47 candidates will graduate at the RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) Higher Degree Conferring Ceremony which will take place this evening in the College Hall. This is the first time that a dedicated conferring ceremony for higher degrees has taken place in the College during the June Conferring Week.

From the School of Postgraduate Studies, there are four Master of Science (MSc) by research candidates, eight Doctor of Medicine (MD) graduates and 25 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) graduates. This is the highest number of higher degree by research graduates in a single RCSI graduation. The group consists of graduates from Ireland, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, Uganda, Kuwait, UK, Spain, Italy and Germany.

From the School of Pharmacy, ten candidates will be conferred with degrees of Master in Pharmacy (MPharm).

The ceremony is the first official engagement of the new President of RCSI, Mr Declan Magee, who will take up office later today.

Speaking at the ceremony, to the graduates of the Masters in Pharmacy programme, he said, "In common with other healthcare professionals, you share a vocation of caring. I urge you to always place the patient at the heart of your practice and to employ your unique expertise in medicines so as to benefit your patient, the health service and wider society." 

To the recipients of higher degrees by research, he said: "All of you have and will contribute substantially to the RCSI research profile, of which we are justifiably proud. We wish you every success as you pursue careers in your chosen fields and continue to advance the frontiers of our knowledge and understanding, for the benefit of our patients."