the year in review 2013/14

Medicine@Nottingham

The year in review 2013/14

School of Medicine Annual Newsletter 2013/2014

Dean’s message P2 Dean’s message

P3 Training tomorrow’s doctors

Recognition for Lord Dearing Award winner and Life Cycle 4 rider

P4 Celebrating 10 years of Graduate Entry Medicine

GEM peer mentors

E-learning news

Brief updates

P5 Delivering research success

MRC Clinician Scientist – Mark Glover

P6 May Fest 2014 – Public Engagement

P7-9 The year in review

P10 Women in Medicine

Juggling clinical academic roles

Improving the workplace

P11 Female lead at NHBRU

Pursuing a research career

P12 Life Cycle 4: Inspired to give

P13 Enhancing careers services

New scholarship for MSc study

P14 Unsung heroines

P15 Nurturing postgraduate opportunities

Frances Cousans makes successful transition to practitioner

P16 Students provide lifesaving support

Dates for your diary

2 www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine

Welcome

It is a great pleasure to introduce our first annual update of the School of Medicine. I wanted to use my introduction largely to offer a huge personal thank you to all staff and students in the school. Together, we have achieved an enormous amount in a single year. It has been challenging and at times stressful, but throughout you have demonstrated the ethos that we all agreed for the school. You have demonstrated that “people and patients are at the heart of what we do” by putting in extra discretionary effort to make things work for our patients, students and staff. You have contributed (massively) to the school and society by building it from our previous schools, whilst maintaining and expanding its services and outreach. Thank you.

So what have we done together over this year? Firstly, I am proud of the way that we managed to get together, despite our size, to agree our Mission, Aims and Ethos. These are the things which make us tick, and I was proud of the spirit of service that shone through as staff suggested and shaped this vision. I still revisit it every time we develop or suggest something new. Alongside this, we have set up a completely new academic and divisional structure supported by a new administrative structure, committees and a governance framework. We are still getting used to it, but you are making it work.

In teaching we have set up, refurbished and are now completing stage two of the Medical Education Centre. We have seen the library, student study areas and clinical skills labs completely overhauled. The year has seen major changes in developing assessment, ensuring student satisfaction, starting to embed professionalism and moving to increase community teaching. Postgraduate teaching is seeing an integration of very different approaches from our previous schools, and a real attempt to harmonise and share best practice. Across the board there have been particular pressures on those organising and administering teaching; I am really grateful to you as you have put the needs of the student first and made things work.

Research has seen some remarkable individual successes but also our new Research Committee introducing imaginative innovations: peer review, researcher databases, workshops, and real movement in mentoring and support. Through all this we have delivered the Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise and eagerly await its result. We have integrated postgraduate research from our previous schools and set up an improved system for funding and rewarding activity. Next year we are planning more success in research, targeting European funding, and aiming to attract doctoral training initiatives.

We have made real steps forward in relationships with our NHS partners, establishing regular meetings with an enhanced feeling of partnership, and awarding a record number of honorary titles among NHS staff. We have raised our profile through our launch event last autumn with the Chief Executive of Health Education England, through May Fest, through student open days, and through better coverage of our activities in the University and the city. Staff who have attended our open meetings have made a real difference to what we have planned and delivered as a school. We have submitted an Athena SWAN silver application focused on gender equality and we continue to work hard on equality for all staff and students. We have communicated better through our bulletins and newsletters. We are now working hard on staff welfare and wellbeing. We recognise the effort our staff put in and the pressures on them that setting up a new school inevitably brings. As well as thanking you, we want to do what we can to support you.

Congratulations on what you have done – on what we have all done together. Change is challenging, but exciting. We all want to make a difference and we are doing that. Thank you to you all.

Professor John Atherton Dean of School of Medicine

Acknowledgements

This report was compiled and edited by Chin Ling Koh and Christopher Hulse.

The school wishes to thank all its divisions and units for your responses to editorial requests and queries.

Contributors: John Atherton, Jim Lowe, John Whittle, Gillian Doody, Pam Hagan, Nicki Keating, Tony Avery, Jonathan Hollands, Amanda Collett, Helen Budge, Andrea Greener, Jonathan Hardman, Iain Coyne, Jo Leonardi-Bee, Danny McLaughlin, Charlotte Bolton, Ian Sayers, Victoria Develin, Mike Munro, Iain Coyne, Jonathan Houdmont and Rachel Curley

Cover photo: Dr Susan Anderson, Lord Dearing Award winner and Life Cycle 4 rider, with Rebecca, a brain tumour patient (see p3 and p12).

More changes are on the way to better deliver and support teaching and learning in the School of Medicine. The school is rebuilding many of the offices and student areas on B Floor of the Medical School building to create a hub next to the refurbished Education Centre.

The aim is to co-locate the majority of administrative and support staff involved in the delivery of teaching and learning activities to our 2,550 undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Work has also started on a review of major parts of the undergraduate medical curriculum, with the aim of developing a focus for teaching and learning in the community, linked to changing patterns of delivery of care in the NHS. University and NHS organisations are closely involved in this review, which is linked strongly to developing capacity for primary care in the region.

Assessments have also come under review. For example, significant changes in assessment for Clinical Phase 1 of the medicine degree include abolishing the ‘borderline’ category and incorporating the ‘professionalism’ domain as a

mandatory component. These changes are being rolled out to all clinical phases.

Alongside these, we have completed an audit of our assessment systems, led by Professor Gill Doody, for the General Medical Council (GMC) which regulates the undergraduate programme. This audit had been sent to all medical schools across the UK.

We were visited by a GMC team on 24 June to further examine our systems and processes. We await a full report but have been pleased with the preliminary feedback received. A new Assessment Unit, with an oversight of all assessments for BSBM, became operational from 1 August 2014.

