Teaching

Teaching discipline

As a clinician by training, I focus on medical education and indeed have completed a formal qualification in this field (B.Sc. in Medical Education). My teaching focuses typically on practical or translational areas of medicine (i.e., moving research from the pre-clinical setting into the clinical setting), or applying medical concepts in novel contexts. This includes teaching novel clinical concepts to other clinicians, like using new treatments for cancer (as shown in teaching example #3) or explaining basic medical concepts to relative novices. As an example, I have taught the basics of the heart and lungs to mechanical and biomedical engineering students (shown in teaching examples #1 and #2). 

I also have worked to deepen my understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of education, building on the initial concepts I learned as part of my bachelor's, as well as my more informal teaching experiences on hospital wards (records shown in teaching example #5). My goal is to ultimately develop into research clinician with an interest in teaching across a range of disciplines and experience levels.

Education experience

Since my time in medical school, and subsequently the Ph.D. program at Duke University, I have been engaged in a range of learning activities, ranging from formal to informal settings. An overview of my teaching experience is included below:

1.    Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) & BSc (Honors) in Medical Education, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK. 2016

2.    Student Selected Component – Teaching in Psychiatry to medical students, Northeast London Foundation Trust (NELFT), London, UK. 2015

o   Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate teaching skills and proficiencies through observed sessions and receiving constructive feedback and support

• Use educational theory to develop lesson plans and a small curriculum for attached peers

• Work on a medical education/psychiatry project – continuing an audit that was begun in late 2014

• Improve knowledge and skills around common psychiatric conditions with a focus on proactive management of psychosis in adolescents and young adults.

3.    Junior Doctor teaching, University of Dundee & NHS Tayside, Scotland, UK. 2017-2018

o   Individual Learning Sessions for medical students – see example #5 below

• Surgical Apprenticeship – General Surgery – Introduction Session

• Surgical Apprenticeship – General Surgery – You’ve Been Bleeped

• Surgical Apprenticeship – General Surgery – Top tips for Interns

4.    Medical Student teaching, NHS Wales, Wales, UK. 2018-2020

o   Anatomy Teaching for medical students

• Muscle, palm of hand, vessels, shoulder joint

• The peritoneal cavity and the gastrointestinal tract

5.    Honorary Clinical Lecturer, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK. 2020-2023

o   BS42027 – Cancer Pharmacology and Treatment module. Immunotherapy lecture delivered for medical students

o   Learning Objectives

• The overall concept of cancer immunotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibition

• The mechanism and clinical utility of current immunotherapies

• Prognostic factors relating to efficacy of immunotherapies

• Limitations/Risks of immune checkpoint inhibition

• Future directions for immune checkpoint inhibition and other therapeutic approaches

6.    Teaching Assistant – CRP264: Introduction to Immunology in Clinical Research. 2022

o   TA for Clinical Fellows

o   Delivered remote lectures on:

• Oncolytic Virotherapy – see example #3 below

7.    Teaching Assistant – BME535: Blast and Ballistics, Duke University, NC, USA. 2023

o   TA for Biomedical Engineering undergraduate and graduate students

o   Awarded BME Department's Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award 2023

o   Delivered in-person lectures on:

• Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiology (in-person) – see example #1 below

• Neuro-immunology – see example #2 below

8.    Certificate in College Teaching, Duke University, NC, USA.

o   Education courses taken:

• GS750: Fundamentals of College Teaching

• GS762: Digital Pedagogy – online module planning guide included in example #4 below 

9.    Preparing Future Faculty Fellow (2023-2024), Duke University, NC, USA.

Student learning and assessment

In order to effectively deliver teaching content, I have focused on designing lessons which are both linked to the pre-set curriculum and also following the process of constructive alignment as described by Biggs [1]. Given that the starting point is the curriculum and the overarching concept is what needs to be learned, learning objectives are designed considering what students will do, how teaching can support their learning and how this teaching can be demonstrated and assessed. The instructional learning objective therefore becomes the assessment task [2]. To that end, I have developed lectures which encompass a wide range of material, but focuses on directly applicable concepts to the overall course. For example, when TAing for Blast and Ballistics, a course which inter-twines medical and engineering, my focus on neuro-immunology attempts to relate all inflammatory responses to that of an explosion or trauma (see example #2).

