Oscar Wilde at Home

Oscar, Constance, Speranza (and Bosie) are “at home” in the exquisitely beautiful Florence Court House this Mayday weekend. House guests will include Jack, Algy, Gwendolen and Cecily from the Importance of Being Earnest, (not to mention the redoubtable Lady Bracknell), Lord and Lady Windermere, the impetuous Lord Darlington, and the precocious Dorian Gray. Visitors will be conducted throughout the house where a range of short scenes from Wilde’s most popular works will be performed live by actors in each of the principal rooms. Is it life or is it art? Come and decide for yourself as we welcome you to the witty, complex and contradictory world of Oscar Wilde. Conceived and directed by David Grant.

Dramatis Personae
Oscar Wilde (and Lord Henry Wotton) – Donal Morgan
Constance Wilde (Lady Wotton, and Cecily Cardew) – Julie Lamberton
Lady Speranza Wilde (Lady Bracknell and Mrs Erlynne) – Antoinette Morelli
Lord Alfred Douglas (and Dorian Gray) – Sydney Bull
Lord Darlington and Basil Hallward – Richard Croxford
Lady Windermere and Gwendolen Fairfax – Stephanie Dale
Jack Worthing – Patrick McBrearty
Algernon Moncrieff and Lord Windermere – Stefan Dunbar
Lane and Parker – Curtis Reed and tbc

Production Team
Costume Design – Enda Kenny
Sound Design – Sydney Bull
Sound Operator – Seth Taylor
Stage Manager – Bronagh McFeely
Company Manager – Eamon Quinn
Director – David Grant

Exodus? The training paths and plans of postgraduate medical trainees, under the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland

Background: In 2006, the Buttimer report highlighted the paucity of demographic data on those applying for and entering postgraduate medical education and training (PGMET) in Ireland. Today, concerns that there is an "exodus" of graduates of Irish medical schools are at the forefront of national discussion, however, published data on PGMET remains inadequate.

Aims: The objectives of this study were to collate existing data relating to trainees and training programmes at three stages of training and to examine the career plans of junior trainees.

Methods: Data from application forms for training programmes, commencing July 2012, under the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (n = 870), were integrated with data from other existing sources. Candidates entering basic specialist training were surveyed with regard to career plans. Descriptive and comparative analysis was performed in SPSS version 18.

Results: Graduates of Irish medical schools made up over 70 % of appointees. Over 80 % of BST trainees aspired to work as consultants in Ireland, but 92.5 % planned to spend time working abroad (response rate 77 %). Decisions to leave the Irish system were linked to lifestyle, but also to failure to be appointed to higher specialist training. Significant numbers of trainees return to Ireland after a period abroad.

Conclusions: The trainee "exodus" is more complex than is often portrayed. The desire to spend time working outside Ireland must be accounted for in workforce planning and configuration of training programmes. Expansion of HST is a potential solution to reduce the numbers of graduates leaving Ireland post-BST.

A high-value, low-cost bubble continuous positive airway pressure system for low-resource settings:technical assessment and initial case reports

Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of global child mortality. In the developing world, nasal oxygen therapy is often the only treatment option for babies who are suffering from respiratory distress. Without the added pressure of bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (bCPAP) which helps maintain alveoli open, babies struggle to breathe and can suffer serious complications, and frequently death. A stand-alone bCPAP device can cost $6,000, too expensive for most developing world hospitals. Here, we describe the design and technical evaluation of a new, rugged bCPAP system that can be made in small volume for a cost-of-goods of approximately $350. Moreover, because of its simple design--consumer-grade pumps, medical tubing, and regulators--it requires only the simple replacement of a <$1 diaphragm approximately every 2 years for maintenance. The low-cost bCPAP device delivers pressure and flow equivalent to those of a reference bCPAP system used in the developed world. We describe the initial clinical cases of a child with bronchiolitis and a neonate with respiratory distress who were treated successfully with the new bCPAP device.