“The year has seen major changes in developing assessment, ensuring student satisfaction, starting to embed professionalism and moving to increase community teaching.”

John Atherton

Dean of School of Medicine

Recognition for Lord Dearing Award winner and Life Cycle 4 rider

The past year has been a good one for Susan Anderson from the Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine.

The recipient of the University’s prestigious Lord Dearing Award for teaching excellence was promoted to associate professor in pathology in the same period.

“It has been a wonderful year having my work recognised by the University, but the Dearing Award is extra special because the nomination came from our students,” said Susan, who is in her 20th year working at the University of Nottingham, where she first joined as a microscopy technician. Her accomplishments since then have included completion of a part-time PhD and establishing and leading the

Advanced Microscopy Unit in the former School of Biomedical Sciences.

Susan’s unceasing work ethic goes beyond her students and research. In August she cycled over 1,400 miles around the UK as part of the Vice-Chancellor’s Life Cycle 4 team of volunteers to raise funds for children’s brain tumour research.(Read more about Life Cycle 4 on p12.)

The Dearing Award Scheme has, since 1999, recognised the outstanding achievements of University of Nottingham staff in enhancing the student learning experience. Drew Tarmey, a lecturer also within the Derby-based Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, won the Lord Dearing Award the previous year.

Training tomorrow’s doctors Teaching

www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine 3

Profile

Susan Anderson, Lord Dearing Award 2014 recipient, has also been newly promoted to associate professor.

There is a new foyer at the Medical School building and new teaching and study spaces within the library and the Clinical Skills Centre.

Teaching

Numerous events were held over the past year to mark the tenth anniversary of Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) at Nottingham.

Since 2003 we have helped to produce an additional 590 medical graduates, with another 350 in progress.

At an academic symposium on 16 September 2013 (keynote speaker Professor Sir Peter Rubin, Chair of Council at the GMC), leading figures from GEM courses throughout England and Wales shared their thoughts on the major issues facing the courses, ranging from selection and assessment to future directions.

We also held three informal evening events on 5 November, 3 December and 4 March, at which we caught up with former students and colleagues, and discussed topics such as graduate destinations, life after GEM for staff, and life as a junior doctor. These were well supported by current and former students and

staff. We also heard presentations by Will Green (GEM 2003-07), Dr Jo Stewart (GEM 2003-07) and Dr Bernadeta Bridgwood (featured on the right). The evening in December kicked off with mince pies and carols from The University of Nottingham at Derby (UNAD) students’ choir.

Surprisingly for a medical school, the only sporting event was an ex-GEMs versus current GEMs rugby match on 29 March, won (comfortably) by the current GEMs. The final event of the year was a GEM-10 family fun day and picnic held on 12 July at Markeaton Park in Derby.

“Over the course of the year it has been fantastic to get back in touch with so many ex-students and staff and to hear about their amazing success stories,” said Dr Danny McLaughlin, Director of Undegraduate Studies in the Division of Medical Sciences and GEM.

If you would like to make contact with any ex-GEMs with whom you have lost touch, please feel free to join www.facebook.com/groups/GEM10.

Celebrating 10 years of Graduate Entry Medicine

The past year has been a very busy time for the school’s e-learning team (TELiMed) who have been working on improving our online delivery of learning resources in support of the undergraduate medical curriculum through Moodle.

A student survey was launched in spring 2014, and the results from this contributed to a redesigned layout for the clinical phase (CP) modules on Moodle. Over the coming year, further refinements will be made to these CP modules, as well as those in years one to three, with the help of a Moodle working group and so-called student “Moodle champions”.

Moodle is the University’s online platform for uploading learning materials such as lecture slides, audio and video. It is also used for submitting assignments and enables discussions, wikis, blogs and student databases.

The e-learning team consists of Nicki Keating, Matthew Hope and Simon Lintern. Besides supporting staff who use Moodle, they also design and produce e-learning media and resources, advise on copyright and accessibility, and provide training and guidance.

E-learning news

GEM peer mentors

A peer mentor scheme has been successfully introduced to provide support at the crucial transition periods throughout the Graduate Entry Medicine course.

Feedback shows that more than 60% of students thought this provided an additional layer of support and wanted to train as mentors.

Awards sponsored by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) were made to student coordinators, James Bath, Richard Hart and Christine Lloyd.


Developments

Moving up the league tables

The School of Medicine has once again moved up the ranks this year, becoming the 11th-placed medical school in the UK, compared with 13th place in 2013 and 15th in 2012 on The Guardian University Guide: league table by subject. The school also jumped six places to 14th on The Complete University Guide 2015 by subject.

Clinical Skills Centre

The Clinical Skills Centre has been rebuilt and relocated to D Floor from A Floor in the Medical School building. An important development priority is in the delivery of summative clinical skills assessments for the undergraduate medical programme, bringing these in house instead of being delivered in NHS organisations.

Centre for Interprofessional Education and Learning (CIEL)

The CIEL has written a strategy for delivery of multi-professional learning and working together for all health professional students, to be led by a newly-created post of Director for Interprofessional Education.

Brief updates

Pam Hagan presents a peer mentoring award to student coordinator James Bath.

Alumna profile

Dr Bernadeta Bridgwood is a GEM graduate (2008-2012) and now a Foundation Year 2 doctor. She holds a dual honours degree in biological and medical chemistry with biology, and a PhD

within inorganic chemistry. She also teaches undergraduates and hopes to pursue a career in academic medicine.

