Regional Anaesthesia And Acute Pain Fellowship At University Hospital

The successful candidates will be required to start 13th July 2026.

Regional Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Fellowship, Cork University Hospital

The regional anaesthesia and acute pain fellowship at the Department of Anaesthesia Cork

University Hospital (CUH) is a 12 month structured higher specialist training position during which

successful candidates can further develop their regional anaesthesia skills in a busy but

supportive learning environment. There are five fellowship posts, which offer access to training

and mentorship for suitably qualified candidates. Candidates in their final year of specialist

training or those who have already successfully completed higher specialist training in

anaesthesia will be considered for interview.

Cork University Hospital: Cork University Hospital (CUH) is a tertiary referral, Level 1 equivalent

trauma centre, located on the western boundary of Cork City. CUH serves an immediate

catchment population of 600,000, and functions as a supra-regional Major Trauma Centre, Cancer

Centre, Paedictric Centre, Obstetric and Gynaecology Centre, Cardiology and Cardiothoracic

Surgery Centre, Renal and Respiratory Centre for a total a population of 1.6 million people. All

surgical sub-specialties reside onsite at CUH.

CUH has over 80,000 ED presentations, 8,500 births, 250,000 out-patient attendances 50,000

inpatient discharges and 90,000 day cases. CUH has 800 beds which will increase further in line

with the strategic development plan. CUH currently employs more than 5000 staff, and is the

primary teaching hospital for the Faculty of Health and Science in University College Cork.

Clinical training: Each fellow will have access to a varied clinical workload, in new and evolving

environments. The evolution of CUH as a Major Trauma Centre (MTC) provides unique

opportunities and challenges. The regional anaesthesia and acute pain fellows will have access to

a complex case mix and busy caseload within which to master their skills. Upon successful

completion of the fellowship, fellows will be capable of performing as a senior clinician in a

dynamic, high stakes environment, while integrating regional anaesthesia into clinical anaesthesia

and acute pain practices.

Places of work: The regional anesthesia and acute pain fellows rotate on a week to week basis

across the CUH campus and contribute to the following anaesthesia services: Orthopaedic

Trauma Theatres & Block Room; Ambulatory Soft Tissue Upper & Lower Limb Trauma Surgery;

Ambulatory Trauma Orthopaedic Surgery; Acute Pain Service; Inpatient Trauma Floor Block

Room. A detailed job description for each of these locations is available upon request. The

fellowship posts on offer include two academic posts and three clinical posts.

Academic posts: It is expected that the academic regional anaesthesia fellows will conduct a

minimum of two interrelated pieces of original research on the broad topics of clinical

anaesthesia, acute pain, regional anaesthesia, trauma management, procedural skills training or

the integration of innovative technology into clinical practice. The academic fellow will have

access to protected academic time on a fortnightly basis. The expected academic outputs from a

one year academic fellowship programme are: two or more original projects resulting in abstract

presentations at national and international meetings, manuscript publications in peer review

journals. The investment in a higher postgraduate degree through research in UCC (MSc, MD,

PhD) is desirable but not essential, and should align with the fellow’s career goals. Academic

fellows will be selected from the overall cohort of fellows by application to the programme

coordinator for protected academic time.

Clinical Posts: It is expected that the clinical regional anaesthesia fellows will conduct a minimum

of two interrelated quality improvement projects during their year in post. The clinical fellow will

have non-clinical time built into their working week. Academic outputs are not expected from

clinical fellows, however the data derived from Quality Improvement projects, might form the basis

of abstract presentations at national and international meetings. Clinical fellows are not excluded

from academic work, however protected academic time is not possible given service demands

and resource allocation.

To receive additional information please feel free to email Dr Brian O’Donnell

brian.odonnell@hse.ie