Operation Childlife Clinical Travel Fellowship
Through the Operation Childlife Clinical Travel Fellowship, RCSI and Operation ChildLife are working together to support surgical trainees or medical professionals gain additional expertise by participating in paediatric healthcare missions, led by Irish hospital consultants, doctors and nurses who plan and deliver two-week programmes of care, with Operation Childlife in Vietnam, Tanzania, Mongolia and Jordan.
The Fellowship will seek to:
- Healthcare: Provide surgical and/or clinical healthcare to children in Vietnam, Tanzania, Mongolia and Jordan (other locations may be considered) as part of Operation Childlife’s healthcare missions.
- Experience: Provide a surgical and clinical experience to healthcare professionals above and beyond what would they would likely derive in Ireland, returning with enhanced skills, knowledge and connections to benefit the Irish health system, education and training, and patients as well as contributing to global health outcomes.
- Collaboration: Gain clinical experience working on a placement with leading surgeons and healthcare professionals volunteering on a two-week medical mission with Operation Childlife.
- Funding: Offer up to €3,000 financial support towards travel and accommodation costs associated to undertaking such a placement.
- Relationships: Develop professional relationships between trainees, surgeons and healthcare professionals during and beyond the scope of the placement.
- Partners: Deliver an enhanced partnership for Operation Childlife, the hospitals where missions take place, and RCSI through multi-year collaborations. This might include conducting or supporting research project activities and/or present and attend meetings and forums in the location.
- Share: Present a detailed Fellowship report, including using written, photo and video formats, on the Fellowship.
Operation Childlife and RCSI will consider applications and make awards based on the following criteria:
- Complete application form and copy of CV (max 4 pages)
- Evidence of altruism and how this will benefit OCL partners
- Merits of proposed Fellowship in relation to the applicant's learning objectives
- Likely value to the Irish health system
Please note
- The Operation Childlife Clinical Travel Fellowship is open to the following disciplines: RCSI Surgical Trainees, RCSI Medical, Nursing and Physician Associate Graduates and other Irish-based practicing healthcare professionals in the area of care of the child.
- Applicants must be >1 years from completing Training or awarding of CSCST to be eligible to apply.
- It may not always be possible for a recipient to join a trip within an intended year due to scheduling in this instance OCL would seek to accommodate the successful recipient on the next available trip on the following year.
Applications for 2025 Operation Childlife Clinical Travel Fellowship are now closed. Applications for 2026 will open in due course.
The successful candidate will be expected to provide RCSI with a full report within three months of completing the Fellowship, including photos and videos from their experience.
The following were successful in receiving this fellowship in previous years.
| Year | Recipient |
|
2023 2023 |
Danielle McLaughlin (Ulan Bataar, Mongolia) Dr Dawn Deacy (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) |