RCSI is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Sean Murphy, Consultant Physician in Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar to Associate Professor of Medicine and Dr Farhana Sharif to Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics.

Dr Murphy was appointed Consultant Physician in General Medicine and Geriatric Medicine in Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar in 1995. He has been instrumental in developing the services in the hospital. In 2004 Dr Murphy established a DXA Scan service, in 2005 he set up a Medical Assessment Unit to facilitate rapid access for GP’s to same day ambulatory assessment of patients with urgent problems and in 2006 he set up a Stroke Service Unit in the hospital.

In his role as Associate Professor of Medicine, Dr Murphy will be responsible for the RCSI Academic Department of Medicine in MidlandRegionalHospital to ensure the delivery of teaching and assessment in medicine to the highest standard at both undergraduate and post graduate levels and to foster and promote research in Medicine.

A native of Carlow, Dr Murphy is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) and interned in Galway University Hospitals. He later pursued post-graduate training in the USA at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine followed by further training at Oxford and Cambridge in the UK before returning to Ireland.

Dr Sharif Farhana was appointed Consultant Paediatrician in Midland Regional Hospital in 2003. She has a special interest in Community Paediatrics and has set up Early Intervention Teams in Longford Westmeath, which has streamlined care for children with disabilities in this region. She has also been instrumental in introducing a sensitive and specific tool for screening for developmental delay in children which has facilitated and enhanced care for these children in the community.

In her new role as Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics, Dr Sharif will be responsible for teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Paediatrics in Midlands Regional Hospital, Mullingar.

A graduate of the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, Dr Sharif completed her Paediatric Residency Programme in Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in Missouri in the United States. She also holds a masters degree in child health from University of Warwick in the UK.

Commenting on the appointments, Professor Cathal Kelly, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, RCSI, said: “We are delighted to appoint Dr Sean Murphy to Associate Professor of Medicine and Dr Farhana Sharif to Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics in Midland Regional Hospital. Since 2000 Midland Regional Hospital has played an important role in training the future generation of medical professionals and we are delighted to further strengthen the relationship between the college and Midland Regional Hospital through these appointments.”