Overview
The Regional Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Fellowship at Cork University Hospital (CUH) is a 12-month structured higher specialist training position. The successful candidates will start on 13 July 2026. There are five fellowship posts offering access to training and mentorship for suitably qualified candidates. Candidates in their final year of specialist training or those who have already completed higher specialist training in anaesthesia will be considered for interview.
Cork University Hospital (CUH) is a tertiary referral, Level 1 equivalent trauma centre on the western boundary of Cork City. It serves a catchment population of 600,000 and functions as a supra-regional Major Trauma Centre, Cancer Centre, Paediatric Centre, Obstetric and Gynaecology Centre, Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery Centre, and Renal and Respiratory Centre for a total population of 1.6 million people. All surgical sub-specialties reside onsite at CUH. CUH has over 80,000 ED presentations, 8,500 births, 250,000 outpatient attendances, 50,000 inpatient discharges and 90,000 day cases. The hospital employs more than 5,000 staff and is the primary teaching hospital for the Faculty of Health and Science in University College Cork.
Clinical training
Each fellow will have access to a varied clinical workload in new and evolving environments. The evolution of CUH as a Major Trauma Centre provides unique opportunities and challenges. The regional anaesthesia and acute pain fellows will have access to a complex case mix and busy caseload within which to master their skills. Upon successful completion of the fellowship, fellows will be capable of performing as a senior clinician in a dynamic, high‑stakes environment, while integrating regional anaesthesia into clinical anaesthesia and acute pain practices.
Places of work
The regional anesthesia and acute pain fellows rotate on a week-to-week basis across the CUH campus and contribute to the following anaesthesia services: Orthopaedic Trauma Theatres & Block Room; Ambulatory Soft Tissue Upper & Lower Limb Trauma Surgery; Ambulatory Trauma Orthopaedic Surgery; Acute Pain Service; Inpatient Trauma Floor Block Room. A detailed job description for each location is available upon request. The fellowship posts on offer include two academic posts and three clinical posts.
Academic posts
It is expected that the academic regional anaesthesia fellows will conduct a minimum of two interrelated pieces of original research on topics including clinical anaesthesia, acute pain, regional anaesthesia, trauma management, procedural skills training or the integration of innovative technology into clinical practice. The academic fellow will have access to protected academic time on a fortnightly basis. Expected outputs from a one-year academic fellowship include two or more original projects resulting in abstract presentations at national and international meetings and manuscript publications in peer-reviewed journals. An investment in a higher postgraduate degree through research in UCC (MSc, MD, PhD) is desirable but not essential and should align with the fellow’s career goals. Academic fellows will be selected from the overall cohort by application to the programme coordinator for protected academic time.
Clinical posts
It is expected that the clinical regional anaesthesia fellows will conduct a minimum of two interrelated quality improvement projects during their year in post. The clinical fellow will have non-clinical time built into their working week. Academic outputs are not expected from clinical fellows; however the data derived from Quality Improvement projects might form the basis of abstract presentations at national and international meetings. Clinical fellows are not excluded from academic work; however protected academic time is not possible due to service demands and resource allocation.
Contact for information
To receive additional information please email Dr Brian O’Donnell brian.odonnell@hse.ie
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