Page 21 - Signal Summer 2018

| CATHAL BERRY |

Former COS Lt Gen Dermot Earley DSM addressing the ARW Task Group, of which Cathal Berry was a part, prior to deployment to Chad in 2008.

Over the three month course I was struck by the high School itself was fairly straight-forward. Once again my
regard that British troops had for their medical officers. BSc from Galway was a great help as I had already stud-
One day we received a particularly inspirational lecture on ied Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology to degree
battlefield surgery from a medical officer and his words level.
are still ringing in my ears. He began with a quote from Do you feel that alternate career paths within dif-
The Anatomy of Courage, a book written by Lord Moran ferent elements of the organisation could be better
(Winston Churchill’s physician during the Second World highlighted? If so, why?
War). “Courage is rightly esteemed the greatest of all In fairness to the military, all officer cadets get extensive
human qualities, for it is the one quality that guarantees briefings prior to selecting courses through the USAC
all others.” He then added that only three people in history programme. Furthermore, hardly a week goes by without
have been double recipients of the Victoria Cross and that a course being advertised in Smurfit Business School or
two of these had been medical officers. Furthermore, that the Institute of Public Administration, or even international
only one military person in history had been decorated by courses in the UK or Germany. One area that could be
both sides of the same conflict and that was once again addressed however is the organisation’s attitude to career
a medical officer (in the Falkland’s War). breaks. While it has improved considerably in recent years
He concluded by saying that as a medical officer you I still feel there may be a stigma associated with taking
must be fearless in advocating for your troops, that you them. Career breaks should be encouraged rather than
needed broad shoulders (both literally and metaphori- frowned upon and CS4 should allow for a number of
cally), and how the arms of the vested interests must personnel to be on a career break at any time. Personnel
tire from throwing punches long before your body tires would not be on the Defence Forces payroll at the time
from taking them. I didn’t know it at the time but he was anyway so why not? Anyone familiar with General Norman
describing exactly the journey I would soon embark on Schwarzkopf’s autobiography, It Doesn’t Take a Hero, will
in order to transfer successfully from the Infantry into the know that progression from Colonel to General rank in
Medical Corps in Ireland. Needless to say his lecture was the US Army actually requires at least a one year career
captivating and I wondered why our own medical services
could only achieve d mediocrity when they were capable
of excellence.
Could you provide us a summary of the extensive
training, qualifications and reskilling that are neces-
sary in order to make such a transition?
I first sat my Leaving Cert in 1994, so I repeated it again
in 2009 to increase my chances of getting an offer from
the Central Applications Office. I enrolled on a weekend
revision course for a year at the Institute of Education and
was subsequently offered a place at the Royal College of
Surgeons in Dublin. On completion of the five year course
I then went on to do three years’ post-graduate experi-
ence in various hospitals around the country. Medical

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