What GEM means to me:

“GEM provides the confidence to convert an aspiring doctor into a confident clinician. It has provided me with an excellent foundation in medical sciences, clinical reasoning, communication and practical skills. As GEM draws graduates from a diverse range of backgrounds, it enriches the course by bringing together a wealth of knowledge and experience. Most of all, GEM is a community, with which I have forged great friendships with both other pupils and staff alike.”

MRC Clinician Scientist: Mark Glover

Delivering research success

Mark Glover, winner of the prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinician Scientist Fellowship, shares his success.

The Fellowship is the highest MRC research career award given to a scientist at The University of Nottingham since the Dean of School, John Atherton, was awarded Clinician Scientist from 1996-2000 and subsequently a Senior Clinical Fellowship from 2000-2005.

What factors helped you win this award?

A genuine enthusiasm for clinical science, the good fortune to work with exceptional and inspirational collaborators, both in the UK and overseas, and having a medically and scientifically important question to answer – how do the kidneys reabsorb salt and so control blood pressure?

What does getting the MRC Clinician Scientist Award mean for you?

I feel extraordinarily privileged as

a clinician scientist to be able to combine a passion for clinical hypertension, with the intriguing and incompletely understood molecular mechanisms by which the kidneys influence blood pressure, by controlling sodium chloride salt excretion into the urine.

MRC funding means we will be able to continue and expand our hypertension research which aims ultimately to inform the design of new more efficacious and better tolerated anti-hypertensive drugs.

What are you working on?

My group, together with our collaborators, are trying to understand how blood pressure is regulated by pathways of sodium reabsorption in the kidney, which are affected by thiazide-type diuretics, one of the most effective and popular classes of medicines used to treat high blood pressure.

What tips do you have to share on making successful award applications?

Go for it! No one can practise medicine without realising our current limitations and hoping that we will have more to offer patients in the future than we can now.

Try to articulate the limitations of the area of medicine you see as most important to your patients, and formulate the questions which would be most useful to try to answer through research.

Try to complement your own research skills and that of your group and department by collaborating with likeminded and enthusiastic researchers at other universities and hospitals to enable you to try to address the most clinically and scientifically relevant questions.

After the hard work to get our Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 submission completed in November, researchers across the school have submitted a record number of new research applications. At the beginning of the year, Tony Avery, the school’s research director, laid out an ambitious set of objectives to create a strong research infrastructure to serve the whole school. These have contributed substantially to delivering:

• A school-wide peer support mechanism, with advisers providing personalised advice in each division

• A series of statistics seminars and clinics along with the appointment of Marilyn James as a new Professor of Health Economics

• A highly successful seminar on how to write large grants, which was attended by a large audience of researchers from across the faculty in the spring of 2014

• Better research intelligence and tools to enable more collaborative support, through the expertise list set up on the school’s Intranet

• A network of research mentors – experienced researchers who are sharing their insights with colleagues seeking new ideas and approaches

In the pipeline for the coming year is a ‘Grants Factory’ (training in how to develop and write high-quality, compelling research bids); sophisticated tools to help researchers identify colleagues with complementary and useful interests and further enhancements to the peer support mechanism.

Our NHS Trust partners and Research and Graduate Services (RGS) are also committed to shortening the time to process successful awards and have strong Research Committee support.


Research

Profile

Guests at School of Medicine Launch Event view a research poster exhibition.

May Fest 2014 creative, free funCharlotte Bolton, Ian Sayers and Vikki Develin share their experience of May Fest, the University’s free open day on 10 May, as part of our first school-wide public outreach.

Within the Division of Respiratory Medicine, research encompasses basic science, epidemiology, translational research and clinical trials.

We saw the huge potential that May Fest offered to engage with the public, of all ages. Everyone’s creative side flourished and we had fun!

Through literature, posters and many willing volunteers, we looked to depict lung structure and function, disease states, research methodologies and results.

Highlights included:

• Inflatable Mega Lungs – a walk-through human lung model personalised to our current research

• Bracelets made with beads, depicting genetic code of respiratory genes being researched

• Ping pong game – the strength of a single breath

• Video and microscope demonstrations

• Balloon lung demonstrations

The stand was busy all day and it was a great chance to increase respiratory research awareness.

Patient and public engagement is two-way – relaying the importance and rationale of research and listening to the views of the public. Such outreach events enhance our established patient panel, which assesses grants, patient information and dissemination. Both are imperative to keep research focused and relevant.

Will we take part again next year? Definitely!

Following May Fest, we are delighted that two entries from the division have been shortlisted for use on the National Institute of Health Research’s website and publications to depict People and Research. The first is the photo on the right above, while the other featured one of our respiratory patient panel meetings.

The division wishes to thank all its volunteers for their time, the School of Medicine, UoN Catalyst and the Sheffield-based engineering supplier AET.


Feature

Mega lungs in the courtyard of the Trent Building. A child makes DNA bracelets.

The School of Medicine was created on 1 August 2013 as part of the reorganisation of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. In this section we highlight our key milestones and achievements.

August 2013

New year, new school

TheSchool of Medicine is established following the merger of the Schools of Clinical Sciences, Community Health Sciences, Graduate Entry Medicine and Health, and parts of Molecular Medical Sciences. With about 900 staff and more than 2,500 students, the new school is the biggest in the University.

September 2013

10 years of Graduate Entry Medicine

Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) at Nottingham celebrates its 10th anniversary. (See p4)

The year in review


Feature

School Launch Research Poster Prize presentation (L-R): John Atherton, Emma Campbell, Julia Hippisley-Cox, Susan Anderson, Merlita Bryan (Lord Mayor of Nottingham) and John Britton.


