Meet our Member: Kylie Fitzgerald, Associate Fellow ANZAHPE

Kylie has worked as a Health Professions Educator since 2002. She is a registered osteopath who has worked as a full time academic, lecturer, Course Leader and researcher, and in part time private practice, at Victoria University from 2005-2019. She then moved to specialist medical education, leading the Training and Education program  for trainees at the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP) from 2019-2021. Her role included leading education focused innovations and research projects in selection, failure to fail and e-learning approaches that continue to this day. She also worked as a clinical supervisor in RMIT University’s osteopathy program during this time – supporting clinical learning during the extended Melbourne lockdowns was a learning experience in itself!

She currently works as a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Melbourne’s Medical School. She leads the Course Advice program and MD1 faculty engagement and development in the Doctor of Medicine program.

“I became aware of ANZAHPE mid-career when a new colleague recommended that I attend the Adelaide 2017 conference. I still remember the wonder of incredible presentations using ground-breaking approaches and meeting likeminded people and thinking “I’m home. This is my tribe”. So many rich conversations, relationships and collaborations have sprung from my association with ANZAHPE including my current dream role at UoM – from the ANZAHPE jobs board! Being accepted as an ANZAHPE Associate Fellow in 2019 opened additional doors to reviewing and leadership. I recommend all HCP interested in teaching to join up and find out if we are their tribe too! Hope to see you at the Gold Coast!”

Congratulations to Dr Kajal Patel on being awarded Associate Fellowship with ANZAHPE.

Kajal is a Melbourne based medical practitioner and is currently employed as a research fellow at the Skin Health Institute, where she is involved in curriculum development and providing education to healthcare professionals in the area of dermatology. She graduated from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 2015 and undertook further study in the Masters in Medical Education at the University of Dundee, where she was awarded a distinction. Her dissertation focused on the integration of International Medical Graduates in Australia, and was selected as a finalist for the Best Research Paper Award at the ASME 2022 conference. In her previous role as a clinical medical education registrar in Tasmania she was a strong advocate for junior doctors, particularly International Medical Graduates, presenting her findings at multiple ANZAHPE events.

I applied for the AFANZAHPE to engage with like minded individuals, build stronger connections with ANZAHPE members in the hopes of collaborating on medical education research. I feel privileged to be a part of the ANZAHPE family, excited to grow professionally and give back the medical education community.

We are excited to announce our first Keynote Speaker for the 2023 ANZAHPE Conference, Dr Subha Ramani, MBBS, MPH, MMEd (Dundee), PhD (Maastricht), FAMEE

Subha is the current president of AMEE, An International Association for Health Professions Education.

Subha Ramani is a general internist, who graduated from Stanley Medical College, University of Madras with MBBS in 1986 and completed Internal Medicine residencies at the Postgraduate Institute for Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India as well as James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA. She went on to do a Fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, completing a Masters in Public Health at the Boston University School of Public Health in 1998. In 2005, she graduated with a Masters in Medical Education from the University of Dundee in Scotland and successfully defended her PhD at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

She is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Adjunct Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Professions Education; Honorary Professor of Medical Education at the University of Manchester, UK; and External faculty at School of Health Professions Education (SHE), Maastricht University. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), she has the following leadership roles: Director of evaluation for Internal Medicine residency programme; Director for the Scholars in Medical Education residency pathway; Director of the Program for research, innovation and scholarship in medical education (PRISE) for the Department of Medicine; Assistant Director for global perspectives and community for the Brigham Education Institute. Dr. Ramani is a senior core faculty at the Harvard Macy Institute. She served as the Ronald Harden Visiting Professor at International Medical University

Dr. Ramani has been a longstanding member of AMEE, completing two terms of three years each on the Executive board, chaired the Fellowship Committee for 4 years and served on the AMEE Postgraduate Education committee for 3 years.

Meet one of our newest members, Eleanora Leopardi.

Nora is an Italy-trained physician, who moved to Australia in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Medical Education. As a Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Nora teaches in the Joint Medical Program, working primarily on Darkinjung land in the Central Coast Clinical School.

"I am a researcher in Medical and Health Professions Education, with a keen interest in sociological exploration of physical and digital learning environments. My research interests include new technologies, game-based learning, planetary health, equity/accessibility/inclusion/diversity, and student empowerment.

