Irish Medical Lives

About Irish Medical Lives

Hosted by Dr Chris Luke, Irish Medical Lives is a podcast that features conversations with the most inspirational movers, shakers and pioneers of Irish Medicine in the 21st Century. Sponsored by Eolas Medical see https://www.eolasmedical.com/ (https://www.eolasmedical.com) for further details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Dr Chris Luke

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Dec 2024

Latest episode

11 Jul 2025

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Jul 2025

   Ep. 14 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Prof. Dorothy Breen

   Professor Dorothy Breen, founder of forDoctors.ie, a unique Irish coaching and mentoring service provided by doctors for doctors, is a Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School of Healthcare Management at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, where she specialises in leadership, quality improvement and patient safety. Aside from this work, she has been a consultant intensivist and anaesthesiologist at Cork University Hospital and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney for 16 years, during which time she has helped to introduce major national clinical and quality improvement initiatives like ‘safety huddles’, the Irish National Early Warning System, Schwartz Rounds, and After-Action Reviews, and the first Advanced Nurse Practitioner for the Deteriorating Patient. Dorothy also has a particular interest in simulation in education, and as well as being Director of Education at the celebrated ASSERT Simulation Centre in University College Cork. In this podcast, Professor Breen brings immense warmth and wisdom to her analysis of the biggest challenges facing the Irish health service. She recalls her early years in Birmingham and Wexford, her visionary secondary school headmistress, and her training in Trinity College affiliated hospitals like the Meath and Adelaide, as well as Clonmel (where she benefited not just from a doctors’ res ‘with (possibly) the best views in Ireland’ but also from an a particularly intense clinical workload and a heroic consultant boss). She reflects on her training and consultant post in intensive care medicine in Sydney and the at-times-strikingly-generous level of medical resources there, when compared with those in Ireland, and she recalls the ups and downs of the transition back to a consultant post in a large Irish teaching hospital. More recently, Professor Breen has been in the news as the founder of forDoctors.ie (https://www.fordoctors.ie/), a coaching and mentoring service provided by doctors for doctors. Having worked as a consultant in critical care and anaesthesiology for many years, she’d seen first-hand the distress caused by burnout within the medical profession. She was taken aback, however, to discover that very few doctors seek support to ease their job-related pressures. “For example, an Irish Medical Organisation survey in 2021 found that only 7 per cent of Irish doctors reach out for support, but over 60 per cent report feelings of burnout and exhaustion,” she says. After considering various potential solutions to the issue, Professor Breen concluded that a leading cause of medics’ exhaustion was having to juggle multiple non-clinical tasks and roles, like practice management and team leadership, on top of looking after their patients. And doctors are expected to simply keep going without the sort of necessary training or on the job coaching that is often routine in business. Hence forDoctors.ie. which operates with a panel of medical coaches. “Doctors are high achievers by nature and want to give of their best,” she says, “however, they are currently facing enormous pressures in their lives with unprecedented demands on their time and services. Through action-focused coaching, doctors can recalibrate and take concrete steps towards their desired life and career goals, no matter what system they work in.” This podcast is essential listening for anyone interested in critical care, education and quality in the Irish health system, and particularly those concerned with the issue of staff morale and medical leadership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   15 Jun 2025

   Ep. 13 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Dr. Ide Delargy

   Dr. Ide Delargy discusses her Dublin childhood, GP training, and development of a special interest in substance misuse practice and policy, highlighting the importance of leadership and conflict resolution skills in healthcare, in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

3. 

   11 Jun 2025

   Ep. 12 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Professor Ray Walley

   Dr. Chris Luke interviews Professor Ray Walley, a general practitioner, about his extensive work in Irish healthcare, including advancements in vaccine delivery and his perspectives on family medicine.

4. 

   23 May 2025

   Ep. 11 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Professor James Bernard Walsh

   Professor James Bernard Walsh recounts his early years, the evolution of geriatric medicine, and the importance of human connection in medicine in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

5. 

   23 Mar 2025

   Ep. 10 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Dr. Seamus O'Mahony

   Dr. Seamus O’Mahony, retired Consultant Gastroenterologist, discusses his family history, research experiences, and critical perspectives on modern medicine with Dr. Chris Luke in this interview.

6. 

   12 Mar 2025

   Ep. 9 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Dr. Declan Kelly

   Dr. Declan Kelly, CEO of Eolas Medical, discusses his journey creating a clinical information platform that transforms how healthcare professionals access and utilize clinical knowledge in this interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

7. 

   4 Mar 2025

   Ep. 8 Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Dr. John Waterstone

   Dr. John Waterstone, Director of Waterstone Clinics, discusses his pioneering work and training in fertility medicine, addressing common questions and recent advances in Irish fertility care in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

8. 

   16 Jan 2025

   Ep. 7 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Rachel McNamara

   Dr. Rachel McNamara, a public health specialist registrar, explores the diverse challenges and rewards of public health medicine, including pandemic response and advocating for healthcare worker protections, in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

9. 

   24 Dec 2024

   Ep. 6 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Maia Springael

   Dr. Maia Springael, interviewed by Dr. Chris Luke, shares her experiences as a medical student in Dublin, highlighting the differences between French and Irish schools and the benefits of early artistic gymnastics training.

10. 

    24 Dec 2024

    Ep. 5 Irish Medical Lives with Dr. Chris Luke and guest Dr Paddy Barrett

    Dr. Paddy Barrett, consultant cardiologist, discusses career-changing moments and the importance of identifying personal core values to design a more meaningful life in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

11. 

    11 Dec 2024

    Ep. 4 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Peter Keenan

    Dr. Peter Keenan recounts his experiences as Ireland’s first consultant in pediatric emergency medicine, emphasizing the importance of reducing unnecessary hospital admissions through sensible diagnostic thinking, in an interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

12. 

    11 Dec 2024

    Ep. 3 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Dr Diarmuid O’Shea

    Dr. Chris Luke interviews Dr. Diarmuid O’Shea, Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine, who reflects on his Dublin childhood, medical training, and passions for medical education, while addressing current challenges in the Irish healthcare system.

13. 

    11 Dec 2024

    Ep. 2 Irish Medical Lives with Dr.Chris Luke and guest Professor Jean O’Sullivan

    Professor Jean O’Sullivan discusses her humanitarian work providing emergency care training in Africa, her involvement with the UN, and her work in Ireland with Dr. Chris Luke in this interview.

14. 

    11 Dec 2024

    Ep 1. Irish Medical Lives with Dr Chris Luke and guest Professor Cliona Ni Cheallaigh

    Professor Cliona Ni Cheallaigh discusses her work on social exclusion and homelessness in Ireland, explaining how she developed a practical service for the homeless in Dublin with her academic expertise in this interview with Dr. Chris Luke.

Who has been a guest on Irish Medical Lives

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Ide Delargy
• Professor Ray Walley
• Professor James Bernard Walsh
• Dr Seamus O'Mahony
• Dr Declan Kelly

Podcast Authority Score: 9 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

18

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Irish Medical Lives

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.