RCSI will confer 227 healthcare professionals with postgraduate awards at a conferring ceremony taking place in the College this evening.

In surgery, these awards include Fellowships of RCSI in Cardiothoracic Surgery; General Surgery; Neurosurgery; Ophthalmology; Plastic Surgery; Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery; and Urology. Memberships of RCSI will be awarded including Memberships in Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology.

Fellowships of the Faculty of Radiologists will be awarded in Radiodiagnosis and Radiation Oncology and Fellowships Ad Eundem. In Dentistry, Fellowships will be awarded in Endodontics; Oral Surgery with Oral Medicine; Oral Surgery; Orthodontics; Paediatric Dentistry; Periodontics; and Prosthodontics. Memberships of the Faculty of Dentistry; Memberships in General Dental Surgery; and Diplomas of Primary Care Dentistry will also be awarded. For the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Fellowships by Examination and Fellowships Ad Eundem will be conferred. The Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine will award a Fellowship; Fellowships by Election; and Fellowships Ad Eundem. Memberships of the Faculty of Sports & Exercise Medicine will also be conferred.

Dr Steven D Wexner will be awarded Honorary Fellowship of RCSI at the ceremony. Dr Wexner is Director of the Digestive Disease Center at Cleveland Clinic Florida where he has been Chairman of the Department of Colorectal Surgery for almost 25 years. Among Dr Wexner's many contributions to coloproctology include being the first surgeon in North America to popularise the use of the colonic J-pouch for rectal cancer and he designed and validated a scoring system for faecal incontinence that bears his name.

Professor John Hyland, President of RCSI said, "For our candidates being conferred today, this is a very important milestone as this ceremony marks either the successful completion or the next vital step in their various training programmes. I congratulate all of today's candidates and wish them all the very best in their future careers in each specialty which they have chosen. It is a pleasure to celebrate their application to their training and dedication and commitment to their patients and their profession".

"I congratulate Dr Steven D Wexner on his award of Honorary Fellowship of RCSI. In his long and distinguished career, he has been a leader in the field of coloproctology and has helped to shape clinical practice globally. For his outstanding contributions, both nationally and internationally, and inspiring future generations of colorectal surgeons, Dr Wexner is a most worthy recipient of the highest Honour this College has to offer," Professor Hyland concluded.

RCSI is ranked among the top 250 (top 2%) of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2018) and its research is ranked first in Ireland for citations. It is an international not-for-profit health sciences institution, with its headquarters in Dublin, focused on education and research to drive improvements in human health worldwide. RCSI is a signatory of the Athena SWAN Charter.