I joined ANZAHPE to feel more connected to educators and researchers near and far who share my passion for learning and education. I look forward to connecting with other ANZAHPE members, and taking advantage of the professional development opportunities that ANZAHPE offers."

Meet one of our newest members, Ashlee Forster.

Ashlee is a Queensland-trained medical practitioner employed at the Academy for Medical Education at The University of Queensland. Ashlee teaches foundational skills in history-taking, clinical examination, procedural skills, and communication to first-year medical students. Over the past five years, Ashlee has successfully run eight large-cohort courses in Clinical Practice and mentored over 50 clinical tutors. More recently, Ashlee has assumed the role of Academic Lead for Clinical and Professional Learning in first year of a new MD Program which commenced in 2023.

"I am very interested in innovative approaches to clinical skills teaching in the pre-clinical environment, as well as team functioning, medical student health, safety and wellbeing, and development of non-technical skills in medicine. Membership with ANZAHPE allows networking and sharing of ideas with equally passionate and innovative educators, who collectively raise the profile for educational research."

Meet one of our members, Dr Hashmet Parveen.

Our members come from a variety of backgrounds, professions and countries. Dr Hashmet Parveen is one of our international members. From being a General Practitioner for 17 years, Dr Hashmet Parveen moved into academia and research for the past six years and has found both fields enriching and challenging. Hashmet has found her most satisfying role is contributing to the writing and coordinating of the MRCGP International exams at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

“A thirst for knowledge, an enthusiasm for meeting new experts, a dream of conducting good research in the field of medical education and a constant yearning to update my teaching skills was the focus of my registering in ANZAHPE.

 I first heard of ANZAHPE from my emails to a wonderful guide Dr Koshila Kumar who unknowingly opened a channel to join similar minds in the pursuit of enhancing teaching and research skills in medical education. I explored ANZAHPE’S core objectives and found them very encouraging. I have finally found a body of experts whose guidance will enable medical educators like me, across the globe, to achieve holistic development in their careers regardless of the level of expertise.

 The ANZAHPE membership is a very useful platform for all educators keen on research to meet and learn. It enables and encourages all members to participate and contribute whilst learning innovations in the process.

I have personally found participation in the ANZAHPE webinars very informative and helps me obtain updated knowledge on new modalities adopted in teaching and research. The journals are always a useful resource for future research topics and I hope to pursue my dream of contributing to research and hope to maintain a long and meaningful membership at ANZAHPE.”

Congratulations to Professor Adrienne Torda on her ANZAHPE Fellowship.

Professor Adrienne Torda is Vice Dean and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at UNSW Sydney. She is also a specialist in Infectious Diseases, holds an honorary position at Prince of Wales Hospital and sits on the Vaccine Committee of Australia for the TGA. She is a Nationally and Internationally recognised leader in the fields of Medical education, academic leadership and educational innovation. Adrienne is also an advocate for equity, inclusivity and diversity at both a local and international level, mentoring female leaders in academia and medicine across the Pacific. Adrienne has multiple educational awards and fellowships and was recently awarded a citation for outstanding achievement at the 2020 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT).

"I have been involved in ANZAHPE for many years and have attended and presented at the annual scientific conference each year since 2017. Involvement in this association has permeated my approach to innovating in health professional education, so that whenever I am planning to innovate and evaluate, I actively throw the lens of ‘scholarship’ into my approach which continues to allow me to develop and benefits our students. This has meant that I have a scholarly and meaningful approach to evaluating innovation. It hopefully also makes the outcomes relevant to other academics and academic institutions across Australia and New Zealand, so that we can all share our lessons learned. Being involved in ANZAHPE, initially as an associate fellow and now as a fellow, has also connected me with a broad network of academics and opened the door for collaborations and sharing of information."

Meet one of our newest members, Lisa Sullivan.

Lisa Sullivan is the founder and Group Managing Director of In Vivo Communications, an Australasian medical communications agency established in Sydney in 1996 and Singapore in 1999. In 2013, Lisa established In Vivo Academy Limited, an Australian registered not-for-profit education charity dedicated to the development and deployment of independent, accredited education across Australasia and the world.

