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  1. Student
  2. A political doctor
  3. A political doctor
Student People

A political doctor

BMJ 2007; 334 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0706242 (Published 01 June 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;334:0706242
  1. Rebekka T Stiasny, final year medical student1
  1. 1Leicester University

Jerry Cowley is a general practitioner, a lawyer, and an elected independent representative in the lower chamber of the Irish parliament. He has campaigned for improvements in health care for older people. His involvement in Irish politics started in 1997, when he campaigned nationally for an orthopaedic unit at Mayo General Hospital. He also campaigned for a national helicopter emergency medical service. Rebekka T Stiasny caught up with him

Why did you decide to do medicine?

I believed it was a way of helping people. I chose to become a general practitioner because it seems at the forefront of medical care. In the specialties, doctors are limited to their area of expertise but the general practitioner gets to see all conditions from nose bleeds to broken bones.

Are there any medics in your family?

I had some great aunts who were nurses in the United States, and I remember hearing of their experiences as a child. We also have general practitioners, a dermatologist, social workers, and a clinical psychologist in the family.

Where did you study medicine?

University College, Galway.

As a medical student could you see yourself in politics?

I had always had an interest in politics and was involved …

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