New Healthcare ‘Taster Day’ Course for TY Students
A new hands-on taster course will be held on April 1st and April 22nd at the University of Galway. The course is specifically for transition year students, giving them an idea of what they can expect when engaging in teamwork and other activities.
The course will take place at the Clinical Science Institute at the University Hospital in Galway. It is organised by the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the University.
Event Purpose
Dr Dara Byrne, Professor of Simulation at the University of Galway outlines the purpose of the event;
“The students will see how simulation recreates real-life medical procedures and scenarios such as endoscopy, childbirth and medical emergencies in a safe environment”, he says.
He says that the students will get the opportunity to try “suturing, cannulation, fixing fractures and much more”.
The event is the first of its kind to bring healthcare professions together. This demonstrates various skill sets in Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Occupational Therapy, Podiatric Medicine and Speech and Language Therapy.
Registration is open now for Taster Day and acceptance invitations will be distributed from February 7th until February 24th.
“Through this event we are reaching out to our Galway county and city transition year students, including those who traditionally would not have envisaged a career in healthcare”, says Dr Byrne.
Theme and Concept
He says that the theme for the Taster Day is community.
“It is a community outreach event, delivered by a community of practice – our multiprofessional team”, he says.
He says that the key component of this strategy is “widening participation”.
“With that in mind we are offering the same number of places on the programme to each and every school. We particularly welcome applications from DEIS schools and from students taking QQI qualifications”, says Dr Byrne.
“We are also looking forward to introducing the concept of inter-professional teams and to showing how key team-work is part of the education of health professionals”, he says.
Parents are welcome to accompany students to the Taster Day.