Feature

Athena SWAN silver award

The otology and hearing unit, including the NIHR Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit (NHBRU), was successful in its Athena SWAN Silver Award application. (See p10-11)

Re-opening of Greenfield Medical Library and Clinical Skills Centre

The Greenfield Medical Library and Clinical Skills Centre re-opened with refurbished study and teaching areas, including a new learning hub within the existing library space.

PhD student wins British Tinnitus Association prize

Kathryn Fackrell (Nottingham Hearing BRU) won the prestigious Marie and Jack Shapiro Prize awarded by the British Tinnitus Association. This was for her paper on a study which evaluated online resources used by GPs to treat patients with tinnitus.

November 2013

NHS Innovation Challenge Prize award

Professor Guruprasad Aithal and Dr Neil Guha (Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre) were the joint winners of the NHS Innovation Challenge Prize (£100,000) award 2013, for developing and implementing a ‘novel pathway to detect and stratify patients with chronic liver disease in the community’.

Venturing into social media

The school Facebook page (MedicineUoN) goes live. This marks the school’s first foray into the world of social media.

December 2013

School launch: New beginnings

Health Education England Chief Executive Professor Ian Cumming OBE officially opens the School of Medicine on 4 December.

January 2014

Career development and equity

A school-wide career development and equity consultations begin to inform the school’s staff development plans. (See p10-11)

February 2014

Careers week

The school held a Careers week for final-year medical students. (See p13)

50 years of Medical School records

2014 marks 50 years since it was first announced that a new medical school and teaching hospital was to be built in Nottingham. With the help of funding from Professor Sir Peter Rubin’s Research Fund the records of the medical school have been made available for the first time via the Manuscripts and Special Collections online catalogue.

March 2014

Med School Life blog goes live

Our student-led Med School Life blog goes live at http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/medschoollife/.

The Otorhinolaryngological Research Society Junior Presenters Prize

Katie Belfield, a research assistant in Academic Orthopaedics, Trauma and Sports Medicine, was awarded a Junior Presenters Prize by The Otorhinolaryngological Research Society for her presentation at the spring 2014 meeting.

April 2013

Going for silver

The school submits its Athena SWAN silver award application. (See p10)

Academic Promotions 2013/14

The latest round of research and teaching promotions was announced, effective from 1 August 2014:

Promotions to Professor

• Dr Helen Budge (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

• Dr Stavroula Leka (Psychiatry) • Dr Kapil Sayal (Psychiatry)

Promotions to Associate Professor

• Dr Susan Anderson (Medical Science and Graduate Entry Medicine)

• Dr Gwendoline Hughes (Medical Science and Graduate Entry Medicine)

• Dr Andrew Jackson (Cancer and Stem Cells)• Dr Elizabeth Orton (Primary Care)• Dr Angeli Santos (Psychiatry)• Dr Ian Spendlove (Cancer and Stem Cells)• Dr Lisa Szatkowski (Epidemiology and Public

Health)

May 2014

May Fest

The School of Medicine presented a display of Medical Marvels at May Fest 2014 to great success, thanks to staff from the Arthritis Research UK (ARUK) Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, ARUK Pain Centre, Injury Research, Rehabilitation and Ageing, Respiratory Medicine, Stroke, NHBRU and students from the Teddy Bear Hospital. (See p6)

Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Professor Hywel Williams (Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology) was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his contribution to the advancement of medical sciences in skin diseases.

Twitter

School of Medicine starts tweeting @MedicineUoN.

International Symposium on Atopic Dermatitis (ISAD) 2014

The Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology hosted the first UK meeting of international conference on eczema from 21-23 May. ISAD


Feature

2014 brought together clinicians and scientists from around the world to share the latest research on the causes, prevention and treatment of eczema.

Sue Watson Postgraduate Presentation Prize

Students at the 18th-24th month stage of their research studies presented their work to the school. Christina Perry (Cancer and Stem Cells) won the 1st prize, Chamira Rodigo (Respiratory Medicine) and Rachel Woods (Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology) were in joint 2nd place while David Harman (Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre) won 3rd prize.

Midlands Gastroenterology Society prize for PhD student

Waleed Al-Khyatt (Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine) won the first prize for best translational research for his paper presented at the Midlands Gastroenterology Society.

International Symposium on Technological Innovations in Laboratory Hematology (ISLH) 2014 prizes

Dr Natalia Dovlatova (Cardiovascular Medicine) won the Young Investigator Award for her plenary oral presentation at ISLH 2014 held in The Hague, Netherlands. PhD student, Mohammad Algahtani, also received the Trainee Travel Award for his poster presentation at the same meeting.

Launch of Centre for Dementia

The Centre for Dementia was officially launched on 20 May 2014 at the Institute of Mental Health – a partnership between Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and the University. Led by Professor Tom Dening, it will focus on dementia as a pathway or a journey, which typically lasts for several years from first onset to end-of-life.

June 2014

School of Medicine Céilidh

About 200 people staff and their guests turned up for the School of Medicine Céilidh on 19 June 2014, which raised £2,600 for Children’s Brain

Tumour Research as part of the University’s Life Cycle 4 challenge. (See p12)

Knowledge and Innovation Award

Professor Dileep Lobo from the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre (NDDC) received a Knowledge Exchange Award for Societal Impact, for research he led on improving patient outcome by optimising perioperative fluid therapy in the University’s inaugural Knowledge and Innovation Awards.

NURTURE partnership

NURTURE, the infertility treatment unit under the Divisioin of Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, entered into a new partnership between the University and the Academic Reproductive Partnership (ARP) Group, the largest single provider of assisted conception in the UK.

