We were delighted to hold our first Training School at University College Cork, Ireland. Hosted by Dr Seán Lucey, WG4 co-lead, the School’s theme was Approaches to Comparative European Healthcare History. The event attracted 17 in-person trainees along with one online. There were six trainers from Ireland, the UK, Germany, Romania and Poland. Across the two days participants heard presentations on How to do Comparative Approaches to Healthcare History, nineteenth century German hospital finance, contemporary healthcare funding in Ireland and in Poland, Sources for Control and Finance of Hospitals and Healthcare in Wales, and a fascinating and thought provoking session on Ethical Criteria of Resource Allocation in Healthcare.

On the second afternoon we had a Heritage Trip to Mercy University Hospital, one of Ireland’s last ‘voluntary’ hospitals. Between the lecture-based activities, the trainees led sessions on their key sources, producing fascinating discussions around the problems and possibilities associated with a range of original materials. Finally, Barry Doyle led two career skills sessions, one on Getting Published and one on Effective CV writing. To cap off an excellent few days, Seán Lucey became a father when his wife gave birth at the end of the second day to a baby girl, a little earlier than expected!