MrEric Clarke

Eric Clarke is a lecturer in Health Informatics and the Curriculum Lead for Death, Dying and Bereavement at the RCSI Centre for Professionalism in Medicine & Health Sciences. He holds an MSc in Loss and Bereavement from RCSI and the Irish Hospice Foundation, and an MSc in Health Informatics from Trinity College Dublin. His academic work focuses on the integration of bereavement studies within medical education.

At RCSI’s campuses in Dublin and Bahrain, he has developed a vertically structured programme in bereavement and end‑of‑life education that extends across all five years of the undergraduate medical curriculum. This programme introduces students to the societal and cultural dimensions of death before progressing to applied communication tasks, simulated encounters on anticipatory planning and advanced healthcare directives, and supervised observation of the pronouncement of death in the final year. The curriculum aims to ensure students acquire the knowledge, communication capability, and professional conduct required for clinical encounters involving dying patients and bereaved families.

His research interests include the educational and professional implications of clinical exposure to death and bereavement, communication practices in end‑of‑life care, and the role of health informatics in supporting the development of professional competence. His work emphasises the need for structured, evidence‑informed educational approaches to prepare students for the emotional and professional demands associated with end‑of‑life care.

Eric has contributed to broader European work in this field through his involvement with the European Grief Conference. He served on the organising committee for the 2024 and 2026 conferences and chairs the Education and Policy Subcommittee. In these roles, he supports the development of shared standards in grief‑related education and contributes to policy discussions across the European context.