The final night of the highly popular RCSI MiniMed School was held today.

The MiniMed School is an informative and entertaining public education programme for people who are interested in learning more about medicine, health and the delivery of healthcare in Ireland. A record number of approximately 300 people attended this year’s event.

Run over a ten-week period from 16 January to 27 March, the RCSI MiniMed School comprised a series of lectures delivered by Ireland’s leading healthcare experts. The event comprised of two lectures, one evening per week on a broad range of medical and health related matters including sexual health, forensics, pathology, anatomy, cardiovascular medicine, psychiatry, cancer, medical ethics and law.

The first evening’s lecture examined 'Psychiatry and Schizophrenia' and was delivered by Prof. Kieran Murphy, Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, RCSI and Professor John Waddington, Professor of Neuroscience, RCSI.

Week two saw the State Pathologist and RCSI Professor of Forensic Medicine, Dr Marie Cassidy deliver a lecture on the fascinating areas of 'Forensics and Pathology' with Professor David Croke, Professor of Biochemistry, RCSI following with a talk on 'DNA fingerprinting'.

In the following weeks a number of topical issues were also addressed such as stress related illness, heart disease and sexual health. Previous years have attracted widespread public interest with demand for places far outstripping availability.

Speaking on the event, Dr Kevin McGuigan, Director of the RCSI MiniMed School, said: “MiniMed school offers a rare opportunity for people to learn more about health related issues from leading experts and to gain an insight into medical terminology, medical research and patient care. The lecture programme aims to introduce the science of medicine to a wider audience and provide the public with general medical and health-related information.”

“In an age of increased patient participation and greater health awareness the course serves as an important self-empowerment tool for the general public. No medical or science background is required and there is no homework and no exam, all you need is a sense of curiosity and a few free evenings.” he concluded.

MiniMed school forms part of the RCSI Outreach strategy which aims to increase awareness of health related issues in the general public. This is the fourth time for RCSI to host this novel educational event, which was originally introduced to Ireland in 1997.