A festival which explores medicine, the arts and culture, will be held in Galway for the first time next year.
The meeting, described as ‘The Electric Picnic’ of medical conferences, will take place in NUI Galway in September 2019.
The hugely successful dotMD conference is run by three Galway-based doctors, Dr Ronan Kavanagh, Dr Muiris Houston and Dr Alan Coss.
It is expected to bring up to 500 doctors and other health care professionals to the city.
dotMD has taken place in Dublin’s Smock Alley to sold out audiences annually since 2012.
Dr Ronan Kavanagh, the conference director based in the Galway Clinic, said: “The organisers believe that Galway is a natural home for dotMD. “Its great to bring the conference home to Galway.
“Our city is home to Druid Theatre, Macnas, the Galway International Arts Festival and is also the European Capital of Culture in 2020, so is the perfect location for a meeting exploring the relationship between the arts, culture, and medicine.”
One of the reasons for the move is to attract an international audience to the meeting according to doctor, medical journalist and organiser Muiris Houston “People love to come to Galway with its reputation for great food, craic and music. Its also a gateway for delegates who want to extend their stay and explore Connemara and the Wild Atlantic Way.”
Topics previously explored include literature, art, photography, poetry, rap, comedy, story telling, technology, burnout, Buddhism and meditation and even undertaking.
