The Expert View

RCPI President, Prof Mary Horgan is ready to roll up her sleeve and get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it is passed by the regulators and begins to be rolled out to frontline workers. Prof Horgan, a Consultant in Infectious Diseases, continues to treat many patients with this awful disease and in this podcast discusses how the vaccine gives us hope of a gradual return to some normality in 2021. In this episode she encourages everyone to get the facts about the vaccine and the vaccine itself.

In this special episode of The Expert View, Harriet Wheelock, Keeper of Collections at the RCPI Heritage Centre, talks to Prof Brendan Kelly and Dr Muiris Houston about their new book, Psychiatrist in the Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare. Prof Kelly and Dr Houston discuss their collaboration on the book, their respect for Dublin-born Clare and his immense contribution to psychiatry, and his long running and well-known BBC Radio 4 show, In the Psychiatrist's Chair.

Psychiatrist in the Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare (Merrion Press) is out now.

How do we talk about illness? Prof Fergus Shanahan gives tips on what to say to someone who’s ill and what not to say, what makes a good doctor and talks about why the patient is always the boss in this episode of The Expert View Podcast. Prof Fergus Shanahan is Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre and author of the recently published The Language of Illness (Liberties Press).

In this special episode of The Expert View, Harriet Wheelock, Keeper of Collections at the RCPI Heritage Centre talks about the Pause for a Poem initiaive. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic this online project saw doctors, healthcare professionals, academics and staff of RCPI read a piece of poetry that encouraged people to pause and take a moment of calm within their day. In all, 50 poems were included in the project including old favourites and new, original works. Harriet speaks with Dr Elizabeth Barrett, consultant in child psychiatry at the Children's University Hospital and creator of the Mindreading conference who partnered with RCPI on the project. She also speaks with Prof Chris Fitzpatrick, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and one of the poets included in the project, and Professor Gaye Cunnane, RCPI Director of Health and Wellbeing who discusses the benefits of taking a moment to pause.

It’s been a worrying time for parents, teachers and children concerned about COVID-19. In this episode of The Expert View, Dr Ellen Crushell, paediatrician and Dean of the Faculty of Paediatrics, offers practical advice for parents about the return to school for children, including those with underlying conditions. And she discusses the impact of the pandemic on children’s health services.

This week Siobhan Creaton speaks with Cardiologist Dr Paddy Barrett who offers advice for people concerned about COVID-19 and discusses how he is using telemedicine with patients and how they can best prepare for a teleconsult.

In this episode of The Expert View, Dr Rachel MacCann, a Registrar working with the Infectious Diseases team in St Vincent’s Hospital and Dr Aoife Kirk, who is working with the Public Health team as part of the COVID-19 response at Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin join Siobhan Creaton. Both are members of Irish Doctors for the Environment, an organization of doctors who aim to create awareness, interest and implement action around environment health and the impact it has on patients’ health. In this discussion, Drs MacCann and Kirk discuss their priorities as members of Irish Doctors of the Environment to protect health and promote policies that can improve the quality of life and health in Ireland. They also talk about their experiences of returning to Ireland to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and their hopes for the future as a new Government - that includes the Green Party – adopts new policies for the years ahead.

Dr Éanna Falvey is a Sports and Exercise Physician and Chief Medical Officer to World Rugby. In this episode of the The Expert View he discusses with Siobhán Creaton how sports from GAA to professional rugby can all continue during COVID-19 in line with public health policy. Dr Falvey details how we might begin to restart sport within Ireland during the ongoing pandemic.

In this special episode of The Expert View, Harriet Wheelock, Keeper of Collections at the RCPI Heritage Centre, talks to Dr Ida Milne about the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in Ireland. Dr Milne explains how influenza spread across the island, who it effected and how people tried to treat this disease. Dr Milne is a European History Lecturer in Carlow College and author of Stacking the Coffins, Influenza, War and Revolution in Ireland.

Prof Emer Shelley, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, talks to Siobhan Creaton about the process of contact tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prof Shelley outlines approaches from around the world and discusses why it's crucial to engage in this process, now and in the future.