Dr Jo Harris – New Deputy Director of Primary Care Education

Dr Jo Harris has been appointed as the Deputy Director in Primary Care Education in the Department Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College London. Dr Harris comments on her new role:

"I am excited to be taking on the post of Deputy Director in Primary Care Education at Imperial College London, although quite daunted to be filling the shoes of Graham Easton who has been ably performing the role for the last three years.

I am a general practitioner in Hammersmith and although quite new to the department I have been teaching Imperial students for 15 years. In fact I attended this medical school as a student myself so the Reynolds Building has felt like home longer than I care to remember! I am also Deputy Head of the Final Year Undergraduate Teaching at Imperial College London and together with roles in clinical communication and admissions, feel ideally placed to link the work of the Department of Primary Care with the medical school as a whole.

I have recently completed my MA in Medical Education with my research project looking at Foundation doctors acting as near–peer tutors on a transition course for final year medical students. I balanced the work for my MA with training for my first half marathon in which I raised £1600 for the Stroke Association.

These are fast-changing times for our department with the medical school keen to follow a national initiative to increase the proportion of undergraduate teaching occurring in the community. This also offers great opportunities. I am looking forward to working with you and facilitating these changes."

Comments

A View from the Community - Dr Dana Beale

As part of our View from the Community series of articles, our Year 6 Specialty Choice Lead Dr Ros Herbert interviewed community teacher Dr Dana Beale, to get the inside track on what it's like being a community teacher for Imperial College. To read more articles like this, please sign up to our newsletter by emailing b.broglia@imperial.ac.uk

Dana, tell me what first got you interested in homeless medicine? "Incredibly I was inspired by the same module I did as a student at Imperial College that I am now teaching on! Back then it was 'medical and social care of the homeless' and was based at the surgery for the homeless in Great Chapel Street - a fabulous service that showed me that primary care tailored to this vulnerable and challenging group existed and I promised myself there and then that I would return to work in this field."

What makes you so enthusiastic about this work? "I find this line of work a breath of fresh air; at times incredibly challenging …

Introducing the WATCCH Project - Widening Access to Careers in Community Healthcare

The Undergraduate Primary Care Education team in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London has kicked off an exciting new work experience programme called WATCCH – Widening Access to Careers in Community Healthcare.
There is a shortage of work experience in the health sector for pupils, particularly for those who have no connection to healthcare professionals. WATCCH aims to open up work experience opportunities in the healthcare sector by offering placements for sixth form pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to shadow various allied healthcare professionals in general practices. These 16/17 year olds have completed their GCSEs with good grades, do not have placements elsewhere, and are the first in their family applying to university.
Pupils will attend a pre-placement induction at Imperial College's Charing Cross Hospital Campus, and will then have a 3-day work experience session at a general practice where they will observe a variety of allie…

What makes a good placement?

In the New Year, Dr Kevin Patel a GP ST3 on the Imperial VTS, takes a reflective look at the factors that go into making a good clinical attachment for trainees.
As GP trainees we are ‘encouraged’ to reflect; challenging encounters with patients, conversations with colleagues that could have gone better, moments when you felt like you were born to do this job. All of this is good fodder for your ePortfolio.
Not one to miss out on a reflective opportunity, I took a step back from a discussion that was taking place about difficult rotations, a conversation I imagine that is oft-repeated amongst GPs and hospital doctors up and down the country, and thought about how we could use our experience as GP trainees to feed into this.
As trainees we rotate into diverse placements, from paediatrics to public health to care of the elderly. I counted at least 15 distinct departments I have worked in since finishing medical school just over 5 years ago. This is more than any other specialty trainee…

Imperial College London Primary Care

Search This Blog