Derry medical school 'a dream come true'

Aoife, a qualified optometrist, has wanted to be a doctor since her teenage years.

Aoife O'Donnell is among the first tranche of student doctors who will train at Ulster University's medical school in Londonderry.

She was born in Derry, and grew up in Letterkenny, just across the border with County 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," she said.

"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."

'Open up opportunities'

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".

Roland has wanted to be a doctor since childhood.

Roland Pecson, 27, is from Australia's Gold Coast - like his new classmate Aoife he has a professional background in healthcare and has wanted to be a doctor since childhood.

"In the last five years I've been working as a CT radiographer at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and Queensland Children's Hospital.

"I have always strived to become a doctor from a young age, and working in a multidisciplinary team dealing with patients has motivated me to pursue that dream.

"Having the opportunity to study medicine at Ulster University has been an achievement and will be a new adventure," he said.

Seamus McFlynn from Dublin is coming back to a campus he knows well.

The first 70 student doctors arrived on campus on Monday

The 37-year-old has previously worked as a as a lecturer in Irish at Magee and then as a political advisor on universal community-based healthcare in Ireland.

"During my work on Sláintecare, I met lots of healthcare experts who all said that recruitment of new staff to the health service was key and graduate entry needed to be extended to those with wider backgrounds and lived experience so I took them at their word and applied."

He added: "Further inspiration came in the form of my cousin from Limavady who left her job to study nursing at Magee aged 45 and loved the experience so I thought, if she can do it, so can I".