Pages 16 & 17

16 U.C.D. and the Future

to the Commission's Report going to press, with St. Laurence's Hospital (c. 350
beds). Each of these hospitals is to have both a Professor of Medicine and a
Professor of Surgery. Hence there will be approximately 800 beds and four
associated professors on the north side of the city (some five miles from the
Stillorgan site by way of the most dense traffic arteries in the city centre) and
only 190 beds and their two associated professors on the south side. Even when
the new Elm Park Hospital has been built there will be only 450 beds available
in it (replacing St. Vincent's with its 190). With regard to this proposed hospital,
the Department of Health has already officially indicated that it is not responsible
for providing space for clinical teaching and has altered the proposed
plans so as to reduce the space that could be devoted to this purpose. Consequently
the Board of St. Vincent's Hospital declares that as the plans now stand
(and remember that the foundations have been laid) 'the new hospital would
be merely a larger edition of a County hospital.' (See Appendix VIII to Chapter
I of the Report).

In this regard we consider that the plan to move U.C.D. to Stillorgan Road
was unduly influenced by the prior decision to build a new hospital at Elm
Park. In the ultimate conditions envisaged by the Report there will still be twice
as many affiliated general teaching beds and associated teaching staff on the
north side of the city as there will be on the south side. Consequently, only
about one-third of the medical students would not be inconvenienced by the
new arrangements, whilst about two-thirds would be put to considerably greater
inconvenience in regard to their general hospital work.

It must be remembered that not all U.C.D. students take their clinical courses
at the above-mentioned three hospitals. A further seven general hospitals are
also recognised by the College and are listed in its calendar, viz:

The Meath
The Adelaide
Mercer's
Sir Patrick Dun's
Jervis Street
Royal City of Dublin
Dr. Steevens'

All of these are far nearer to Earlsfort Terrace than to the Stillorgan Road site.

Still further, the College Calendar lists eleven recognised specialist hospitals
which students attend for parts of their course, and these hospitals are also
nearer to Earlsfort Terrace than to Stillorgan Road.

Grangegorman Mental Hospital
The Vergemount Fever Hospital, Clonskeagh
The National Children's Hospital, Harcourt Street
Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin
Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital
The Coombe Lying-in Hospital
The National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street
The Rotunda Hospital
The Fever Hospital, Clondalkin
The Children's Hospital, Temple Street
The Dental Hospital of Ireland (which all dental students must attend).

Problems in the Proposed Move 17

Despite what the Commission says, the inconvenience would obviously be very
great. It is abundantly clear that there is a very strong case for retaining the
Medical school in the city centre even if the Elm Park Hospital is completed
and St. Vincent's closed to students.

It is worthy of mention that by far the largest single concentration of general
hospital beds in Dublin lies in St. Kevin's Hospital (approx. 1,600 beds) in
the south city. From time to time it has been suggested - and some medical
professors in U.C.D. have supported the idea - that this vast hospital be
affiliated to the College as a teaching unit. The fact that it has not been so
affiliated would appear to be a major instance of what the Commission has
called 'lack of co-ordination amongst the several authorities' involved, which
is having such a bad effect on clinical teaching facilities. Many years ago a
plan was prepared to utilise St. Kevin's as a post-graduate medical education
centre, but that plan came to nothing. However, sooner or later we believe some
agreement on having this hospital available for the teaching of students is bound
to be reached, and it would be a great pity if by then the U.C.D. Medical
school were inconveniently far away.

The Commission did not permit itself to discuss the problem raised by the
existence in the city of three medical schools and four medical examining bodies
(when the Apothecaries Hall is included), nor yet did they comment on the
necessity or otherwise of having two further medical schools within the State
at Cork and Galway. In all there are six medical schools in this island with
its population of 4 1/2 millions and three of these are in Dublin with its population
of little over half a million. Could no economies be effected, and medical
education improved, by some form of amalgamation or at the very least coordination
and sharing of facilities instead of the present wasteful multiplication?

In regard to the Royal College of Surgeons it is to be noted that a suggestion
has been made that it would be an ideal centre for the post-graduate study
of surgery and related branches of medicine.

C. THE COLLEGE AND THE COMMUNITY

It is generally accepted to-day that universities should serve the community
in other ways than merely educating their whole-time students. The universities
have a special obligation to disseminate as widely as possible their heritage of
learning. Further, the public purse provides most of the income of U.C.D., and
will provide the whole of the cost of the proposed extension, and hence the
community is entitled to any services the College can provide which do not
interfere with its primary function of educating its whole-time students. We
deal with some of these services below.

Evening Degree Students

U.C.D. provides degree courses for evening students, and we believe that
such students deserve every facility. If U.C.D. moves to the Stillorgan Road
site, and provides its facilities for evening students there, then most of these
students will have their already arduous day lengthened still further by the
travelling involved.

The Report suggests that this difficulty has been foreseen, for it indicates
(p.35) that Newman House, St. Stephen's Green, could be used for evening