Following the formal approval at Medicine & Health Sciences Board yesterday afternoon, Professor Cathal Kelly, Chief Executive/ Registrar of RCSI, has announced the appointment of Professor Alf Nicholson as the incoming Head of the School of Medicine for RCSI Bahrain from August 2019.
Professor Nicholson will move to RCSI Bahrain from his position as RCSI Professor of Paediatrics and Head of Department, in RCSI Dublin, a post that he has held since 2007. He takes over from Professor Joe McMenamin who will be retiring next summer.
Professor Alf Nicholson
Professor Nicholson graduated from University College Dublin in 1981 and went on to work with the professorial team in Temple Street Children’s Hospital (led by RCSI Professor of Paediatrics Denis Gill). Following a period of training overseas in both Manchester (UK) and Melbourne (Australia), he completed a fellowship in both general and ambulatory paediatrics before returning to Ireland to take up a consultant post in Mullingar. Professor Nicholson then moved to another RCSI hospital (Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda) in 1996, developing a research portfolio with yearly presentations to the RCPCH meetings in England and national meetings in Ireland.
Since his appointment as RCSI Professor of Paediatrics and Head of Department in 2007, Professor Nicholson has been instrumental in both the development of the Department of Paediatrics in RCSI but also the development of an agreed national curriculum in Paediatrics across all the medical schools in Ireland to ensure that the core curricular aims are met. He has acted as the National Clinical Lead in Paediatrics from 2011 to date with the primary aim of developing a National Model of Care for children and young people in Ireland (published in 2017) and is now engaged in the implementation of this model which will ensure the success of the planned New Children’s Hospital of Ireland (NCH). Professor Nicholson is a successful author of a paediatric textbook (“Diagnosing and Treating Common Problems in Paediatrics” published in 2014 ) and a highly popular parent guide (“When your Child is Sick”) which has sold over 10,000 copies and is translated into a number of languages.
Professor Nicholson’s invaluable experience in medical education will ensure the continued success of the RCSI Bahrain programme. He will have the full and enthusiastic support of Faculty in all of our international campuses, as well as the Senior Management teams in both Dublin and Bahrain.