UQ School of Medicine celebrates outstanding clinical teachers

So, you’ll be attending  UQ Medical School in 2015. Wondering about who will be teaching you?
Part of the Doctor of Medicine program is clinical training, and recently the UQ School of Medicine and UQMS was proud to announce the winners of the 2014 Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching and the Clinical School Teaching Awards. These awards are student nominated and below are comments from those students about the award recipients.

The Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching

This year the Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching was not given to an individual but to the RBWH Critical Care team for their simulation-based training program, which forms one component of the Critical Care course. The simulations are designed to create an appropriate level of anxiety in performance to increase learning from the various situations of being on call or responding to patients arriving to the emergency department.
Each simulation is accompanied with an appropriate debrief designed to understand the care, hospital processes and the various elements described. The simulation-based teaching has the advantage of being deliberate rather than opportunistic, it is standardized and safe as it does not directly affect human patients, and produces reflective learning. The simulation-based learning is supplemented by learning from patient care, which is opportunistic, but involves direct care and clinician involvement.

Clinical School Teaching awards

Royal Brisbane Clinical School
Associate Professor Kersi Taraporewalla, Consultant Anesthetist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
“There have also been countless instances in which Associate Professor Taraporewalla provided my fellow students and me with great clinical teaching on the fly. His best examples of devotion to student learning would be the simulation days run for students at the RBWH during the Critical Care Rotation.”
Greenslopes Clinical School
Dr Barry Hickey, Consultant Respiratory Physician at the Greenslopes Private Hospital.
“Dr Hickey unsparingly shared his knowledge and experiences at every opportunity with us. He not only set the example of how to be a clinician with solid understanding of disease process but encouraged students to build rapport with patients to bring better outcomes of the treatment.”
Dr Glen Wood, Consultant Urologist at Greenslopes Private Hospital.
“Dr Wood is a great teacher and cares for his students. His VOPPS are well done and he is very funny and willing to make time for students. He would come to tutes excited to teach, has a fantastic ability to make a comfortable atmosphere where people could freely give their own opinion, which encouraged input from everyone.”
PA -Southside Clinical School
Dr Raman Parthasarathy, Psychiatrist at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
“Dr Raman is an enthusiastic and approachable teacher who has inspired my learning in the subject. He is encouraging and supportive, and provides valuable, constructive feedback in a way that motivates students to actively make improvements.”
Ipswich Clinical School
Dr Wayne Harris, Paediatrician at Ipswich Hospital.
“Dr Harris is an enthusiastic clinical teacher who goes out of his way to provide quality teaching to medical students in paediatrics, is a masterful storyteller and his depth and breadth of knowledge ensured there was never a dull moment during his teaching sessions.”
Rural Clinical School
Ms Julie Bennett, Lead Clinical Educator (Clinical Skills and Simulation) at Rural Clinical School Hervey Bay.
“Ms Julie Bennett displays all the qualities necessary to be an effective teacher, inspiring her students to continue learning and to always improve. Her leadership and compassion are qualities that come to mind and I feel that her style of teaching reflects this.”
Sunshine Coast Clinical School
Dr Arif Manji, Clinical Director of General Medicine for the Sunshine Coast Hospital Health Service.
“Dr Manji is very passionate about teaching and goes out of his way to give us tutorials. He is very thorough and has a unique approach in helping us understand concepts. He is always willing to listen to us present cases and give us valuable feedback.”
Ochsner Clinical School
Dr Shontell Thomas, Senior Lecturer in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Ochsner Clinical School.
“Dr Thomas embodies the clinical and educational characteristics that mould medical students into skilled and compassionate clinicians. She consistently goes beyond expectations and is always looking for teaching moments. Seeing her practice and how well she interacted with patients was informative on its own.”
Mater Clinical School
Dr John Bingley, Vascular Surgeon at Mater Hospital.
“Dr Bingley has a unique approach to both life and medicine and as such provides an interesting take on teaching and practicing modern medicine in the surgery context, especially around improved performance, self and peer review and safety with a patient-centered focus.”
Northside Clinical School
Dr Vesna Markovic, Paediatrician at Redcliffe Hospital.
“Dr Markovic is an excellent teacher. Her teaching style employs a combination of anecdotal stories about her experiences with patients as well as highly relevant didactic information. She will encourage students to research a specific topic and then follow up by quizzing students on the subject.”