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Welcome from Head, School of Allied Health
Professor Judi Pettigrew, Head of School
Welcome to the School of Allied Health. We are a dynamic and busy School dedicated to furthering the role of allied health professionals in improving health and wellbeing in our community and larger society, through research, scholarship and by training of new entrants to the Allied Health professions.
We currently encompass the disciplines of Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Speech and Language Therapy, and are based a purpose-built Health Sciences Building on the North campus of the University. The school is large, welcoming, and very research active, with over 80 staff members across academic, practice education, research, and support roles. We have an excellent track record of publications in high-impact ISI journals and in securing research funding from national and international funding bodies including the Health Research Board, Irish Research Council and EU funders. We currently collaborate with over 85 international institutions. All our researchers are members of the Health Research Institute and our research features involvement of patient and public partners (PPI), interprofessional practice and implementation science, as well as aiming for impact in aging, chronic conditions and speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties across the lifespan. There are several Postgraduate MSc and PhD students registered in the department and together with a growing postdoctoral and research staff, the School offers excellent support for future researchers in our professions.
Qualifying programmes
We offer five CORU approved pre-registration programmes across our four disciplines, and a new BSc in Occupational Therapy will start in 2024. We use a range of new and innovative award winning teaching and learning methods, and practice placements are integral to the programmes. These are delivered in partnership with a range of HSE and other health and social care providers in traditional and innovative settings. Interprofessional working and learning is a feature of the department and evidenced throughout our teaching, practice placements and in our research.
Post-qualification programmes
For qualified health professionals we offer Springboard funded postgraduate Certificates in Advanced Clinical Practice, Posture, Seating and Wheelchair Mobility across the Lifespan, and an MSc in Advanced Healthcare Practice, as well as a Professional Doctorate in Healthcare Practice. These programmes assists healthcare practitioners from a range of backgrounds to evaluate their practice and extend, or refocus, their skills and knowledge to meet new challenges in healthcare.
