Lisa McNamee

Medical Officer – Irish Defence Forces  

Co-Founder – Space Medicine Ireland  

President – Aerospace Medicine Student & Resident Organisation (Ireland) 

After an arts degree in Trinity College Dublin, I chose to undertake graduate entry medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons before joining the Irish Defence Forces as a military medicine specialist trainee. I was exposed to aviation and space medicine at different points in my career and began to search for opportunities in the field. They were very difficult to find in Ireland. I applied for and was accepted to the European Space Agency’s Space Medicine Physician training course where I met Space Medicine Ireland Co-Founder and Trinity College Lecturer Dr Philip Brady. I then went on to do the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Principles of Aerospace Medicine course. Finally, I completed the Introduction to Aerospace Medicine training course from King’s College London.   

During this time, I co-founded Space Medicine Ireland and began conducting research with collaborators across the country and with great support from international colleagues like Dr Shawna Pandya, an ambassador of the Canadian Space Agency. I’ve been fortunate this year to complete my MSc in University College Dublin in Immediate Care with a thesis focus on aeromedical dispatch.   

A typical day for Lisa: 

There isn’t one really, but most days have some combination of clinical work (seeing patients with a variety of medical concerns) and non-clinical or academic work (working on a research paper, having a meeting with collaborators, working on articles for publication).   

Top tip from Lisa for those interested in a similar career:

If you’re interested in aerospace medicine, there are a huge number of online resources where you can teach yourself the basics if you’re interested. Space Medicine Ireland has annual essay competitions, educational meetings and special bursaries available to help you learn more about this exciting field.   

For military medicine, there are shadowing opportunities and medical electives available to students every year.