Dr Rita Doyle presented with Gertrude Ronan Foundation Award at Autumn meeting of ICGP
Over 300 GPs attended conference with a range of presentations on clinical issues from dementia to anxiety and sports injuries.
(17th October 2023) The one-day Autumn Conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) was held at the Galmont Hotel in Galway on Saturday 14th October from 10am to 4pm (programme here), with over 400 GPs attending.
The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) is the professional body for general practice in Ireland. The ICGP is the representative organisation for education, training and standards in general practice with 4,200 members, and 1,044 trainees in supervised practice. It is responsible for training GPs on a four-year National Training programme.
At this year’s gathering, the Gertrude Ronan Foundation Award 2023 was presented to Bray GP Dr Rita Doyle, by ICGP President Dr Eamonn Shanahan.
In his citation, Dr Shanahan said:
“As a clinician, Dr Gertrude Ronan exemplified a striving for improvement not just for herself but for her colleeagues and patients. That altruism, which typified Gertie, is also an outstanding characteristic of this year’s Award recipient.
“Dr Rita Doyle is a graduate of the UCD class of 1973 and a founding member of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).
Rita has always been a huge advocate for Irish general practice and the highest standards in patient care. This advocacy has been exemplified in her other College roles, including as a GP Trainer, a Member of the Board of Censors, an ICGP Board Member from 2010 to 2013 and particularly during her tenure as the 5th female President of the ICGP in 2011/2012.
Her passion for general practice is illustrated throughout her long GP career, where care for the people of Bray on the Meath Road has been provided in the same premises for many decades. The Bray Family Practice has recently moved to a new premises on Upper Dargle Road. This recent premises move in July 2023 emphasises Rita’s constant striving for improvements in general practice for her patients and her willingness to adapt, change, and innovate.
Rita has always shown leadership, never more so than when she became the first woman President of the Medical Council in 2018 and the first full-time GP to hold the position. She held this three-year role during a time of global turmoil. She demonstrated her leadership and innate compassion by reminding her GP colleagues that they had an ethical duty of care not only to their patients but also to self-care during the pandemic.”
The Conference Keynote speaker was Dr Machteld Huber, a Dutch GP who spoke on the importance of Positive Health. Other sessions at the well-attended one-day conference included sepsis, men’s health, breastfeeding, and sports medicine.
Side meetings were held for recently-retired GPs, and the inaugural meeting of the ICGP Standing Committee on Rural General Practice, chaired by GP and UL Professor of General Practice, Dr Liam Glynn.
PHOTOS available on request.
ISSUED BY: Aileen O’Meara, Communications Consultant, Irish College of General Practitioners.
Tel. 01 2542984 / 087 2239830
Email: media@icgp.ie