\u201cI grew up between Clane and Newbridge in Co Kildare, but Kilkenny city, where my parents are from and where I spent much of my childhood, has always felt like home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy decision to become a doctor was shaped by two close family experiences. When I was 10, my grandmother suffered a stroke, requiring prolonged hospital care. At 12, my youngest brother Robin was born very prematurely. Initially, we thought he would survive but he died of a severe infection at just two months old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the impact healthcare workers can have on people\u2019s lives. I wanted to offer that same care to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore moving into public health in 2024, I worked mainly in infectious diseases, particularly with people living with HIV.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first patient I saw as a 19-year-old medical student was a young man living with HIV. He had been admitted to hospital with unexplained weight loss and later diagnosed with a HIV-associated cancer. Five years later, as a newly-qualified intern, I met him again \u2014 on the night he died. I was asked to make sure he was comfortable and I still remember every detail of that final encounter. He was my first patient. He and his story have had a profound impact on my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany patients you see as an infectious diseases doctor are among the most marginalised in society: The homeless, intravenous drugs users; refugees, LGBT+ people. My move into public health was driven by a desire to work upstream \u2014 to help prevent the greatest amount of suffering possible, particularly for those who already face discrimination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recently led a national HSE survey on chemsex \u2014 the use of drugs to enhance, facilitate, or prolong sex. It\u2019s a growing phenomenon in Ireland, particularly among gay and bisexual men. While many experience no major harm, chems drugs carry serious health risks. Unfortunately, support services are very scarce \u2014 we urgently need to do better. As a gay man, this work feels particularly meaningful, and I hope it guides the development of better supports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re struggling with chems use, there\u2019s no shame in reaching out. Support is available at sexual health clinics around the country, including the Sexual Health Centre Cork and the GUIDE and GMHS clinics in Dublin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI grew up between Clane and Newbridge in Co Kildare, but Kilkenny city, where my parents are from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[33970,26054,24255,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-530442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health-body","tag-health-life","tag-working-life","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}