The 2013/2014 RCSI MiniMed Open Lecture Series continues on Wednesday, 29 January.

Two lectures will be given on the subjects of the evidence-based medicine and wound management. These lectures are free of charge to the public and will be held in RCSI, 123 St Stephen's Green, from 7-9pm.

Professor Zena Moore, Head of the RCSI School of Nursing and Midwifery, and Julie Jordan O'Brien, Tissue Viability Clinical Nurse Specialist at Beaumont Hospital, will deliver a lecture called ‘Wound Management: Honey, Maggots and other Medical Marvels'. 

During this lecture, Prof. Moore will bring attendees through the prevalence of wounds, how to manage them and detail both the human cost and financial cost of wound management to the health service. Prof. Moore will then go through a variety of ancient wound care remedies that healthcare professionals are now looking to as alternatives to antibiotics due to increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance.

Speaking ahead of the lecture, Prof. Moore said, “Due to the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance and spiralling cost of wound care to the health service (25-50% of Irish hospital beds are occupied by wound patients with the cost of one problematic wound being between €6,500-10,000 per patient), healthcare professionals are now looking at alternative ways of treating wounds. In essence, healthcare professionals are ‘looking back to go forward' in turning to some ancient remedies to treat different kinds of wounds. In the lecture, Julie and I will go through a range of such methods and will provide tips on managing wounds, keeping in mind the old adage that prevention is the best cure when it comes to wounds.”

The opening topic of the evening will be a lecture entitled ‘Evidence-Based Medicine'. This talk will be given by a clinical lecturer in the department of General Practice at RCSI, Dr Anthony Cummins. Evidence Based Medicine or EBM is an approach to the practice of medicine which makes use of the best available health evidence alongside the doctor's expertise and the patient's needs and expectations.

It has a core aim of delivering to patients the best quality healthcare with their active participation in decision making. During the lecture Dr Cummins will outline the principles of EBM with examples as well how expert opinion and media coverage of health issues affect patient choices.

Speaking on his RCSI MiniMed talk Dr Cummins said: “Understanding how healthcare decisions are made is an essential first step in the partnership between the patient and the doctor. Because of the wealth of health information available nowadays to both doctors and the general public, it is vital that we all know how to decide if a health claim is valid. A knowledge of the principles of evidence based medicine brings benefits for both doctors and patients. This lecture will include information sources to help patients understand health issues so that they and their doctors can work together as partners for safer, better quality decision making.”