Almost 200 students from RCSI were conferred with medical degrees and postgraduate awards at a special graduation ceremony in the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Thursday, 1 June.

Among those being conferred were the first class of eight students to receive a MSc in Cardiac Rehabilitation. Jointly offered by RCSI and the Department of Cardiology, Beaumont Hospital, it is the first of its kind in Europe.

Through the integration of theoretical and clinical training, the 12-month course seeks to provide professional training for health professionals to qualify them to develop and co-ordinate cardiac rehabilitation programmes within the healthcare services. It also provides graduates with a unique training, permitting them to assist cardiac patients in the recovery phase after cardiac interventions such as treatment of acute heart attack, heart failure, coronary angioplasty and heart surgery.

14 PhD students were also conferred following extensive research by the recipients in a wide number of areas including Oncology, Pharmaceutics, Physiology, Histology and Psychology. These included Teresa M. Brophy, Deirdre Larkin, Geraldine Walsh from the RCSI Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Padraig Moran, School of Pharmacy and Alice McGarvey, Department of Anatomy.

Commenting on the ceremony, Professor Alan Johnson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, RCSI, said: "It’s very satisfying to see the students receive their qualifications. RCSI has a long tradition of educating and training students to the highest standards and this years graduates are no exception. Our graduates are highly respected both here in Ireland and worldwide."