Dr John McFarland graduated (MB BCh BAO) from TCD in 1998. After Basic Specialist Training in Medicine in the Mid-West, he completed Basic Specialist Training in Psychiatry with the Royal College of Surgeons Training Scheme in Dublin, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRC Psych). He spent three subsequent years in the Clinical Neuroimaging Lab in NUI Galway, obtaining his Medical Doctorate (MD) studying the neurobiology of Early Psychosis, before completing Higher Specialist Training in 2012.

Dr McFarland has worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the Mid-West since 2012 and has been the Mid-West Clinical Lead for the Early Intervention in Psychosis Clinical Programme from 2013. He took up his position as Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry in 2018, where he has been lead for curriculum development, co-editing a textbook on this process (“Problem Based Psychiatry”, Elsevier 2020). He has further roles as Vice-Dean for Postgraduate Training in Psychiatry with the College of Psychiatrists for Ireland (CPI - 2021 to date), Dean of UL-Midwest Deanery, and is a senior member of the National Postgraduate Training Committee and Accreditation Sub Committee of the CPI.

Postgraduate qualifications

  • Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists July 2006.
  • Medical Doctorate National University of Ireland, Galway 2011
  • Diploma in Health Services Management 2011 University of Limerick (UL).
  • Member of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland, May 2011
  • Masters in Health Professionals Education 2022 UL

 

Research Interests

Research interests include work with the Cognitive Impairment Research Group (CIRG) at the University of Limerick, investigating the neuropsychiatry of delirium across clinical settings; the neurobiology of psychotic illness; augmented models of psychiatric care and evaluation of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in psychiatry.

Publications

Ahmed, M., Cannon, D., Holleran, L., Schmidt, H., McFarland, J., Langan, C., Emsell, L., McDonald, G., Scanlon, C. and McCarthy, P. (2012) 'Impact of clozapine treatment on regional brain volume: A longitudinal study of treatment resistant schizophrenia', Schizophrenia research, 136, S106-S107.

 

Ahmed, M., Cannon, D.M., Scanlon, C., Holleran, L., Schmidt, H., McFarland, J., Langan, C., McCarthy, P., Barker, G.J. and Hallahan, B. (2015) 'Progressive brain atrophy and cortical thinning in schizophrenia after commencing clozapine treatment', Neuropsychopharmacology, 40(10), 2409-2417.

 

Akudjedu, T.N., Tronchin, G., McInerney, S., Scanlon, C., Kenney, J.P., McFarland, J., Barker, G.J., McCarthy, P., Cannon, D.M. and McDonald, C. (2020) 'Progression of neuroanatomical abnormalities after first-episode of psychosis: a 3-year longitudinal SMRI study', Journal of psychiatric research, 130, 137-151.

 

Elzain, M., Moran. L, McCarthy. G, Hyde S, McFarland. J. (2022) Evaluation of Postgraduate Educational Environment of Doctors Training in Psychiatry: a mixed method study. Journal of Neurological Disorders (2022).

 

Glynn K, McKenna F, Lally K, O'Donnell M, Grover S, Chakrabarti S, Avasthi A, Mattoo SK, Sharma A, Gosh A, Shah R, Hickey D, Fitzgerald J, Davis B, O'Regan N, Adamis D, Williams O, Awan F, Dunne C, Cullen W, McInerney S, McFarland J, Jabbar F, O'Connell H, Trzepacz PT, Leonard M, Meagher D. How do delirium motor subtypes differ in phenomenology and contributory aetiology? a cross-sectional, multisite study of liaison psychiatry and palliative care patients.

BMJ Open. 2021 Apr 14;11(4):e041214.

 

Holleran, L., Ahmed, M., Anderson-Schmidt, H., McFarland, J., Emsell, L., Leemans, A., Scanlon, C., Dockery, P., McCarthy, P. and Barker, G.J. (2014) 'Altered interhemispheric and temporal lobe white matter microstructural organization in severe chronic schizophrenia', Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(4), 944-954.

 

Kelly, D., Graffi, J., Noonan, M., Green, P., McFarland, J., Hayes, P. and Glynn, L. (2021) 'Exploration of GP perspectives on deprescribing antidepressants: a qualitative study', BMJ open, 11(4), e046054.

 

Kenney, J., Anderson-Schmidt, H., Scanlon, C., Arndt, S., Scherz, E., McInerney, S., McFarland, J., Byrne, F., Ahmed, M. and Donohoe, G. (2015) 'Cognitive course in first-episode psychosis and clinical correlates: A 4 year longitudinal study using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery', Schizophrenia research, 169(1-3), 101-108.

 

Leonard, M., McInerney, S., McFarland, J., Condon, C., Awan, F., O'connor, M., Reynolds, P., Meaney, A.M., Adamis, D. and Dunne, C. (2016) 'Comparison of cognitive and neuropsychiatric profiles in hospitalised elderly medical patients with delirium, dementia and comorbid delirium–dementia', BMJ open, 6(3), e009212.

 

Makelyte, M., Hehir, S., Casey, H., Kilmartin, L., Duggan, N., Langan, C., McFarland, J., Mohammed, A., Emsell, L. and Schmidt, H. (2011) 'Automated versus manual segmentation of the human caudate and hippocampus', Irish journal of medical science, 180, 64-65.

 

McFarland, J., Smyth, S.,  McGuiness, D., Summerville, S., Bainbridge, E., Hallahan, B., Higgins, A., Casey, D., Murphy, K. and McDonald, C. (2021) 'A mixed methods study examining perceptions by service-users of their involuntary admission in relation to levels of insight', International Journal of Social Psychiatry,

 

McFarland, J., Cannon, D., Schmidt, H., Ahmed, M., Hehir, S., Emsell, L., McCarthy, P. and McDonald, C. (2010) 'Variation in grey matter volume with degree of insight in first episode psychosis and chronic schizophrenia', Schizophrenia research, 117(2), 340-340.

 

McFarland, J., Cannon, D.M., Schmidt, H., Ahmed, M., Hehir, S., Emsell, L., Barker, G., McCarthy, P., Elliott, M.A. and McDonald, C. (2013) 'Association of grey matter volume deviation with insight impairment in first-episode affective and non-affective psychosis', European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 263(2), 133-141.

 

McFarland, J., McDonald, C. and Hallahan, B. (2009a) 'Insight in mental illness: an educational review', Irish journal of psychological medicine, 26(1), 32-36.

 

McFarland, J., Street, P., Mullins, E.C. and Jeffers, A. (2009b) '‘Recovery’-towards integration into an Irish community mental health team', Irish journal of psychological medicine, 26(4), 197-201.

 

Meagher, D., O'regan, N., Ryan, D., Connolly, W., Boland, E., O'caoimhe, R., Clare, J., Mcfarland, J., Tighe, S. and Leonard, M. (2014) 'Frequency of delirium and subsyndromal delirium in an adult acute hospital population', The British Journal of Psychiatry, 205(6), 478-485.

 

Meagher DJ, O'Connell H, Leonard M, Williams O, Awan F, Exton C, Tenorio M, O'Connor M, Dunne CP, Cullen W, McFarland J, Adamis D. Comparison of novel tools with traditional cognitive tests in detecting delirium in elderly medical patients World J Psychiatry. 2020 Apr 19;10(4):46-58.

 

O'Neill, A., McFarland, J. and Kelly, D. (2021) 'Long‐term antidepressant use in a cohort of older people', International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

 

O’Brien, S., McFarland, J., Kealy, B., Pullela, A., Saunders, J., Cullen, W. and Meagher, D. (2012) 'A randomized-controlled trial of intensive case management emphasizing the recovery model among patients with severe and enduring mental illness', Irish journal of medical science, 181(3), 301-308.

 

Ryan, D.J., O'Regan, N.A., Caoimh, R.Ó., Clare, J., O'Connor, M., Leonard, M., McFarland, J., Tighe, S., O'Sullivan, K. and Trzepacz, P.T. (2013) 'Delirium in an adult acute hospital population: predictors, prevalence and detection', BMJ open, 3(1), e001772.

 

Scanlon, C., Anderson-Schmidt, H., Kilmartin, L., McInerney, S., Kenney, J., McFarland, J., Waldron, M., Ambati, S., Fullard, A. and Logan, S. (2014) 'Cortical thinning and caudate abnormalities in first episode psychosis and their association with clinical outcome', Schizophrenia research, 159(1), 36-42.

 

Schmidt, H., McFarland, J., Ahmed, M., McDonald, C. and Elliott, M.A. (2009) 'Investigating the perception of simultaneity in psychosis: a comparison of first-episode psychosis and treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients with healthy controls', Proceedings of Fechner Day, 25, 209-214.

 

Schmidt, H., McFarland, J., Ahmed, M., McDonald, C. and Elliott, M.A. (2011) 'Low-level temporal coding impairments in psychosis: Preliminary findings and recommendations for further studies', Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(2), 476.

 

Tronchin, G., Akudjdu, T., McInerney, S., Scanlon, C., Kenney, J., McFarland, J., Anderson-Schmidt, H., Cannon, D., Hallahan, B. and McDonald, C. (2019) 'Association between executive functions at first episode of psychosis and the later development of prefrontal cortical thinning and negative symptoms', European Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, S412-S413.

 

Tronchin, G., Akudjedu, T.N., Kenney, J.P., McInerney, S., Scanlon, C., McFarland, J., McCarthy, P., Cannon, D.M., Hallahan, B. and McDonald, C. (2020) 'Cognitive and clinical predictors of prefrontal cortical thickness change following first-episode of psychosis', Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 302, 111100.