Students start Community First Responders

The University of Nottingham Community First Responders (UNCFR), co-founded by Graduate Entry Medicine student Daryl Newland is launched. (See p13)

General Medical Council (GMC) visit

The undergraduate programme is regulated by the GMC and the school was visited by the GMC on 24 June to examine our systems and processes. (See p3)

July 2014

Cake sake for Life Cycle 4

The school raised more than £700 from cake sales as part of Life Cycle 4. (See p12)

BSc Healthcare Science graduation party

A graduation party for the BSc Healthcare Science course was held at the Derby Medical School on 7 July. Milan Gucik won the Best Overall Honours Performance Prize and Victoria Ankrah received the Best Final Year Project Prize. The degree has been renamed as BSc Medical Physiology and Theraupetics.

British Neuro-Oncology Society Council Young Investigator Award

Ruman Rahman from the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC) was unanimously selected by judges to receive the Award of Young Investigator from the British Neuro-Oncology Society Council.

European College of Sport Science Young Investigator Award

Matthew Brook won a Young Investigator Award for his presentation at the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Amsterdam 2014 conference. Matthew is jointly supervised by Drs Ken Smith and Phil Atherton from the Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine and Professors Paul Greenhaff and Ian Macdonald from the School of Life Sciences.

Latest spinout company

NuVision, the school’s latest spinout company, was incorporated on 10 July. Founded by Dr Andy Hopkinson and Professor Harminder Dua (Academic Ophthalmology), NuVision’s mission is to develop high quality, effective and affordable sight saving therapies for everyone, everywhere. Its strategic intent is to make saving sight as easy as applying a plaster.

New Head of Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre (NDDC)

Professor Guruprasad Aithal formally took over the role of Head of Division at the NDDC and as lead Director of the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research Unit (NDD BRU) from 1 July 2014. Professor Robin Spiller will continue to lead research for the Intestinal-specific area of NDD BRU.

The School of Medicine in numbers 2013/2014

Undergraduates: 1700 Masters students: 400 Postgraduate research students: 450 Total staff population: 900

Core Teaching and Research Income: £29.9mResearch Income: £21.4m Education contracts income: £0.7m Services rendered income: £4.6m Endowments, donations and other income: £0.7 million

Women in Medicine

In November, the School of Medicine will hear whether it has been awarded an Athena SWAN (AS) Silver Award. Seven other departments in the University already hold the Silver Award, including the school’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit (NHBRU).

Helen Budge and Andrea Greener, who led the school application through the Career Development and Equity Committee (CDEC), tell us more.

What did the AS Silver Award application involve?

The 75-page application, and accompanying action plan, was the culmination of a year’s work for CDEC, gathering together information from central and divisional sources, staff focus group meetings, individual staff interviews and a school-wide staff survey.

Why does the school need a Silver Award?

The AS Charter is about addressing gender inequalities, tackling unequal representation and attrition of women in science and medicine. There has been more focus on these issues since future research funding has been linked to medical schools holding a Silver Award.

Where will this lead now?

While the national AS Charter currently only includes research and teaching staff, the school is committed to improving working lives across all staff groups, regardless of gender. CDEC will continue working on career development and improving work/life balance through, for example, a core-hours culture and support along career pathways through mentoring and training.

Was the application worth the effort?

Definitely. This initiative has raised awareness and is acting as a catalyst to better practices throughout the school, increasing knowledge, enabling staff to raise issues in an understanding environment. These steps towards a more supportive workplace culture will make it a better place for all of us to work.


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Profiles

Contributing to a better workplaceWhen I joined the University in the 70s, it was admittedly really tough for a long time but this provided me with a blueprint to better support young staff in their careers.

With our current policies, we’ve travelled miles in providing a better workplace, especially for women taking time off to have children.

However, there is still room for improvement, for example, in supporting colleagues who spend the earlier part of their career working part-time and examining why so few female clinicians follow the academic route.

I’ve loved working alongside clinical colleagues in developing teaching opportunities and designing research that works in their setting. I’ve also enjoyed developing the careers of others, leading the former School of Community Health Sciences to a Bronze AS award in 2011 and contributing further through membership of CDEC. The challenge for me now, with childcare responsibilities behind me, is juggling caring for an elderly parent with my career.

g

Juggling clinical academic roles

A large proportion of childhood, and adult, diseases have their origins in early life and it is an enormous privilege to undertake research, and provide neonatal intensive care, for vulnerable newborn infants.

Four in ten of those entering medical school at the same time as me were women and nearly half of NHS consultants in paediatric specialities are female. Yet, during my academic career, the number of clinical academics in these areas has fallen and fewer than 15% of today’s professors are female.

Children need more clinicians to choose academic careers, as well

as more women. In both areas, some progress is being made.

For me, probably the greatest challenge, so far, was completing my PhD and clinical training in neonatal medicine simultaneously. In retrospect, that collision was good training for the complex give-and-take relationship between clinical and academic roles.

Meanwhile, I have had some fantastic role models – men and women, clinicians and scientists, inside and outside of our University. I’ve tried to seize opportunities in research and through roles at local – e.g. in our school’s Clinical Academic Training Programme (CATP), and national levels – e.g. in chairing part of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Commission on Research for Children.

I feel really fortunate to work with a great research team and with helpful clinical colleagues but most helpful of all are my amazingly supportive family, and those coffee shop loyalty cards for the many informal mentoring meetings along the way.

Helen Budge has just been promoted to Clinical Professor of Neonatal Medicine.

Penny Standen, Professor in Health Psychology and Learning, is bringing her expertise in supporting career development in the school.

“With our current policies, we’ve travelled miles in providing a better workplace.”

Penny Standen Professor in Health Psychology

and Learning


Feature

Female lead at NHBRU

The NHBRU is proud that it has always been headed by a female lead.

Director Professor Deborah Hall is one of only three female National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) directors across England. Nottingham Hearing BRU achieved an Athena SWAN Silver Department Award in November 2013.

