A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE RCSI DEPARTMENT OF

                           OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY 1789-2006.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is one of the oldest on record, with an unbroken line of RCSI “Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology” (originally titled “Professors of Midwifery”) since 1770. The present chair, Fergal Malone, is the seventeenth in line:

1789   John Halahan 1793   Henry Jebb 1794   John Creighton 1819   Andrew Johnston 1823   Charles Johnson 1835   Henry Maunsell 1842   Thomas Edward Beatty 1857   James Hewitt Sawyer 1875   John Cornyn 1877   William Roe 1893   Samuel R Mason 1889   Frederick W Kidd 1917   Ernest Hastings Tweedy 1926   Andrew Hope Davidson 1967   Alan DH Browne 1989   Robert F Harrison 2005   Fergal D Malone	Prof. R. Harrison
	E. Hastings Tweedy

The discipline of obstetrics and gynaecology, arguably more than any other, has played the most major of roles in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland right from its very birth. The first general meeting of the College was held in the boardroom of the Rotunda Hospital on 2^nd March 1784. Acknowledging that Surgeons throughout the ages practiced Midwifery, the College Charter of incorporation included a Licentiate of Midwifery. Since 1886 this has still continued to be earned by RCSI graduands as part of a conjoint diploma with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. In addition, since 1978, the BAO degree (Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics) of the National University of Ireland is also awarded at undergraduate qualification. 

Milestones over the past two hundred years in the RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology include:

1785	RCSI adopts resolution establishing “professorship of midwifery”
1789	John Halahan, ex-assistant Master of the Rotunda becomes first RCSI Professor by introducing regular courses on midwifery
1793	Henry Jebb, ex-assistant Master of the Rotunda replaces Halahan, and ultimately becomes President of the RCSI in 1800
1886	Conjoint diploma from RCSI and Royal College of Physicians of Ireland including Licentiate of Midwifery
1926	Election of Andrew Hope Davidson as RCSI Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, who ultimately holds office for 41 years, including a term as Master of the Rotunda Hospital from 1933 to 1940
1960	“Master’s House” built on grounds of Rotunda Hospital for Alan Browne to take up residence during his Mastership from 1960 to 1966, prior to assuming the RCSI Professorship in 1967
1961	RCSI Professorship develops formal clinical responsibilities with the Rotunda Hospital, in addition to academic duties
1968	RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology expands from the Rotunda with an additional presence at the Coombe Lying-In Hospital
1978	Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics (BAO) degree awarded with the National University of Ireland to RCSI students graduating in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
1989	Rotunda Hospital “Master’s House” becomes headquarters of the RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology under long-term peppercorn rent arrangement
1989	Ireland’s first IVF assisted conception services provided at the RCSI Department at the Rotunda Hospital by Robert Harrison, newly appointed RCSI Professor
1993	RCSI students of obstetrics and gynaecology attend Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda for teaching and clinical exposure
1994	RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology expands further with additional presence at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street
2000	RCSI Penang Medical College established in Malaysia, including supervisory role provided by the RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
2005	Complete refurbishment of the RCSI Departmental headquarters at the Rotunda Hospital Master’s House to establish state-of-the-art administrative, academic, teaching and clinical facilities
2005	Rotunda’s first intrauterine treatment procedures, including fetal transfusions and chorionic villus sampling introduced by Fergal Malone, newly appointed RCSI Professor
2006	RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology expands further with student rotations to Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar, Waterford Regional Hospital, and St. Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny

Today the RCSI Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a core component of the Senior Cycle of the RCSI Medical School, being responsible for increasing numbers of medical students from traditional undergraduate background, together with a new intake of medical students with prior graduate degrees. The increasing numbers of students, together with demands placed on the Department for leadership in areas of research and clinical service provision, has resulted in a dynamic academic unit of unparalleled size compared with its 18^th century origins.

See also:

RCSI Virtual Tour
Rotunda History (PDF)