In Vivo Academy is accredited by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and has developed and delivered numerous accredited programmes to Australian GPs and specialists, nurses and pharmacists both face-to-face and online.

Lisa’s Master of Philosophy (from UQ), was a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of online, face-to-face and blended learning in the delivery of CME/CPD to health care professionals and she is now preparing to commence her PhD to evaluate the translation of learning into practice in CME/CPD.

Lisa is also the Guest Editor for the 2023 Special Collection of the Journal of CME (JCME) which will focus on expanding the voices in CME/CPD.

"I am interested and excited about being a member of ANZAHPE as I look forward to furthering my knowledge in education, as well as the opportunity to expand my community of practice across the region."

Meet FoHPE's newest Associate Editor, Professor Rebecca Grainger.

"I am a rheumatologist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) in Aotearoa New Zealand. I have a fairly eclectic academic portfolio, with health professions education nestled alongside research in clinical rheumatology and technology in health. I am very pleased when a project overlaps two of these areas of my academic Venn diagram but find I can get excited about almost any research when it involves talented people working well as a team.

I am delighted to join FoHPE as an Associate Editor. I thrive in teams and in this team, I get the opportunity to I contribute to ongoing development of scholarship of health professions education in my Australasian HPE community. I bring my experience from editorial boards in rheumatology journals, as well as my previous research and publishing experiences – both good and less good! The onboarding at FoHPE has been the best I have experienced, and the support so far outstanding.

I graduated from Otago with an MB ChB, then did my of my physician and rheumatology training in Melbourne. I did my PhD at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, which was “wet lab” so I really do have quite broad research experience. I have worked as a rheumatologist in the AoNZ public hospital system for almost 20 years and joined University of Otago Wellington in 2009. Initially I was teaching and developing courses for postgraduate qualifications for allied health professionals. I then added teaching and course co-ordinating in our MB ChB programme. I started as a novice HPE researcher in my initial role and have continued since. Since 2018 I have been Associate Dean Medical Education, with oversight and leadership for our clinical programme. In this role I am also lucky to lead a small team of HPE academics. Together we have created an active HPE research community in our relatively small clinical school. I have been a member of ANZAHPE since 2018 and became and Associate Fellow in 2019. I’ve also been involved in several roles at my professional college, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Currently I chair the Advanced Training committee in rheumatology AoNZ so can contribute to the postgraduate education of doctors too.

I am looking forward to contributing to ANZAHPE through this role. I hope to catch up with many of you at ANZAHPE 2023 on the Gold Coast and future ANZAHPE events."

Meet FoHPE's newest Associate Editor Dr Sarah Hyde.

"I am an academic in HPE having worked in curriculum design, implementation and evaluation at the tertiary level for 22 years. I have worked across medicine, dentistry, and physiotherapy in particular, specialising in PBL, online learning, rural placements, and curriculum evaluation in particular. More recently I have worked as the Year 1 convenor in the new Joint Program in Medicine at Charles Sturt University, and was also the stream lead for PBL and Portfolio curricula. I live in Orange, a vibrant rural community in the Central West NSW, with my husband and three boys (aged 6, 12, and 14) + a border collie, chooks, and a bearded dragon!

My first ANZAHPE conference was at the University of Sydney back in 2001 and I have been a regular attendee ever since. I felt welcomed and supported to research in HPE from this very first conference and the enthusiasm for HPE was contagious amongst the network of colleagues and friends that has been sustained over this time. I joined the Committee of Management as Honorary Secretary in 2008 and then became Public Officer in 2011. I have learnt a lot from the many brilliant people engaged with ANZAHPE and its management along the way.

The opportunity to become an Associate Editor is a great privilege and I have found it rewarding so far and am enjoying the chance to learn more about writing and publications from a different perspective. I have been a regular peer reviewer for a number of journals in HPE and felt the time was right to take this next step, contribute more to this wonderful HPE community, and hone my skills in a different way. I have taken a step back from academia in 2023 and am on sabbatical in the UK, hoping to spend more time on writing and review (amidst traveling!) I’m looking forward to seeing more publications come to fruition through the journal and catching up with our membership in person in 2024!"