€35,000 was raised in aid of surgical research at RCSI 21st annual golf classic yesterday at Luttrellstown Castle Resort.

The 18-hole championship course, designed by Tom Mac Kenzie and Donald Steel whose work includes St Andrews amongst others, set the scene for a very competitive outing of 28 teams and 112 golfers. This fantastic show of support produced five winning teams with John Diviney of RCSI receiving first prize, followed by Gannon Homes (2nd), Intuition (3rd), Moore Cleaning Services (4th) and Typetec Ireland Limited (5th).Bernard Cahill who presented the prizes to the winning teams was delighted with the amount raised.

RCSI has been at the forefront of surgical care in Ireland. Surgical practice and the role of surgery is experiencing rapid change in its provision of care to patients. The convergence of pharmaceuticals and medical devices into innovative health technologies, the replacement or regeneration of organs and tissues, the potential for scarless surgery and the use of robotics represent an exciting challenge for the future of surgery.

A vibrant R&D programme in surgery can assure that patients gain access to the latest in technological advances as soon as possible while at the same time assuring that the necessary skills, training and infrastructure is in place to safely reconfigure practice.