49 doctors awarded at RCPI Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Admission Ceremony

49 doctors were awarded at a special ceremony held in No. 6 Kildare Street on 6 March, during RCPI Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Spring Conference.

At the institute’s annual Admission Ceremony, doctors are awarded Honorary Fellowship of RCPI, Fellowship of RCPI (Obstetrics & Gynaecology) , Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training, and Associate Membership of RCPI Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists.

The college welcomed two esteemed Honorary Fellows – the highest award conferred by RCPI, and reserved for world leaders in medical science and those who have made an exceptional contribution to medicine or healthcare. Each college faculty and institute may admit two Honorary Fellows per year.

Prof Louise Kenny is an internationally renowned researcher in women’s and childhood health, and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool’s Faculty of Health & Life Sciences. After training in Liverpool, Prof Kenny began working as obstetrician-gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital in 2006, specialising in the management of high-risk pregnancies. She co-founded INFANT – Ireland’s first dedicated perinatal research centre.

Prof Kenny has published extensively on the short and long-term sequelae of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in both mothers and infants. She returned to the University of Liverpool in 2017, and successfully led the bid for Children Growing Up in Liverpool – a major longitudinal birth cohort study tracking 10,000 families, supported by £18m in funding.  

Dr Matt Hewitt is a gynaecological oncologist at Liverpool Women’s University Hospital. After completing subspecialised training in gynaecological oncology surgery in the UK in the late 2000s, Dr Hewitt moved to Cork University Maternity Hospital to work as a gynaecological oncologist. He was involved in the hospital’s designation as a national centre for gynaecological oncology, and in the colposcopy unit becoming the second busiest in the country.

Dr Hewitt pioneered the use of the da Vinci surgical robot system for oncological and benign minimally invasive gynaecological surgery at Cork University Maternity Hospital. The hospital performed more robotic gynaecological surgeries than any other hospital in the UK or Ireland during Dr Hewitt’s time there.

Thirty-four doctors were recipients of Fellowship of RCPI (Obstetrics & Gynaecology). This is a special recognition of an individual’s contribution to their specialty, as part of a community of physicians operating at the forefront of medicine.

Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training is awarded to Trainees upon satisfactory completion of RCPI’s Higher Specialist Training programmes, and qualifies doctors for entry to the Specialist Division of the Medical Council. Twelve Trainees were awarded certificates.

One doctor was recipient of Associate Membership of RCPI Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. This membership category is open to Trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and was established as part of the institute’s strategy to engage with practitioners in obstetrics & gynaecology at all stages of their careers.

 Find out more about RCPI Institute of OBSTETRICIANS & GYNAECOLOGISTS