50 doctors awarded at RCPI Faculty of Pathology’s Admission Ceremony

50 doctors were awarded at a special ceremony held in No. 6 Kildare Street on 13 February, during RCPI Faculty of Pathology’s Spring Conference.

At the faculty’s annual Admission Ceremony, doctors are awarded Honorary Fellowship of RCPI, Fellowship of RCPI Faculty of Pathology, Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training, Associate Membership of RCPI Faculty of Pathology, and faculty medals.

The college welcomed two esteemed Honorary Fellows – the highest award conferred by RCPI, and reserved for world leaders in medical science and those who have made an exceptional contribution to medicine or healthcare. Each college faculty and institute may admit two Honorary Fellows per year.

Dr Bernie Croal is a chemical pathologist specialising in intravenous nutritional support. He is Director of Clinical Biochemistry at NHS Grampian Aberdeen, President of the Royal College of Pathology UK, and oversees laboratory services at the Cleveland Clinic in London.

He is a science and medicine graduate, and has trained in general medicine, chemical pathology and Health Services/Public Health Research. He has spent a long career in various leadership roles within NHS Scotland including Clinical Director and Regional Lead for Pathology, the Optimisation Lead for NHS Scotland, and Chair of the Scottish Clinical Biochemistry Network.

Prof Jacqueline James is a pathologist specialising in molecular diagnostics. She is Scientific Director of Northern Ireland Biobank, and led its development since 2010, when the biorepository was conceived as a cancer biobank. The biorepository has since become an internationally-recognised biomedical resource, and supports not only cancer research but also research into other diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, respiratory disease, endocrinology and infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

Prof James is also Co-director of the Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence at Queen’s University Belfast, a clinically accredited laboratory established to deliver integrated high-throughput genomics, digital pathology and big data analytics.

Nineteen doctors were recipients of Fellowship of RCPI Faculty of Pathology. This is a special recognition of an individual’s contribution to their specialty, as part of a community of physicians operating at the forefront of medicine.

Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training is awarded to Trainees upon satisfactory completion of RCPI’s Higher Specialist Training programmes, and qualifies doctors for entry to the Specialist Division of the Medical Council. Sixteen Trainees were awarded certificates.

Nine doctors were recipients of Associate Membership of RCPI Faculty of Pathology. This membership category is open to Trainees in Pathology, and was established as part of the faculty’s strategy to engage with practitioners in pathology at all stages of their careers.

RCPI Faculty of Pathology awards a number of faculty medals each year. Congratulations to our four recipients.

Find out more about RCPI Faculty of Pathology.