RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 1706a Exploring new frontiers in medical training: a journey through the development and launch of the higher specialist training programme in military medicine JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO Occup Environ Med FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP A374 OP A374 DO 10.1136/oemed-2018-ICOHabstracts.1069 VO 75 IS Suppl 2 A1 JP Hickey YR 2018 UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/75/Suppl_2/A374.1.abstract AB In July 2017 the Irish Medical Council formally recognised and accredited a new and innovative higher specialist training programme in Military Medicine. The development of this programme was a collaborative project between the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) and the Faculty of Military Medicine Ireland (FMMI). It represents a marriage between the traditional vocational General Practice training pathway combined with a tranche of multi-faceted Military Medicine specific modules, including occupational medicine, designed to competently equip medical practitioners for military service at home and overseas. This dual-specialist training programme, a formal and recognised medical qualification encompassing Military Medicine and General Practice training, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. This collaboration and the development of the training programme represent the very essence of innovation and forward-thinking in medical education. Military Medicine involved the coming together of a wide number of disparate groups and multi-organisational cooperation to bring this specialty from concept to reality. Through this presentation I will outline the journey from project foundation to specialty recognition leading to the induction of the first trainees onto the specialist training programme on the 10th of July 2017.