More than 40 new Irish jobs announced for leading online medical education provider iheed

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment officially opened new offices for the homegrown company, which is experiencing rapid growth

Online, remote and blended solutions play a critical role in the provision of medical education and can help to address issues of staff retention and burnout as a result of the pandemic while delivering critical value for money in the health sector. That’s according to the founder and CEO of leading online medical education provider iheed, Dr Tom O’Callaghan. Dr O’Callaghan was speaking today (12.04.22) at the official opening of iheed’s new premises in Sandyford, Dublin. The event included the announcement of more than 40 new domestic jobs for the homegrown organisation and was attended by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD.

iheed is experiencing rapid expansion, with staff numbers growing from 19 to 44 in the last twelve months. Today’s announcement will see a further additional 44 jobs created over the coming 12 months in areas such as technology, UX design, content development, digital marketing, sales, student support, finance and operations.

iheed is the leading online medical education provider in Europe, Middle East, and Asia and also has staff operations in the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, India and Brazil to support the Dublin HQ. iheed also supports a further 382 doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and educationalists who work remotely with the organisation as faculty and tutors both in Ireland and across UK, Europe, North America, Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Founded in 2013, iheed partners with world leading medical universities at home and abroad, including the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Irish College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, University College Dublin, and the University of Warwick in the UK, to develop and deliver transformative online medical education remotely through the worlds most advanced medical education platform. iheed has had more than 400,000 course completions amongst doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in more than 65 countries. iheed’s growing portfolio of 12 university professional qualifications include master’s programmes in public health, medical education, healthcare leadership and diabetes, and professional diplomas in paediatrics, women’s health, dermatology and care of the elderly. It will shortly roll out a suite of further specialist nursing programmes with its university partners.

Speaking at the event, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD said:

“I’m really happy to be in Sandyford today to make this very welcome announcement for iheed, which will create 40 new jobs this year. We are putting huge investment into our health service - we've 40% more doctors now than we had 10 years ago and approximately 2,000 more beds than we have five years ago, for example. So huge investment going in and I’m really happy to see iheed offering more flexible training opportunities to support this expansion.”

CEO of iheed, Dr Tom O’Callaghan said: “Built by healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals, iheed’s students engage with a global faculty of passionate medical educators and fellow students on the world’s most advanced medical education platform. Both our student satisfaction rates of 95 per cent, and educational outcomes are the best in the industry, and over 90 per cent of students would recommend us to colleagues and friends. However, the ultimate measure of iheed’s success is the impact our education programmes have on improving patient care across the world at this critical time of need.

“The pandemic has highlighted the invaluable role of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals in public life, while accelerating many of the challenges faced by the healthcare sector globally. These include the growing worldwide shortage of healthcare workers and the need to retain talent; a focus on value for money among policymakers; and the need for an urgent shift from expensive hospital-based care to cost-effective, community-based preventative healthcare. iheed’s flexible and fully remote model, its growing list of Leading University partners, the quality of the online qualifications we provide and the efficiency of our delivery positions us well to support a response to these challenges in the sector.”

Kevin Sherry, Executive Director at Enterprise Ireland added:

“iheed is an excellent example of an innovative Irish company making a global impact by delivering cutting-edge solutions to address challenges in this important sector and improving health outcomes around the world. Enterprise Ireland is proud to have supported iheed over the past 7 years and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the team during this exciting period of growth and international expansion.”

For more information, visit iheed.org.

About iheed:

iheed is leading the way in delivering high-quality online medical education. Built by doctors and healthcare professionals, we have over 40,000 users across the globe, and believe that effective, accessible medical education is the key to providing better health outcomes worldwide. iheed is a division of Cambridge Education Group. Since 1952, Cambridge Education Group has been delivering the highest quality academic programmes, providing a valuable stepping-stone for thousands of students to progress onto the world's leading universities and maximise their career opportunities.