Professor Hall said: “This is an outstanding achievement for us. The Athena SWAN charter celebrates good employment practice for women working in science and medicine and we’re delighted to have formal recognition for the mentoring and support that we provide for our female, and male, staff and students.”

Members of the NHBRU self-assessment team, drawn from across the division and school, embedded the principles of Athena SWAN. The application process, from forming the self-assessment team to receiving the award letter, took 18 months.

Whilst the Silver Award indicates the achievements of the NHBRU in supporting its female staff and students, the unit is committed to equality and fairness for all and will continue developing its support and promotional activities, aspiring to the levels demanded in maintaining the Silver Award and ultimately aiming for Gold.

Dr Rebecca Dewey, Research Fellow (left) and Vicenta Rose, Unit Operations Director (right) and NHBRU Athena SWAN lead receive a Silver Award from Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Athena SWAN Patron.

Profile

Pursuing a research career

Mariel Slater joined as a PhD student (Respiratory Medicine) in 2010 and is preparing for her graduation this December. She describes her journey in academia. I gained transferable skills through the N-Trans training programme, Careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry course and further development opportunities, for example, Science Outreach Training. The student travel prize also provided me with financial support to present my work in San Francisco.

Making the transition from student to research associate in October 2013 brought a lot more automony and my development hasn’t stopped. The main challenge of securing funding to ensure continued employment has meant developing a collaborative fellowship application and writing a bid to the University’s Strategic Development Fund, through which I have learned about finance, market intelligence, intellectual property and grant writing.

I don’t think it is more difficult to get into research/academia as a female because there have been lots of female researchers around me and I think that it’s probably a profession more biased towards women.

However, I do think that it may be more difficult for females to get into senior roles, where most of the senior management or principle investigators in my department are males. This may be because women researchers take time out of work to have families and then are either lower down on the list for promotion compared with their peers. Or it may be because they no longer or have never strived to be in management positions and are happy working the flexible child-friendly hours that come with less senior academic roles.

I’ve had few senior female role models and would really like to see more female Heads of Division. Extended research contracts and recognition during promotions of time taken away from work to have families would be welcome, as would the financial security more permanent contracts bring.

I strongly believe that the Athena SWAN initiative will help highlight female under-representation in high-ranking roles and support the changes required for a more balanced workforce.

PhD student Mariel Slater hopes to see more senior female role models in academia.

Life Cycle 4: Inspired to giveOver the summer, Dr Susan Anderson, Professor Marion Walker and Professor David Walker joined the Vice-Chancellor’s team of cyclists on a 1,400-plus mile charity bike ride around Great Britain.

Each of them rode in honour of a child who has battled childhood brain tumours.

Susan Anderson, Associate Professor in Pathology in the Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, rode in honour of Rebecca Clark, aged 15, from Lincoln. Rebecca has been battling against first one and then a second brain tumour since the age of four.

“I’m doing the Life Cycle because I want to help raise awareness and much needed funds to improve treatment and diagnosis for children with brain tumours and their families,” said Susan. “I have two healthy children of my own and can’t imagine how devastating such a diagnosis would be.”

David Walker, Professor of Oncology and Co-Director of the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre at Nottingham, said: “In taking part in this ride I am riding in honour of all the patients and families I have known over the years who have had to face the consequences of a brain tumour in their young lives.”

David rode in honour of Jessica Gauntley from Nottingham who died from a brain tumour in February

2013 at the age of 16.

Marion Walker, Professor of Stroke Rehabilitation, rode in honour of Abbie Mifsud from Ashford in Kent who lost her fight against an inoperable brain tumour in 2011 at the age of six.

“I am so proud to be riding in honour of a very special little girl who enriched the lives of all who knew her,” Marion said.

“The tragic loss of a child is unimaginable and anything I can do to support brain tumour research will be worth every ache and pain on our long journey. I hope I can make Abbie’s family proud by honouring and celebrating her life.”

Staff and students of the School of Medicine held a ceilidh and charity cake sale to raise more than £3,300 for Life Cycle 4.

Generous donations from companies, alumni, staff and friends of the University had prompted the University to raise its fundraising target for Life Cycle 4 to £750,000 from £500,000. Proceeds will be used to fund Children’s Brain Tumour Research.

For more information, visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/lifecycle


Feature

Life Cycle 4 riders Professors Marion Walker and David Walker, and Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Greenaway, with patient from the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre.

School cake sale for Life Cycle 4.

Going the extra mile for Children’s Brain Tumour Research

Nottingham Life Cycle 4

Enhancing careers services


Careers

Three-tier cake illustrating a career in A&E presented by students at Careers Week.

Collaboration

The school ran a week-long careers conference for final-year medical students in February 2014, organised jointly with the new faculty-based careers team and representatives from Health Education East Midlands.

Held at King’s Meadow Campus, the conference was designed to inspire and engage students with career-planning activities and to help them think about the decisions they will be making in the future.

The week began with inspirational opening talks and over 40 specialities represented at a careers fair. All students had the opportunity to spend a day in a specialty of their choice and to attend a variety of talks on topics such as medical career pathways, working abroad, careers outside medicine, family friendly careers as well as practical workshops on career decision making and CVs and portfolio building.

The conference concluded with some creative and informative student group and closing talks by the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Professor David Greenaway and Dr Damian Roland, a Nottingham alumnus.

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences welcomed the new careers team in March 2013 as part of the expansion of the University’s Careers and Employability Service. The team is made up of Rachel Curley (Careers Consultant), Becky Eytle (Employability Officer) and Peter Kay (Senior Careers Adviser). They provide support to all four schools within the faculty.

