modern problem, it has only lost one whole day of teaching since the pandemic.

That is according to Dr Helena McKeague, senior lecturer in medical education and course director of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Dr McKeague has part of the school since before the first tranche of 32 students enrolled in 2007. 

The school was able to showcase a virtual open day for prospective students last Saturday. Previous days, those interested in the field of medicine would have been able to interact with various classrooms and their equipment, but due to Covid-19 that has been rendered unfeasible, Dr McKeague said. 

She said that medicine has been quite traditional in Ireland, though that has changed in recent years, with UL being part of that integral change. She admits that people were “skeptical about a new medical school in a new university”.

But she said that once the students got out to clinical placements, they proved to be “great ambassadors”. She said then people started to realise the positive effect the school was having on the region and in Ireland.  

Problem-based learning is at the heart of the curriculum in the first two years, where students work together in small groups, facilitated by a medically-qualified tutor. “The purpose of it is for them to develop an understanding of the basic biomedical sciences that can explain what a patient complains of, what kind of patient they have, and so on.”

In third and fourth year, their training is practical and hands-on with a stronger emphasis on clinical placements. She said that the students, graduates and the “finished product” reflect the quality of the programme. Among the top graduates include Dr Kevin Doody and Dr Pat Kennelly, who returned to become consultants at University Hospital Limerick. 

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the school saw no lull in activity. In fact, it has probably been a bastion of how practical education can be taught remotely, after missing just one day of teaching, which Dr McKeague described as “quite phenomenal”. 

A lot of her online classes comprised a form of teleconferencing in which students had access to an interactive whiteboard and could upload content for demonstrations. Students could even work in groups, even if they were thousands of miles apart. Some students were in Canada, getting up at 4am. 

But one of their big success stories—results of which have piqued the attention of other medical faculties—has been their web-based proctored, or invigilated, exams. 

The exams were delivered through a secure platform on the students’ tablets, where they could answer multiple choice or short-answered questions. The invigilators could see the students through their webcams, and even have access to their screens. 

And for a large part, it’s business as usual in the semester, as essential face-to-face teaching is still going ahead, and students are attending clinical sites under a new structure and schedule.

“I have been there from the beginning. It has been a privilege, I must say I have really enjoyed it,” she said, adding “our students are an absolute joy”.