Former Head of the School of Medicine Paul Browne stepped in for absent Minister for Health Simon Harris to launch Med Day 2017, which will see hundreds of medicine students once again take to the streets to raise funds for Trinity’s teaching hospitals.
Med Day 2017 will take place on November 3rd, with over 600 medicine students expected to collect money for this year’s beneficiaries. The annual event has benefitted a host of charities and organisations in the past and is a firm fixture in the calendar of Trinity’s medical students.
This year’s beneficiaries include the BRAVE Breast Cancer Research project, GynaeCancerCare at St James’s Hospital, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, the Keith Shaw Ward at St James’s Hospital, and the Trinity Access Programme (TAP).
Speaking to The University Times, Cormac Newell, the Chairperson of Trinity Med Day, explained that Med Day exists as an “opportunity to give back to the hospitals that teach the medical students in Trinity” and also an opportunity to make a “tangible difference in the hospitals that will really make a good difference to patient care”.
Health ministers have had a long association with Med Day, with former Minister for Health and current Taoiseach Leo Varadkar being a strong supporter of the annual fundraising day. Harris was meant to be in attendance, but had to go to a Fine Gael event to commemorate the death of former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave. Browne stepped in at the last minute, offering his thoughts on the value of the annual event.
Since its beginning in 2002, Trinity’s Med Day has raised over €500,000 in funds for new facilities, research projects and medical equipment in the Trinity teaching hospitals. Last year’s beneficiaries included the Intensive Care Unit in St James’s Hospital and the Oncology Unit in Tallaght Hospital.
