The Office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is developing a new training programme for senior medical postgraduate trainees to help “build” the Office’s “skillset”.
The programme was noted in the Department of Health’s briefing paper for the new Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
According to the briefing paper, the new programme is part of building a range of medical skillsets in the Office in order to support a “broader medical advisory function in the Department”.
A Department spokesperson told the Medical Independent that the Fellowship is a 12-month programme run in conjunction with the RCPI. It is due to commence later this year with an annual intake of two trainees.
As part of this programme, it is “the intention” of the Department to engage two specialist registrars on an annual basis to support the ongoing work of the Office of the CMO.
The trainees will be based at the Department of Health for the duration of the programme. The objective of the Fellowship programme is to provide trainees – who are intending to remain in clinical practice – an opportunity to gain “valuable experience” at the heart of public health policy, Government decision-making, and healthcare leadership.
According to the briefing paper, the new Fellowship will also help sustain a pipeline of clinicians with a skillset in leadership and policy development for the Irish healthcare system.
Separately, the Department confirmed it now has a “full complement” of three Deputy Chief Medical Officers (DCMOs), two of whom were appointed via secondment earlier this year.
The primary role of a DCMO is to support the CMO in the discharge of the functions of the Office. This includes the provision of medical and public health advice to the Minister, Ministers of State, and the Department on all aspects of health policy development.
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