Discipline of Public Health & Primary Care

	 PHPC

Overview
The areas of Public Health and Primary Care together form one of School’s Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care based on our Tallaght campus.  During the summer of 2016, the Discipline will relocate to the nearby Trinity Institute of Population Health at Tallaght Cross, which will be the first academic primary centre of its kind in Ireland.

Teaching
Public Health and Primary Care delivers a course on normal human development, as part of the 1st  Medical Year curriculum.  The course concentrates on physical and psychological development, within a family context, from the neo-natal period through to the teen years. 

In their 4th  medical year, undergraduate medical students are assigned for two months, during which time they are attached individually to two GP practices, for two two-week periods, to experience the work of the family practitioner and primary care team at close hand. 

Research
Our research is reflective of health questions at both population and community levels, with particular emphasis on lifestyle issues and how these affect the health of the nation.  Illicit drugs and alcohol use, childhood and adult obesity, cancer prevention, chronic disease and multi-morbidity along with genetic epidemiology and gene-environment interaction, all form part of our research agenda.  Staff members are involved in the Growing up in Ireland (GUI) study, which provides a rich seam of data for research.

The Head of Discipline of Public Health and Primary is Professor Joe Barry.  Please visit their website for further information about their teaching, research and staff: Trinity College School of Medicine, Public Health and Primary Care website http://www.medicine.tcd.ie/public_health_primary_care/