MEDEV

School of Medical Sciences Education Development

Describe your job in LTSN-01

Well I am pretty new here - this is only my second week - so there is still scope for a lot of flexibility in interpreting my role. My job title is Senior Educational Advisor and my key role is to provide professional educational support to the teachers, students and practitioners of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine throughout the UK.

This includes leading on a wide range of projects, developing and commissioning curriculum resources for the sector, fostering networking and the sharing of good practice, supporting workshops and so on. For example, one of my first tasks is to lead on a new project exploring the employability agenda, which is a relatively new concern for our sector. There is an invitation to join in this project, so if it is an area of interest for you then please contact me. 

What is your professional background?

For the first eighteen years of my career I worked in a Further Education College and I have gained very extensive teaching experience with a wide range of learners aged from sixteen to sixty plus and of just about every ability level. For example, I taught communication skills to builders and decorators as well as economics to A-Level students and the Teaching Certificate course for teachers in Further Education.

Towards the end of my time in FE I picked up the first of two Masters in Education (don't ask!). Since leaving the college I have also taught on Open University undergraduate and Masters programmes, including modules on Adult learning and Education Management. Although most of my teaching has been in an FE and HE context I even spent one year teaching part time in a school.

From 1995 I worked as an educational consultant on a variety of projects, workshops, networks and publications all concentrated in the area of supporting and disseminating good practice in the delivery of new and innovative curricula.

In 1999, I was appointed to the post of Staff Development Officer at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool. I then spent the next four years providing support to the faculty and in particular delivering training and development programmes for the staff supporting the PBL based MB ChB programme.

I hope, through my new role at LTSN, to be able to draw on this range of experience and knowledge to provide effective support to the sector. 

And your professional interests?

My main areas of interest are in the processes of staff development and the effective dissemination of good practice and also in the teaching and learning process itself, particularly as it functions in the working environment. How can we make the best use of that environment for learning? And how can we do so without undermining the quality and quantity of the service provided?

At present service demands are putting great pressure on the education process and we need to find ways to reconcile the seemingly conflicting demands of learning and service provision. I believe that the concept of the learning organisation is key to the future of the education and development of our future doctors, dentists and vets. 

Tell us about your personal interests

I enjoy reading fiction ranging from the works of Tolkien to Jane Austen and also watching and moaning about the TV and cinema adaptations! Incidentally, I thought the recent Lord of the Rings cycle was terrific.

I am also an active member of my local church. Recently I have started to learn the piano - rather late in the day you might think - but it is proving to be a fascinating experience. I am learning a great deal, at first hand, about the processes of acquiring and building a very complex technical skill.

I'm married with three children, two boys and a girl. All grown up, but not all flown the nest.