RCSI is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Peter Gillen as the first-ever Associate Professor at the Department of Surgery, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and the RCSI.

Professor Peter Gillen, Associate Professor at the Department of Surgery, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, and the RCSI.

Drogheda-born Professor Gillen was appointed Consultant General Surgeon in Cavan in 1995 and two years later returned to his native Drogheda where he was appointed Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and the RCSI.

In his new role Professor Gillen will be Academic Head of the Joint Department of Surgery in Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and Louth County Hospital in Dundalk. Established in January this year, Professor Gillen described the joint Department as “a great success.”

He continued: “It has enabled a huge increase in the workload at the Dundalk site in comparison to previous years, resulting in a considerable decrease in waiting times.”

Currently six consultants rotate between the two sites providing both elective and emergency cover, with the more complex surgical procedures being carried out in Drogheda. Non Consultant Hospital Doctors at both Registrar and SHO level are also rotated between the hospitals. There are currently eight interns in Surgery and eight interns in Medicine attached to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, however, Professor Gillen hopes in time that this number will be increased.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is a major RCSI teaching hospital and Professor Gillen is currently the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and intern tutor there. He is also one of two surgical skills tutors at the RCSI in Dublin. According to the new Professor the undergraduate programme works “very well” and he is “extremely anxious” to develop an educational facility on site in Drogheda. “The RCSI has made a very generous donation of €1.25 million towards this project and we are currently in the final stages of agreeing a site for the new facility. This will allow us to take more students and increase the profile of Our Lady of Lourdes as a teaching hospital,” he stated.

Describing his new appointment as “a great honour,” Professor Gillen said: “It underlines the RCSI’s real commitment to the hospital. From a personal point of view I am thrilled to get the post and from an institutional point of view I think it has been a tremendous boost, not just for the joint Department of Surgery but for the hospital as a whole.”

“We are reassured by the RCSI’s confidence in us. We can see that things are moving in the right direction and hope to become a major contributor to the RCSI teaching and training programmes. We currently teach undergraduate students in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and paediatrics from the College and are hoping, in time, to get involved with more students not just in Drogheda but also in Dundalk. We are also looking forward to participating in a Graduate Entry Programme for medicine if that comes on stream.”

Welcoming Professor Gillen’s new appointment Chris Lyons, Network Manager of the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Northeast region, said: “Professor Gillen’s appointment will greatly facilitate the education of non-consultant hospital doctors and students and enhance the provision of surgical services in the north-east region.”

Coupled with Professor Gillen’s recent appointment the RCSI is also delighted to announce the promotion of Dr Máire Milner, Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist to the position of Senior Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and the RCSI.