Online medical education provider Iheed will create more than 44 new jobs in the next 12 months, doubling its headcount as it continues its rapid expansion.
The company will higher in areas such as technology, user experience (UX) design, content development, digital marketing, sales, student support, finance and operations, adding to the 25 people it has hired in the past year and bringing its total staff numbers to 88.
Established in 2013, Iheed partners with medical universities, including the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Irish College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, UCD, and the University of Warwick in the UK, to develop and deliver online medical education remotely through its platform.
“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," said Dr Tom O'Callaghan, CEO of Iheed.
"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,"
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"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.”
Iheed has staff operations in the UAE, Hungary, India and Brazil to support its Dublin headquarters. The firm also supports 382 doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and educationalists who work remotely as faculty and tutors in Ireland, the UK and across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The company has more than 400,000 course completions among doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals in more than 65 countries, with student satisfaction rates of 95% and 90% of students saying they would recommend Iheed, according to Dr O'Callaghan.
It offers 12 university professional qualifications, including 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.
Speaking at the event, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar 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.”
Kevin Sherry, executive director at Enterprise Ireland, said: "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 seven years and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the team during this exciting period of growth and international expansion."
Iheed will soon roll out a suite of further specialist nursing programmes with its university partners.
Photo: Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar; Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion Josepha Madigan; CEO of iHeed, Dr Tom O'Callaghan; Rebecca Peterson, Director of Global Marketing at iHeed, and Brendan Webb, CEO of Cambridge Education Group. (Pic: Barry Cronin)
