QUEEN'S MEDIC ACHIEVES RARE 'DOUBLE' DOWN UNDER 

11 April 2018

 

Liam Hannon, who graduated in 2007 with an MB BCh BAO from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s and who moved to Australia in 2009, has achieved a rare medical ‘double’ in the course of his emergency medical training.

 

Along the way Liam has enjoyed considerable exam success, winning prizes for the highest marks in both his primary and his fellowship exams. The exams are run by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and are essential hurdles for all doctors in both Australia and New Zealand who wish to specialise in Emergency Medicine in the region.

 

The ACEM is the not-for-profit organisation responsible for the training of emergency physicians and the advancement of professional standards in emergency medicine in Australia and New Zealand.

 

In 2011, Liam won the Joseph Epstein prize for achieving the top mark in the primary examination and in November 2016 he picked up the Buchanan prize for again achieving the highest result, this time in the fellowship examinations. In doing so, he became the first Queen’s graduate to achieve this rare distinction and only the second person in history to have won both awards.

 

The Epstein Prize is named after past ACEM College President and Associate Professor Joseph Epstein, who was prominent in the field of emergency medicine in Victoria and who oversaw the introduction of the first Primary Exam during his presidency from 1988 to 1992. Professor Epstein was the first College Censor for Victoria and was appointed Deputy Censor-in-Chief and Chair of the Primary Examination Committee in 1984.

 

The Buchanan prize was named after the widely respected Dr Peter Buchanan, one of the founders of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, who believed in the need for excellence in emergency medicine at a time when this was an embryonic concept in Australia and New Zealand.

 

Appointed Registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital & NorthWestern Mental Health last August, Liam has previously worked at Nambour and Alice Springs hospitals and has served two spells with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen and South Sudan.

 

He is currently undertaking a Master's degree in Tropical Medicine and Public Health at James Cook University in northern Queensland, from where he hopes to graduate next year.

 

For further information on studying medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, please visit our website.

 

General enquiries to Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.

 

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