Education & Training (Oideachas & Oiliúint)

The acquisition of knowledge and the development and maintenance of professional skills are of paramount importance in improving health and social care. Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) promotes training for healthcare professional at all levels.  Additionally, MISA fosters and supports education and training for patients, carers, members of the public, policy-makers and industry partners.

MISA Education and Training Team:

As part of the MISA education pillar, the team promotes a commitment to excellence and support all staff to deliver quality person centred-care in line with the directorates philosophy. The team also facilitates relevant training and education sessions as well as hosting educational conferences and events in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team members.

Team Members:

Cathy Monahan CNMII Clinical Facilitator

Archana D’Souza CNMIII Education and Training Coordinator

Sara Feeney CNMII Clinical Facilitator

Contact email: MISAeducation@stjames.ie / (01) 428 4224

Education and Training Resources

Professional Education Opportunities

Syncope and Related Disorders- One year post graduate clinical program – One Year post graduate clinical program Syncope and related disorders are responsible for up to 10% of admissions or hospital and general practice attendances. Many disciplines encounter patients with syncope and related disorders.  A systematic approach to evaluation and management reduces misdiagnosis, reduces hospitalisations, reduces cost and improves quality of life and morbidity and mortality.

This one year postgraduate clinical programme is designed to provide the in-depth knowledge, skills and attributes to effectively diagnose, treat and manage syncope and related disorders in a range of clinical settings and within a syncope unit. This programme is designed specifically for healthcare professionals working in and/or with an interest in syncope, including: Cardiology, Neurology, Emergency Medicine , Geriatric Medicine and AMAU. For enquiries, please email syncopetraining@stjames.ie

Frailty Education Programme: Insights from TILDA – Frailty is a distinctive health state related to the ageing process, in which multiple body systems gradually lose their in-built reserve.  It is fast becoming a key concept in service development planning and delivery of care for our ageing population.  The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) delivers a one-day Frailty Education Programme which is run in conjunction with the National Clinical Programme for Older People (NCPOP).  This programme incorporates key research findings from TILDA and provides an overview of the theoretical models underpinning frailty.  This training programme has been awarded Category 1 approval by the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland and aims to provide healthcare professionals with an enhanced understanding of frailty and frailty assessments, thereby ensuring earlier recognition of frailty, improved healthcare management, and better health outcomes for frail older adults. For enquiries, please email tilda@tcd.ie.


Dementia Services Information and Development Centre – Established in 1998, DSIDC offers professional services in education, information, consultancy and research.   The Centre responds to an important need across the public, private and voluntary sectors in providing a range of insightful educational programmes for health care professionals to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia.  DSIDC is based on the sixth floor of MISA and the team work closely with colleagues from the Memory Clinic, the Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Medicine for the Elderly and the Department of Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin.  Learn more here.


Global Brain Health Institute Scholars & Fellows – UC San Francisco (UCSF) and Trinity College Dublin, two leaders in brain science, offer a rich array of clinical, basic and public health expertise. These institutions partnered to create the Global Brain Health Institute to train a new generation of health leaders who will be empowered to break down disciplinary boundaries and find innovative ways to intervene on behalf of vulnerable people in their communities to prevent and limit the impact of dementia globally. Learn more here.

The Discipline of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College is committed to equipping health professionals with the unique skills and education necessary to meet these demands. Our objective, to create highly trained professionals in the field of gerontology, will help to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to grow old. The Discipline’s multidisciplinary and integrative approach is supported by our education and training policies which focus on the social, psychological and biological aspects of ageing.  Our programmes span a broad range of research areas including basic sciences, translational research as well as health and social policy research. Learn more here.

General Education Opportunities

Massive Open Online Course: Strategies for Successful Ageing – How do you feel about ageing? What choices are you making to stay happy, healthy, socially-connected and active as you age? During this five-week course, distinguished academics and physicians at Trinity College Dublin will present world-leading research in successful ageing, which may challenge many of the assumptions you have about growing old. Learn more here.

MISA Annual Lecture – MISA’s Annual Lecture brings renowned speakers to Dublin to discuss Ageing.  In 2016, MISA and the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Trinity College were delighted to welcome the esteemed poet Michael Longley for an evening of poetry.  Longley is renowned for the beauty of his compact, meditative lyrics which have been described as “masterpieces of lucidity.” Longley reflected on ageing and memory by reading poems by other poets and poems from his own books, including The Stairwell, winner of the 2015 Griffin International Poetry Prize, as well as new work. Listen to the event podcast here.