IHF and RCSI Alumni
Our mission is to cultivate a compassionate community of Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Alumni who are dedicated to lifelong learning, the provision of peer support, and the nurturing and advancement of end-of-life care and education. We strive to foster ongoing engagement, professional development, the sharing of resources and best practices, whilst promoting the values of dignity, empathy and holistic care for individuals and families experiencing bereavement, grief and loss.
There are many graduates who have benefitted on a professional basis from completing studies in bereavement. Our goal is to foster a sense of community and develop a forum for opportunities for networking, collaboration and learning.
Alumni Committee 2024/2025
Gráinne Murtagh qualified as a Social Worker in 2004. For the last twenty years, she has practiced in a variety of social work settings. In the last two years, she has focused on social work education and research. She is pursuing a PHd in RCSI. Her research examines the issue of client perpetrated violence against social workers. She completed the M.Sc in Bereavement Studies in 2011.
Dr Aman Kwatra is a senior counselling psychologist working with the HSE in Ireland. He is the founder of ‘Garden of Sacred Tears’, a mental health private practice focusing on healing from bereavement, grief and loss. Dr Aman is also a Meditation teacher, weaving mythological traditions into his sessions. He holds advanced degrees in Psychology, Classical Studies, International Relations, and Post-War Recovery Studies.
Eric Clarke is a lecturer in health informatics in the Centre for Professionalism in Medicine & Health Sciences and the curriculum lead in death, dying and bereavement at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He currently co-ordinates the Professionalism in the Health Sciences module, which is part of the Foundation Year.
After completing an MSc Loss & Bereavement in 2020 (jointly run by RCSI and the Irish Hospice Foundation), he has worked to embed a number of educational developments that aim to enhance and highlight the topics of death, dying, grief and bereavement across the undergraduate medical curriculum in RCSI.
Eric also supports and advocates for the national bereavement support line.
Get in Touch
If you are interested in joining our Alumni or would like to find out more, please email [email protected]
