Classmates in Conversation: Episode One - Dr Helen Towers and Dr Harald Sunde, Class of 1983

Описание: Filmed in summer 2023, in each episode two members of the alumni community sit down together for a conversation, swapping career experiences, personal stories and of course their own memories of their time at RCSI. Episode One features Dr Helen Towers and Dr Harald Sunde (Class of 1983).

Dr Helen Towers, Class of 1983
Growing up just a stone's throw from RCSI, Helen Towers was born in Earlsfort Terrace, went to school in Loreto on the Green and then enrolled in RCSI, graduating in 1983.

Following her internship at the Richmond Hospital, and rotations in Ballinasloe, Crumlin and the Coombe, Helen moved to New York and married Dr Wally Weiss (Class of 1985). Helen completed a paediatric residency at St Vincent's Hospital, New York, and a Neonatal Fellowship at Columbia University, where she continues to work to this day as Associate Professor of Paediatrics and Associate Medical Director of the NICU.

When not working with or teaching residents and Fellows, Helen spends time with Wally and her twin children Emma and Dan along with daughter-in-law, Ana Pilar. She loves spending time with friends in New York and Vermont but travels back frequently to Ireland where many of her family still live.

Dr Harald Sunde, Class of 1983
Harald – also known as Harry O’Sundaigh ‘as Gaeilge’ - travelled from Norway to study in RCSI, graduating in 1983. After graduation, Harald returned to Norway although he ventured further north from his hometown to the town of Kirkenes in Arctic Norway. There, Harald has held various roles as a doctor, three miles from the Russian border.

He practiced as a GP for 25 years before becoming Medical Director of Finnmark Hospital Health Trust in 2011. In this role, Harald is responsible for the operation of a health trust that spans a region which is almost two-thirds the size of Ireland, borders Russia and Finland, encompasses 18 municipalities with 75,000 inhabitants.

Due to retire in 2024, Harald will be kept busy with his four grandchildren as well as his duties as an elected member of his Municipality Council. In whatever spare time he has, Harald will continue to write historical articles and books, run his own publishing company and miss the taste of draught Guinness.