The team had earlier in the year provided evening talks to help final-year students feel more confident and prepared for the situational judgement tests they undertook as part of their application to foundation training.

They have also provided employability skills input within some of the taught masters programmes, and offered individual CV review and guidance appointments for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

“It was evident from the start that a lot of effort had been made by the organisers and speciality doctors to provide us with the opportunity to discuss and explore careers in medicine, for which I could not be more grateful.”

Medical student’s feedback

The Royal Mail Group Workplace Health and Wellbeing Scholarship will be awarded annually to one self-funded student on the MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing (Distance e-learning).

The scholarship covers the full MSc course fee and the recipient will be offered the opportunity to conduct their MSc research project within the Royal Mail Group.

It is aimed at supporting the development of future leaders in workplace health and wellbeing.

The scholarship was introduced after two senior staff members of the Royal Mail Group took the masters course. The Group Director of Safety, Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability and his deputy, the Group Head of Health and Wellbeing, graduated in 2014 and 2013 respectively.

The latter has since commenced a PhD under the supervision of the MSc course director, Jonathan

Houdmont, in the Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology.

“The safety, health and wellbeing of employees in Royal Mail Group is paramount and so we are delighted to be able to work with The University of Nottingham and support their MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing,” said Shaun Davis, Group Director of Safety, Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability at Royal Mail.

“Working together not only demonstrates our organisational commitment to the incredibly

important area of workplace health and wellbeing but it also gives us the potential to network with, and sponsor, the health and wellbeing leaders of the future, as we work together to ensure that organisations’ activities are underpinned by a strong corporate focus on employee health and wellbeing.”

For more information visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/go/mscworkplacehealth

New scholarship for MSc study

Unsung heroines


Feature

Two colleagues in our midst have been recognised for their contributions to the student experience and life as part of the Students’ Union’s 100 Heroes centenary celebration.Averil Warren is a senior research technician who works within the Obsetric and Gynaecology department of Derby’s Graduate Entry Medicine course.

She was nominated for her sustained dedication to her research despite her battle with fibromyalgia – a condition which causes severe pain and restricts her movements. Averil is well-appreciated by her students and colleagues alike.

For the 41-year veteran of the University, the nomination was a “great honour”.

Knowing that several students had taken the trouble to nominate her made her feel appreciated and confident that she’s using the right techniques in teaching and problem-solving.

Besides ensuring that all students who come through her lab in Derby have a good experience, Averil also enjoys the projects she’s involved in, which looks for ways to prevent premature delivery, having been attached to obstetrics and gynaecology projects throughout her career.

She is already looking ahead to October and January, reflecting her work dedication and focus. In preparation she is designing research projects for the new intake of students for them to help in the quest to manage pre-eclampsia, preterm labour and inter uterine growth restriction.

She is also looking to “add a little of” her own contribution by running some experiments while managing the technical team in the lab.

Going above and beyond

Over at the Nottingham City Hospital, Research Fellow Stella Muthuri is our second heroine who has been known for going above and beyond her research work to actively support international students in their life-changing decisions to study a degree abroad, providing informative and emotional support for those making this academic transition, and supporting the notion that University is about more than just a degree.

Stella first came to Nottingham as a Masters of Public Health student in 2003. She returned in 2005 for a PhD in the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health. After completion, she stayed on as post-doctoral researcher.

Originally from Kenya, her experience of studying at Nottingham had prompted her to help other international students at the University.

“I had a fantastic academic and student experience and I truly enjoyed interacting with people from diverse cultures. The staff are supportive and friendly which is particularly important to all students,” she said.

The conscientious researcher receives equally glowing references from her colleagues.

“She is meticulous in her work and is an important pillar of the Health Protection and Influenza Research Group,” said Puja Myles.

Stella is currently studying whether neuraminidase inhibitors treatments (e.g.Tamiflu) worked in reducing hospitalisation, serious complications and deaths during the 2009-10 pandemic influenza. This work is based on the Post-pandemic Review of anti-Influenza Drug Effectiveness (PRIDE) study which was set up in October 2011 and coordinated by the Health Protection and Influenza Research Group.

“I have a keen interest in epidemiological research as it gives me the opportunity to undertake work that contributes to improvement in public health and influence health policy,” she said. “I also find it very rewarding working closely with others who share similar interests.”

Stella Muthuri goes the extra mile.

Averil Warren at her 40th anniversary presentation with the Vice-Chancellor in 2013.

“The great motivator for me is to ensure that all the students, both undergraduate and postgraduates, who come through my lab achieve to the highest standards possible.”

Averil Warren Division of Medical Sciences and

Graduate Entry Medicine

“There are so many people at the university doing remarkable things so being nominated came as a huge surprise – I feel very humbled and honoured for the recognition.”

Stella Muthuri Division of Epidemiology and Public Health

Nurturing postgraduate opportunitiesExciting developments are underway for postgraduate research and taught students in the new School of Medicine with the focus on boosting skills, opportunities and employability. The year has seen excellent recruitment and completion for postgraduate research students.

We are also delighted that the school has been awarded six Vice-Chancellor Scholarships (International) by the University for one MPhil student and five PhD candidates in oncology, gastroenterology, epidemiology and public health, applied psychology, child health and cancer biology.

Our PhD students have also continued to win prizes at international conferences for outstanding research. (Read about some of these prizes on p8-9.)

