Canavan Medal and Reuben Harvey Prize awarded at RCPI Annual Conference
Congratulations to the winners of the prestigious Canavan Medal and Reuben Harvey Prize presented at a special ceremony at No. 6 Kildare Street during the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Annual Conference on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.
The Canavan Medal
Dr Robert Power, Trinity College Dublin class of 2022, was awarded the Canavan Medal. This prestigious award is given to the doctor who scored the highest marks in the MRCPI General Medicine examination, demonstrating outstanding knowledge and skill in passing every component of the membership examination on their first attempt.
Dr Power, originally from Tramore, Co. Waterford is currently a Medical SHO at St James’s Hospital in his second year of Basic Specialist Training. He plans to pursue a career in Haematology.
“I’m very grateful to have received the Canavan Medal,” Dr Power said.
“The MRCPI exams were tough but an important and rewarding part of my professional journey. This award is a lovely recognition of the effort involved.”
The award honours the late Dr Desmond Canavan, an esteemed past President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) and a former Director of Examinations. The Canavan Medal is awarded annually at the discretion of the President of the college and on the recommendation of RCPI Examiners.
The Reuben Harvey Prize
RCPI also awards the Reuben Harvey Prize annually to students who achieve the highest marks in their class for final year examinations in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics. This year’s recipients are:
- Fódhla Á. Ní Dhálaigh, University College Cork. Originally from Skibbereen, West Cork, Fódhla is working in the Cardiology Department at the Bon Secours.
- Aidan Kelly, Trinity College Dublin. From Omagh, Co Tyrone, Aidan is currently an intern at the Mater Hospital, Dublin.
- Paige Irvine, Queen’s University. Paige is an F1 doctor at the Mater Hospital, Belfast, and hails from Newtownards, Co Down.
- Ma’en Alrawashdeh, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, is from Amman, Jordan, and currently living in Galway. She is undertaking her intern year at University Hospital Galway and Letterkenny General Hospital.
- Louise McCollum, University of Limerick, grew up in Donnybrook, Dublin, and completed her undergraduate degree in Physiotherapy at TCD before moving to Limerick to study medicine. She is working in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin
- Cian Thornton, University of Galway, says everything is on the table for the future, and he is passionate about teaching others.
- Matthew Hartnett, University College Dublin
- Jarren Lu Yi Sheng, RUMC, RCSI and UCD Campus Malaysia, was awarded in absentia
The Reuben Harvey prize was established in 1882 in memory of Dr Reuben Joshua Harvey, anatomist and physiologist who died in 1881 at the age of just 36.