President of UL, Prof Des Fitzgerald and Professor Niall O'Higgins attending the 10 year celebrations.
Sunday, 1 October 2017

The Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) at University of Limerick celebrated its 10th anniversary on Saturday, September 30.

GEMS, the first medical school established since the formation of the Irish state, has graduated 640 doctors who are now working in Ireland and all over the world.

Since its foundation, research undertaken at GEMS has been at the cutting edge of medical advances globally.

To mark the 10th anniversary, the medical school invited its founders, its inaugural students, alumni, leading academics in medical education from across the world and members of the public to a celebration in the University Concert Hall.

As part of the event, the Foundation Head of GEMS, Professor Paul Finucane, reviewed the rationale behind the establishment of the first Graduate Entry Medical School in Ireland, the mission, and the vision which drove the project. Panel discussions included representatives of the faculty, HSE, patients, and students.
 
“What has been achieved at GEMS in ten short years is really remarkable. The impact of the school’s engagement with the health care community all across Ireland is immeasurable," said Professor Des Leddin, Head of GEMS, University of Limerick.

“With UL Hospitals Group, GEMS brings the opportunity for in-depth, patient-centred research which is benefiting not only the members of the medical community in the region but also patients and their families,” Professor Leddin continued.

Every year more than 200 GEMS students undertake clinical placement rotating through five disciplines in six hospitals across Ireland. Additionally about 70 students undertake GP placements across the extended Primary Care networks reaching from Clare to Kerry and Westmeath to Wexford.