Satisfaction levels are high, and we have moved swiftly to address any areas that have appeared to underperform. Developments in our infrastructure continue apace, specifically to:

• Facilitate exchange of postgraduate research students’ (PGR) research through the merged and interdisciplinary oral presentation events that now incorporate students across the school

• Improve communication and integration through a PGR student network – facilitated by a hub and spoke system of representatives

• Improve access to teaching opportunities for PGRs across the school, with the aim of supporting the development of transferable skills – an attribute sought by research councils and future employers

• Implement an electronic progression-tracking and communication tool. A great deal of work is focused on getting this done soon, and done well

National Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES)

The school has recently received feedback from students via PTES which allows us to compare our students’ experiences in teaching and

learning with other UK institutions. We are very pleased that postgraduate-taught (PGT) courses in the school are viewed positively by students in a range of domains from Depth of Learning, Assessment and Feedback, to Organisation and Management.

We are dedicated to enhancing the employability opportunities of graduates through providing them with the knowledge and skills required of today’s employers. Therefore, we have identified Careers and Professional Development as a priority area on which to focus our immediate attention.

We are currently developing plans to offer a school-wide ‘Introduction to the Careers Service’ during the induction weeks, create and distribute a monthly ‘Careers for PGT students newsletter’, and improve sign-posting to the Careers website. Ultimately, our goal is to provide a rich and nourishing learning environment to prepare our students for careers in research and practice.

Case study

Frances Cousans makes successful transition to practitioner

Frances Cousans is celebrating getting a new job with the Work Psychology Group (WPG), a locally-based occupational psychology consultancy. Frances graduated with a Distinction from the MSc Occupational Psychology course in September 2013 and the skills and knowledge she learned on the course played a large role in her obtaining a Research Assistant post with Dr Iain Coyne in the Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology.

“I am delighted to have secured a position at WPG, as I have always wanted to work for an occupational psychology consultancy,” she said. “My work at WPG will allow me to continue to strengthen and apply the

academic and practical skills I gained during my MSc degree, and my time as a research assistant in the school.”

Her role focused on research activities related to workplace collaboration, bullying and cyberbullying and turnover intention in nurses. She was also involved in a collaborative venture with Iain and the WPG based around producing outputs relating to doctors in difficulty. The culmination of a strong academic background with additional relevant work experience ensured Frances was an attractive proposition for WPG.

Frances started her full-time role in September and we all send our best wishes for her future career.

To find out more, visit: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/go/mscoccupationalpsy


Frances Cousans graduated with a MSc Occupational Psychology with Distinction.

Dates for your diary

News and events


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School Annual Event

Date: Tuesday 18 November 2014 Time: 12 noon to 2.30pm Venue: A Floor Foyer, Medical School, QMC

The school annual event will feature a poster exhibition, key note address by Professor Sir Peter Rubin, and the inaugural School of Medicine Awards presentation.

More dates

24 September 2014 School new staff induction

1 October 2014 Inaugural meeting of the Centre for Dementia care professionals network meeting

2 October 2014 NIHR Research Funding Seminar at QMC

4 October 2014 Open Day for Graduate Entry Medicine and Medical Physiology and Therapeutics courses, Royal Derby Hospital campus

9 October 2014 School Open Meeting

29 October 2014 NIHR Research Funding Seminar at Lincoln

22 October 2014 Fellowship Masterclass for Early Career Researchers

13 November 2014 People with dementia and their carers – working with research

27 November 2014 NIHR Fellowships event, QMC

29 November 2014 Research Awareness Day, Royal Derby Hospital Centre

16 December 2014 NDDC and NDDBRU Annual Showcase

9-10 December 2014 Winter Graduation

15 December 2014 NIHR Clinical Academic Training (CAT) awareness seminar, QMC

30 January 2015 Nottingham Eye Symposium and Research Meeting

26 February 2015 NIHR CAT Fellowships seminar, QMC

6 March 2015 Third symposium on primary breast cancer in older women

June 2015 Medical degree final-year exams

1-3 July 2015 British Neuro-Oncology Society 2015 Meeting in Nottingham

July 2015 Summer Graduation

The University of Nottingham has made every effort to ensure that the information in this newsletter was accurate when published. Please note, however, that the nature of the content means that it is subject to change from time to time and you should therefore consider the information to be guiding rather than definitive.

© Copyright The University of Nottingham 2014. All rights reserved.

A group of students has teamed up with the East Midlands Ambulance Service to provide emergency care.

The University of Nottingham Community First Responders (UNCFR) will provide direct support to the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) within the city boundaries of Nottingham and Derby, offering primary assistance for medical emergency 999 calls while an ambulance is travelling to the scene.

Scheme co-founder and first-year Graduate Entry Medicine student Daryl Newland previously volunteered as a CFR while living in Reading. He and fellow students came up with the scheme after talks with EMAS. While similar schemes have been established at other universities, the Nottingham scheme is unique in that it will not be restricted to just medical students.

“We hope to be unique in operating in line with the NHS principles of multidisciplinary teamwork and invite students from cohorts beyond medicine to take part. We’ve had volunteers from medicine,

nursing, physiotherapy and other healthcare disciplines, but we don’t want to restrict it to just that either,” said Daryl.

Mick Barnett-Connolly, EMAS Head of Community Response, said: “This is one of the first city schemes EMAS has ever launched so it’s a fantastic and exciting initiative. All volunteers on the scheme will be given full training by EMAS, learning how to assess an emergency situation and provide early defibrillation and resuscitation.”

EMAS has provided the scheme with two fully kitted response vehicles and the students have also received backing from The University of Nottingham’s Impact Campaign as well as the Student Volunteer Centre based in the Students’ Union.

Students provide lifesaving support

For further information please contact:

School of Medicine The University of Nottingham Medical School, QMC Nottingham NG7 2UH

the year in review 2013/14

Documents

new research committee

single year

postgraduate teaching

community teaching

new administrative structure

research careerp12 life

peer review

practitionerp16 students