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Held at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Dublin, the win marks Queen’s third success in the prestigious competition, building on previous victories in 2022 and 2024, and reinforcing the University’s leadership in interprofessional healthcare education.

AIPEC is an annual intervarsity competition that brings together healthcare students from across the island of Ireland to collaboratively develop and present a patient-centred care plan for a complex clinical case.

This year’s winning student team included Karen Mulvihill, School of Pharmacy, Farook Bhabha, School of Nursing & Midwifery, and Mayuri Raje and Dearbháile Doherty from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences.

Teams from eight universities took part in this year’s final, which included Queen’s, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, Ulster University, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Galway, and University of Limerick.

The students worked in multidisciplinary teams over several weeks, integrating expertise from across healthcare disciplines before presenting their recommendations to a panel of judges.

This year’s case focused on a patient from the Irish Traveller community and was developed in partnership with Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre. Students were challenged to take a holistic approach, addressing not only complex clinical needs but also wider social factors such as access to healthcare, living conditions, and cultural trust.

Commenting on Queen’s success, Professor Judy Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students, said:

“This is a fantastic achievement for our students and an incredible success for our colleagues who have shown great dedication in supporting and preparing our students for opportunities such as this. I also congratulate all the teams who took part, whose commitment and innovation made this year’s competition a high-quality and inspiring event.”

Working across nursing, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, the Queen’s team developed a comprehensive and realistic care plan, with a strong emphasis on collaboration, inclusion, and patient-centred decision-making.

Dr Paul McCague, Director of Education (Pharmacy) and Queen’s AIPEC Lead, commented:

“Winning AIPEC for a third time since 2022 reflects the strength of interprofessional education at Queen’s. This competition challenges students to think beyond their own discipline and consider the wider context of patient care. Our team demonstrated outstanding collaboration and a clear commitment to delivering compassionate, patient-centred care, skills that are essential for the future healthcare workforce.”

Queen’s students involved were praised by judges for their collaborative and inclusive approach, standing out among strong competition from across the island.

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For media enquiries please contact Grace White: g.white@qub.ac.uk