The second International Conference for Healthcare and Medical Students (ICHAMS) is taking place today and tomorrow in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). More than 100 undergraduate healthcare students from countries such as the United States, Sri Lanka, the Ivory Coast, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom will attend the conference and 40 students will present a wide variety of healthcare research.

The conference has been organised by RCSI undergraduate medical and healthcare students for students worldwide: ‘A conference for students by students'. This year's tag line is ‘Explore, Inspire, Innovate: Expanding Research Horizons'. It seeks to provide opportunities to further develop the biomedical research skills of undergraduate students. The presentation of their research findings to each other and the extended research community of RCSI will cultivate the exchange of research knowledge. It will highlight the importance of research in the broader medical fields and give students the chance to expand their networks in an international setting.

With more than 100 students attending the conference, ICHAMS is attracting international students to strengthen Ireland's reputation as a centre of excellence in research.

Professor Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said: "The importance of research cannot be underestimated in the quest to advance understanding and treatment of disease, which in turn leads to better clinical care and best practice patient care. By providing healthcare students with the opportunity to develop their research skills and interests at an early stage in their career, it gives students an insight into the world of scientific research and a better understanding of how research can be translated from the bench to the patients' bedside."

Professor Clive Lee, Professor of Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and Visiting Professor of Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Mr David Bouchier-Hayes, Honorary Clinical Lecturer at RCSI and Consultant Urologist at the Galway Clinic, will give keynote addresses at the conference.

40 posters and oral student presentations will be presented. Interesting student research being presented include: The role of school performance in terms of problem behaviours among adolescents; MRSA at Connolly Hospital, Dublin: evaluation of clinical features, molecular epidemiology, risk factors and outcome to improve patient management; A novel assay of thrombotic risk.