I initially began teaching Medical Geography as an honours option course to small classes of about 5-10 in 1978/79. The course was offered every second year until the early 1990s, at which point it was opened up to all final year undergraduates in 1992/93. The course has been offered to all final year students each year since, except 1995-6 (when I was on sabbatical leave) and 2001-2 when commitments in other areas did not permit me to offer the course. The course has always proved popular with students. For example, it attracted every final year student except 1 (out of classes of approximately 160 students) each year from 1998-9 to 2000-1 (although it was compulsory for honours students).
I introduced a second course at postgraduate level called Spatial Epidemiology in 1993/94. This formed part of the the Department's taught Masters degree in Geographical Analysis. The Spatial Epidemiology course trained students in advanced quantitative techniques for the analysis of health-related data. This was superseded in 1997-8 by an Applied Medical Geography course. This retained some aspects of the Spatial Epidemiology course, but some of the more advanced statistical components were replaced by lectures on the Irish health services and discussions of new developments in Medical/Health Geography and Social Medicine. Several graduates from this course are currently working on doctoral theses on Medical/Health Geography topics, whilst a few others have entered employment in areas related to public health.
Following the arrival of a second medical/health geographer (Ronan Foley), a new second year course entitled The Geography of Health and Health Care was introduced in 2003-4. Ronan focuses on health service provision while I provide an introduction to the epidemiolgy side of the subject. This in turn resulted in the introduction of what was in effect a totally new third year Medical Geography course in 2004-5 focussing on infectious diseases.
Return to the main Medical/Health Geography page