UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science
1. Rare Disease Elective Module
IPPOSI provides strong support for the University College Dublin (UCD) educational module on Rare Diseases. This 20-week Rare Disease Module is offered for final year undergraduate medical students and is organised by Dr. Paula Byrne (former IPPOSI board member). Representatives from patient organisations, clinicians, research scientists and pharmaceutical industry present to students on a variety of Rare Diseases, with the aim to improve the general lack of awareness among medical professionals of the sheer number of rare diseases that exist and the sometimes devastating impact a rare disease can have on all aspects of a persons life. First developed in 2012, the module has been highly successful with overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, and a number of academic posters about the module and its outputs being presented at a number of international conferences.
2. Patient Advocate Centred Education Based Research (PACE-R) Elective
UCD Medicine’s research electives are an opportunity for undergraduate students to undertake an 8-week supervised project with patient advocate groups. Since its inception, IPPOSI has promoted the PACE-R elective among our member organisations as we recognise its educational potential for medical, radiography and health science graduates to further their understanding of the needs of patients and the important role of voluntary organisations in advocacy and healthcare research. For more information on the PACE-R elective, click here.