Aoife, a qualified optometrist, has wanted to be a doctor since her teenage years
The Graduate Entry Medical School opened today for 70 students.
The post-graduate students will begin training as doctors, taking a four-year medical qualification.
Aoife was born in Derry, and grew up just across the border in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
To be able to study in the north west is “a dream come true”.
She told BBC Radio Foyle: “I have always wanted to train and work in the north west and always wanted to train as a doctor.
“With the new medical school opening in Derry it means I can do both.”
Aoife, 24, is a qualified optometrist currently practising in Dublin but has wanted to pursue a career in medicine since her mid-teens.
“When I was about 16 years old, my younger brother, who was eight at the time, was diagnosed with diabetes and I helped with his care, looking after him, administering insulin, went to his appointments with him just to help.
“I took a real interest then in all things medical and I decided then I would pursue medicine but unfortunately I was unwell myself when I did my Leaving Cert examinations so I just fell short of getting into undergraduate medicine.
“So I pursued optometry instead, I wanted to do something in healthcare.
“And I really enjoyed it but I found myself leaning towards medicine once again and just wanting to go back and do that little bit more.”
When the Derry medical school was given the go-ahead, she felt ready to retrain.
It seemed like “the stars were aligning”, said Aoife.
“I am delighted I can now study here and stay here, its where I want to base myself.
She added: “I am from the north west, my family is from the north west, I want to provide care to people who are from the north west especially when there is such a gap there at the moment.”
In her optometry career, she has seen many patients from the region have to travel for treatment.
“That is so sad and unfair. I work in paediatrics, for children and their families to have to travel when they are already concerned about their health, that’s very difficult and I don’t think that should be the case.”
She said Magee’s Medical School “is really going to open up opportunities for people like myself to provide that sort of specialist care close to home”.
Tags: