UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Thursday, 2 June 2011 at 11 a.m.
TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADPROFESSORESS DELIVERED BY PROFESSOR AONGUS CURRAN, UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin on 2 June 2011, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa on TREVOR MCGILL
President, Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, UCD Graduates
I am delighted and honoured to be invited by the President of UCD, Professor. Hugh Brady to present Professor Trevor McGill with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from UCD.
Trevor J. McGill’s distinguished career began with his medical training 50 years ago in Dublin. He received his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine, University College Dublin in 1967. He then began his specialist training in Otolaryngology in London in 1970 and pursued this in Liverpool until 1974. This was followed by a two-year fellowship in Otology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, as a recipient of the Fogarty International Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the National Institute of Health.
Professor McGill is a Paediatric Specialist at the Department of Paediatric Otolaryngology at ChilProfessoren’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School since 1976. Throughout this time he has applied his considerable skills and expertise to the treatment of chilProfessoren with complex disorders of the ear, nose and throat. He has played a pivotal role in developing the reputation of that unit to its current international status as one of the premier paediatric units in the world. His current position is Clinical Director of Paediatric Otolaryngology at the ChilProfessoren’s Hospital Boston and he is a Professor of Otology and Laryngology at the Harvard Medical School.
Professor McGill’s commitment to the training and development of students of this specialty is second to none. He initiated one of the first Paediatric Otolaryngology training programmes of its kind in 1978, this has developed as the definitive template of other Paediatric Programmes internationally. Since then he has trained in excess of 200 residents and over 59 fellows in Paediatric Otolaryngology including many of today’s leading experts in this specialty.
He is a charter member of the American Society of Paediatric Otolaryngology and a pioneer in defining his specialty. Professor McGill was nominated for the Harvard Medical School Award for Excellence in Mentoring on numerous occasions. He served as President of the University College Dublin Medical Graduate Association of North America 1996-1998. He was the University College Dublin Medical Alumnus for the year 2001.
Professor McGill is also a member of numerous national and international medical societies. He was the recipient of the Ainsworth Scholarship awarded by the National University of Ireland. He has been a much sought after Honorary Guest at numerous societies of this specialty including the:-
- American Society of Paediatric Otolaryngology,
- the American Laryngological Society,
- the American Bronchoesophagology Society.
- also awarded the Gabriel Tucker Award by the American Laryngological Society.
Professor McGill has published extensively, he is the author of 88 peer-reviewed publications and 38 book chapters. He is one of the editors of three textbooks; the most recent is entitled Paediatric Otolaryngology – Principles and Practice Pathways, one of the most foremost textbooks and academic works in Paediatric Otolaryngology.
Over the past twenty-five years, Professor McGill has been the Professoriving force in developing the Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Disorders at ChilProfessoren’s Hospital into what has become the premier clinical and teaching programme of its kind in the United States. This unit is a rich source for any trainee in this specialty, in 2002 it was the busiest surgical practice at ChilProfessoren's Hospital in the U.S. treating approximately 35,000 patients and performing over 6,000 surgical procedures. The Irish training Programme in Otolaryngology sends a trainee to Boston each year as part of the Higher Surgical Training in the Specialty. These Irish Trainees are the beneficiaries of this world class programme and owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Professor McGill for making this invaluable experience possible. I know that I can speak on behalf of all of my colleagues in the Irish Otolaryngology Society in expressing our gratitude for his invaluable contribution to the Irish Training programme, we thank you sincerely.
Professor McGill has been invited on 3 occasions to serve as the discussant at the weekly CPC at the Massachusetts General Hospital. These are published as the Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital in the New England Journal of Medicine and his diagnosis was correct on all 3 occasions.
Professor McGill’s reputation is widely acknowledged and respected, in 2011 an Endowed Chair in Pediatric Otolaryngology at ChilProfessoren's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School was established in the name of Professor Trevor McGill.
Professor Trevor McGill is the quintessential role model, highly respected as a physician, surgeon, teacher, leader and mentor. It is with great pleasure, pride and admiration that I bestow this honorary degree upon him.
Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hunc meum filium, quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad gradum Doctoratus Scientiae; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.