A message from the President of RCSI

7 August 2025

Dear Fellows and Members,

The annual changeover is complete and hopefully our new surgical teams around the country are settling in well.

This month I am pleased to bring you news of our recent conferring celebrations, to share details of several new appointments and to announce that registration for the 2025 Millin Meeting is now open.

In early July, I was delighted to celebrate the conferring of 262 new Members and a further 44 Fellows. 130 graduands joined members of RCSI Council in-person in the Desmond Auditorium for the ceremony. It was fantastic to see so many proud partners, friends and families present also for the occasion, including our youngest-ever guest aged just nine days old.

As they received their parchments, I had the opportunity to speak to those present of the potential they hold to make a positive difference in the lives of so many individuals as well as wider society – this power is a privilege at the best of times but is particularly important in turbulent times.

Furthermore, on the day, an Honorary Fellowship was conferred on Professor Dato’ Dr April Roslani, Professor of Colorectal Surgery and former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Malaya. Mr John Caird FRCSI, RCSI Council Member, read the citation, applauding Professor Dato’ Dr Roslani for her extensive contributions to Malaysia’s surgical training programme and acknowledging her work to actively champion excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration in surgery.

Prior to the ceremony, I hosted a reception for our newly conferred Fellows, which provided an opportunity to recognise their perseverance through many years of hard work and sacrifice to complete surgical training. I was pleased to be joined by Ms Christina Fleming FRCSI, Chair of the Early Career Surgical Network, who spoke about the value of peer support among younger surgeons as they take the next steps in their career – whether that is an international Fellowship or starting work as a consultant surgeon. You can view some photos of the reception here.

Recent appointments

In recent months several key appointments, which will be of interest to our Fellows and Members, have been made.

As announced last month, Ms Bridget Egan FRCSI, RCSI Council Member has been appointed as co-lead of RCSI’s National Clinical Programme for Surgery. A Consultant Vascular Surgeon in TUH, Bridget brings a wealth of experience to the role – in addition to being a current member of RCSI Council she also serves as Perioperative Clinical Director at TUH and Chair of the National Elective Care Clinical Guidance Group (NECCGG). The clinical programmes are one of the most important ways that RCSI engages with the health service to improve surgical care, and I am grateful to Bridget for taking on this demanding role.

In conjunction with co-lead Prof. Eamonn Rogers, Bridget will progress our existing collaborations with the HSE and other stakeholders to provide a framework for the delivery of safer, timely, accessible, more cost-effective and efficient care for all surgical patients. Some of the key goals for the NCPS in the coming years is to support the roll out of the new surgical hubs nationally, to lead out on the effective implementation of modernised care pathways and the development of a resource plan to support surgery’s future needs particularly in model 2 and 3 hospitals. As Bridget assumes her new position, I would also like to acknowledge Mr Ken Mealy FRCSI, Past President of RCSI, who held the role of co-lead until his appointment to the Board of the HSE recently.

Prof. Donncha O’Brien FRCSI has been appointed as National Clinical Advisor in Neurosurgery for the NCPS. A Consultant Neurosurgeon and current Clinical Director of the Neurocent Directorate in Beaumont, Donncha is the first to assume this new role, which has been developed to support NCPS to identify and coordinate solutions that will improve the management of existing waiting lists and serve to enhance service delivery. In addition, Donncha will also focus on the development and standardisation of protocols, and guidelines to support the integration of neurosurgical services within the national trauma network.

I extend my congratulations, well-wishes and support to both Bridget and Donncha as they assume their roles. I know that they share the College’s commitment to providing clinical leadership thereby ensuring that patient access and quality of care remain central to care pathways and models of care.

Finally, I wish to share news of a new role at RCSI, the Surgical CPD Programme Lead. This new role has been developed in response to the rapid growth of RCSI’s CPD programme, which has grown over recent years from a small 32 course programme to the largest medical CPD programme in Ireland and the UK with over 134 courses delivered annually. The new appointee is Mr Daragh Moneley FRCSI, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon in Beaumont Hospital and the current Training Programme Director for Vascular Surgery in RCSI. Daragh's programme of work will focus on assuring the quality of RCSI’s CPD offering to ensure it meets the highest standards. He will work to identify gaps in education and skills and address them through new CPD programmes that meet the needs of the health service, specialties, aspiring surgeons and patients.

2025 Millin Meeting

The programme for the 2025 Millin Meeting has been finalised and event registration is now live here.

After a networking breakfast, organised by the RCSI Fellows and Members Office, attendees can look forward to the morning symposium, hosted by the National Surgical Research Support Centre (NSRSC). Session I will focus on the role of the NSRSC in shaping the future of surgical research in Ireland, followed by the RCSI National Surgical Research Competition. Further details on how to submit an abstract are available here. After a short coffee break, the second session will explore the development of surgical academic careers, touching upon topics such as the development of a surgical research collaborative as well as establishing a research portfolio as an early career academic surgeon.

During the course of the morning symposium, attendees can also look forward to two keynote lectures. Prof. Declan Devane, Professor of Health Research Methodology and Deputy Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway, will deliver his talk on the topic of 'Better Trials, Better Evidence: Innovations in Trials Methodology'. Later in the morning, Prof. Shirley Potter FRCSI, Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, St James's Hospital and Blackrock Clinic; Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, University College Dublin; National Training Programme Director, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, RCSI, will speak on 'The Future of the Clinician Scientist'.

As always, lunch will include an opportunity to connect with industry sponsors along with the poster exhibition, which will be adjudicated on the day before the announcement of first, second and third place awards in the afternoon.

The afternoon symposium will explore how our community can support excellence in surgical education and training. I look forward to talks on a range of topics from building the evidence-base for surgical training to professionalism. In addition to several presentations, we look forward to hearing more about current resources available for surgeons and trainees as provided by RCSI Surgical Affairs. Furthermore, the audience will enjoy two additional keynote lectures delivered by Professor Jennifer Cleland, Lee Kong Chian (LKC) School of Medicine, Singapore and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh as well as by Professor Mary Dixon-Woods, Director of The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute, University of Cambridge. Professor Dixon-Woods is an international thought-leader on healthcare improvement and her lecture is not to be missed.

The Millin Meeting will conclude as always with the Millin Lecture. This is the 48th such lecture and I encourage interested candidates to apply now ahead of the deadline of Friday, 19 September.

The programme of this year’s meeting has been crafted to ensure that it will be of interest and relevance to all regardless of career stage. Surgical trainees will benefit from insights into the development of better academic research skills and practical tips on how to integrate research into the surgical career pathway. Surgical researchers will take particular interest in the updates from the NSRSC and no doubt will enjoy the presentations as part of the competition for the RCSI National Surgical Research Medal. Meanwhile, for consultants and surgical trainers, the programme will provide updates on the supports available to improve the quality of research in your department and spotlight how you may increase your professional networks and collaborations.

I encourage you to register early and I am pleased to confirm that Fellows and Members who are in 'Good Standing' may avail of a discounted registration rate. In the meantime, enjoy the long evenings of the coming month until the back-to-school pressures of the academic year re-enter our lives after a brief respite.

Yours sincerely, 

Professor Deborah McNamara
President, RCSI

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