Since it’s inception the memory clinic has provided training and education opportunities for over 20 medical doctors at registrar level typically with general physician, psychiatry and on occasion neurology backgrounds. Most completed an MD or PhD during their time in the Clinic. All have gone on to further develop their careers, many in leading consultant posts throughout Ireland and beyond. Almost as many trainee clinical psychologists have completed specialist placements in the memory Clinic as part of their doctoral training with some also doing their doctoral thesis work through the Clinic. Research collaborations have also seen many researchers complete masters or PhD level work through the Clinic before, some of whom have gone on to become internationally recognised research leaders.
Memory Clinic Conferences
The Memory Clinic in St James’s Hospital has been running the national Memory Clinic Conference since 2011. The conference was initially conceived out of an interest to find out what the other memory clinics were doing and experiencing across the country. By bringing together both national and international experts in dementia diagnosis and care of people with memory disorders the conference aims to stimulate discussion and debate about the issues that affect Memory Clinics in Ireland, create a national network of memory clinic professionals and use evidence based research to promote best practice.
The conference has maintained its popularity over the years and is now an integral part of the education remit of the Memory Clinic in the Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing.
Dementia Services Information and Development Centre(DSIDC)
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 Initiative (GBHI)
The Memory Clinic provides placement experiences and training for Global Brain Health Institute Fellows. These inter-professional fellows come from all over the world and are being trained at Trinity College Dublin to become world leaders in the area of brain health and dementia prevention. GBHI fellows highly value the inter-professional and interdisciplinary training in dementia offered at the Memory Clinic, the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing and at other Irish hospitals and institutions. Learn more here.