Michael Watts

Biography

Prof. Michael Watts graduated from Flinders University, South Australia, in 1990 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS) and a Bachelor of Science (BSc). He completed his Certificate of Specialist Training in Geriatric and General (Internal) Medicine in the United Kingdom in 2000. He is registered on the Specialist Division of the Irish Medical Council in both specialties.

In 2001, Prof. Watts was appointed Consultant Physician at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). He is Adjunct Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Limerick School of Medicine and Associate Director of Higher Specialist Training (HST) with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI). He also serves as Clinical Lead for applications to the Specialist Division of the Medical Register on behalf of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and RCPI.

Prof. Watts is Co-Chair of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Ireland, the national clinical working group focused on improving care and outcomes for patients with blood clots. He is also Co-Director of the Limerick Thrombosis and Coagulation Service (LCT), which provides specialist care for clotting disorders. He is Clinical Lead for the Clinical Research Support Unit (CRSU), which supports research activity across the HSE Mid West, and Clinical Director at Nenagh Hospital. He continues to act as a medical assessor for the Irish Medical Council.
His clinical research focuses on VTE and includes numerous peer-reviewed publications. He also has a strong interest in models of service delivery and published five articles in the Irish Medical Times (2018–2019) advocating for the development of Internal Medicine as a standalone specialty.

Since relocating his base to Nenagh Hospital in August 2022, Prof. Watts has led several service development initiatives, including:
• Expansion of the CRSU to support clinical research
• Enhancement of amputation and rehabilitation services across the HSE Mid West
• Strengthening of training and education programmes for both Basic Specialist Training (BST) and Higher Specialist Training (HST)
• Development of interdisciplinary services involving nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and social work.

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