Episode 06 Innovation in Healthcare podcast series

“…It's been a pleasure really to be in this area, such an exciting area and even in my short window of 15 or 20 years involved now, so many things have changed, so many things for the better in my opinion and there's a greater acceptance. So it was the challenge, the innovation, looking forward. It had everything you wanted [as a specialty] from my point of view.” - Prof Dominic A. Hegarty

In this episode we interview Prof Dominic A. Hegarty, Consultant in Pain Management and Neuromodulation at the Orthopaedic and Spine Centre, Mater Private Hospital, Cork.

Prof Hegarty has specialised in pain management for over two decades and is recognised as one of the country’s foremost interventional pain management doctors, who is constantly developing new techniques to deal with the most complex cases of pain.

He co-founded the Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine in Cork University Hospital and South infirmary and Victoria Hospital in Cork, before joining the Mater Private Hospital Cork where he was appointed as Clinical Director in 2023. Prof Hegarty is also the first formal Professor in Pain Medicine at University College Cork, the current President of the World Institute of Pain, and Clinical Director of Pain Relief Ireland.

In this podcast interview, Prof Hegarty discusses the key challenges in pain medicine, and how innovation and being open to new technologies is vital in achieving better outcomes for patients.

In particular, he discusses the evolution and success of neuromodulation and implantable devices for various pain conditions, the appropriate use of different classes of analgesics to manage pain, and the different approaches in the private and public sector.