Further, when exploring complicated concepts with students in class, I will often pause and ask questions, in an open and non-confrontational manner, to both ask students to make their own assessment of the material, and to check in that students are following the material being delivered to them. I also will try and focus the material on matter that directly relates to the overall course content, and for example in my overview of cardiovascular and respiratory physiology (an enormous topic), I often set aside topics that are less useful and instead concentrate on those more applicable. Another element of assessment is a follow-up from the previous class to make sure that the primary learning point has been driven home, and if not, to reinforce it further (see example #1). Subsequent assignments on virtual learning environments will often ask students to describe a concept rather than specific fact memorization, in order for me to gauge whether the student understands the principles that have been communicated to them. By doing so, my educational approach attempts to follow the paradigm described by Harden [3], in which evaluation is driven by the learning outcomes that students should achieve (i.e., the produce defines the process).

Personal development

One of my key objectives in developing my education skills has been to enhance my understanding of educational theory. Indeed, by engaging in this reflective process, I can begin to recognize key theoretical concepts that are underpinning my own development. This has part been driven by taking formal classes in education, such as my bachelor’s in medical education or in the TA training process at Duke, with accompanying planning guides being used to develop my approach to teaching (as seen in teaching example #4). This has helped me blend a more theoretical learning experience with my historically experiential development approach (as shown by the ward-based teaching per teaching example #5) as suggested by the Kolb learning cycle [4]. This is further supplemented by putting together this portfolio (as described by Tiegelaar [5]) and I am now moving to the abstract conceptualization stage of the Kolb cycle, considering where I may have not reached my full potential and for what reason.

As part of this process, I have begun to consider what factors have a stake in determining my personal self-efficacy, as I feel this will be a core element of fulfilling my goals to become a confident educator. I have become aware of the level to which self-efficacy also plays an important role in determining future outcomes as confidence will play a role in my predisposition to take on greater challenges [6]. While self-efficacy is closely related to task engagement, persistence and performance [7], I have certainly appreciated the challenges of balancing research commitments with an active teaching presence (e.g., while TAing this semester). Learning from this, my key takeaway messages from my teaching experience will be to try and change my time management to leave enough time, using the principles of spaced practice [8] to allow me to carry out regular review of smaller chunks of information, with specific goals and key concepts that are then iteratively fleshed out with details over time.

I also intend to simultaneously begin using cumulative review strategies as outlined by Szpunar [9], to try and enhance my ability to elaborate on prior knowledge before commencing new teaching sessions. Indeed, having a more longitudinal experience by TAing BME535 has allowed me to teach multiple lessons and thus build upon the prior lessons (per teaching examples #1 and #2). By employing new self-regulatory strategies with continued metacognition about my learning skills and styles as recommended by Volet [10], I hope to achieve a productive balance between education and research.

Supporting materials

References

1. Biggs, J., What the student does: Teaching for enhanced learning. Higher education research & development, 1999. 18(1): p. 57-75.

2. Mager, R.F., Preparing instructional objectives. Belmont, CA: Pitman Learning. 1984, Inc.

3. Harden, J.C., MH Davis, M. Friedman, RM, AMEE Guide No. 14: Outcome-based education: Part 5-From competency to meta-competency: a model for the specification of learning outcomes. Medical teacher, 1999. 21(6): p. 546-552.

4. Kolb, D.A., Experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Sadle River: Prentice Hall, 1984.

5. Tigelaar, D.E., et al., The development and validation of a framework for teaching competencies in higher education. Higher education, 2004. 48: p. 253-268.

6. Maddux, J.E., The power of believing you can. Handbook of positive psychology, 2002: p. 277-287.

7. Pajares, F., Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of educational research, 1996. 66(4): p. 543-578.

8. Cepeda, N.J., et al., Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological bulletin, 2006. 132(3): p. 354.

9. Szpunar, K.K., K.B. McDermott, and H.L. Roediger, Expectation of a final cumulative test enhances long-term retention. Memory & Cognition, 2007. 35(5): p. 1007-1013.

10. Volet, S.E., Modelling and coaching of relevant metacognitive strategies for enhancing university students' learning. Learning and instruction, 1991. 1(4): p. 319-336.