Professor and Head of Department of General Practice

Job Title: Professor and Head of the Department of General Practice 

Reporting To: Head of the School of Medicine 

Location: RCSI, Dublin, Ireland 

Department: General Practice 

Contract type/duration: Professor level appointee, full time permanent contract, 4-year renewable term as Head of School

Close Date: 24-May-2026, close of business

ROLE PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE 

RCSI is seeking to appoint its next innovative leader to the position of RCSI Professor and Head of Department of General Practice. 

The post is a permanent professorial appointment within RCSI’s School of Medicine, appointed as Head of Department. Head of Department appointments at RCSI are subject to agreement, satisfactory performance and in accordance with RCSI policies and practice. The appointee will report to the Head of School of Medicine while in the role of Head of Department. 

This internationally respected leader will bring extensive experience in education, research and executive management to the role. In particular, the candidate will have extensive academic experience in the field of general practice/primary care education and research.

They will build on our success to date, leading and maintaining an environment of excellence in education and research in general practice/primary care, which will enable the delivery, and continuous improvement of all of our educational and research programmes as well as looking for future growth opportunities. 

They must also be an internationally competitive leader in an area of education and research aligned to general practice/primary care, clinical care and our wider thematic research areas. The appointment will substantially increase the research presence and profile of the Department both nationally and internationally and will have the capability to thrive in this environment and grow RCSI’s reputation in the area of general practice/primary care. They will be able to demonstrate strong leadership and be capable of inspiring the Department of General Practice’s education and research efforts by enhancing its reputation for scholarly and professional excellence. 

Successful experience as a senior academic and/ or department lead role is essential. Experience working in an inter-professional or multi-cultural context would be a distinct advantage as the successful appointee will actively collaborate across Schools and other RCSI campuses. Previous examples of similar collaborations at a national and/or international level would be valuable.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE 

• Hold an appropriate higher-level degree such as PhD, MD relevant to this post. 
• Be registered, or eligible for registration on the Specialist Division for General Practice with the Irish Medical Council. 
• Significant experience in General Practice education, including leading and innovating on undergraduate education with a sound knowledge and experience in delivering General Practice modules to undergraduate medical students. 
• Have sound knowledge and experience of assessment in undergraduate education, including OSCEs; longcase assessment, knowledge-based assessment and professional practice. 
• Have an in-depth knowledge of current issues and opportunities in the field General Practice/Primary Care. 
• Have a strong track record of senior authorship in high impact peer-reviewed publications in research, clinical practice and education in the field of General Practice/ Primary Care. 
• Have a strong track record of writing and obtaining external peer-reviewed competitive funding in the field of General Practice/Primary Care research. 
• Have a strong track record of conducting research including: systematic literature reviews and quantitative or qualitative research. 
• Have a strong track record of supervision at masters and doctoral level. 
• Be a recognised international expert in General Practice/Primary Care as evidenced by a track record of regular invited talks at international conferences/ events, invitations to peer-review journals and invitations to sit on national and international grant awarding bodies. 
• Has senior level leadership experience in managing teams of individuals at Departmental, Divisional or School level.