Senior Lecturer in Medical Education

Position Details

• Institute of Clinical Sciences
• Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
• Full time starting salary is normally in the range £51,034 to £59,135, with potential progression once in post to £77,108.
• Grade 9
• Full Time/Permanent

Background

We are seeking to appoint a new senior member of staff to join the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at an exciting time when the MBChB curriculum and programme structure are under review and the Postgraduate Education for Health Professionals (E4HP) is expanding. The new appointee will join a well-established team of academics to contribute to the development of both programmes.

The role is designed for an experienced educator with an established track record in curriculum design and assessment who will contribute to the delivery of a first-class education for future doctors. Additionally, they will contribute to teaching and assessment and take a leadership role in the Education for Health Professionals (E4HP). They will facilitate sharing of best practice and expertise across both programmes and will play an important role in developing an Intercalated degree in Medical Education for the MBChB.

The College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham is a major international centre for research and education in medicine and medical sciences. In recent years the College has expanded dramatically, and now has one of the largest intakes of undergraduate students in the UK, and employs over 1,500 teaching, research, technical, support, and administrative staff.

The MBChB is the College's flagship programme. It is a complex educational programme, comprising 30 different modules / required components, which dominates the life of the College and covers teaching both in a College context and also in a clinical context. Clinical teaching takes place within 15 teaching Trusts and in over 140 general teaching practices across the West Midlands and beyond. The annual MBChB intake is now 400 students bringing the total across the five-year programme to more than 2,000.

E4HP is a suite of three, year-long, part-time programmes for health professionals involved in the education and training of undergraduates and postgraduates. Each year is self-contained and a qualification is obtained after each year: Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PG Cert) in year one, Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) in year two; and, Masters (MEd) in year three.

Summary of Role

Contribute at a senior level on a sustained basis to the whole range of teaching leadership and administration.

Teaching is likely to include: (a) development and leadership of major teaching programmes or equivalent; and (b) enhancement of the student experience or employability, that are of manifest benefit to the College and the University. It is expected that teaching-focused Senior Lecturers will demonstrate a significant contribution to the advancement of teaching (policy, practice, standards) of the subject, provide leadership in teaching and learning that is innovative to the subject area or institution, with a significant contribution to the debate nationally about teaching.

The postholder will focus on the development of the curriculum, including the use of digital education within the MBChB, to enable students to demonstrate that they can meet the GMC's 2018 Outcomes for Graduates. A key component of the role will be the preparation of the Birmingham Medical School and its medical students for the national Medical Licensing Assessment and to ensure graduates are able to make the transition to the Foundation Programme in the NHS with confidence.

Management and administration is likely to include School leadership and management activity with University-wide involvement that may include sustained high value impact knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, public engagement, and similar activities that are of manifest benefit to the College and University.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Teaching focused Senior Lecturers will, as appropriate to the discipline:

• Make a significant contribution to the pedagogical knowledge base of the subject that advances teaching through the enhancement of practice, the development of teaching resources and/or through practice-based research; and
• Lead on the management and the development of approaches to teaching and learning that are innovative to the subject area or institution; and
• Contribute to, and play a leadership role in the development of the new MBChB curriculum, working with staff in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and with colleagues in our Local Education Partnership Trusts and General Practices; and
• Contribute to debate nationally about new approaches to policy, methods, and practices through publications, conferences, and activities that advance quality in the field; and
• Engage in external quality assurance activities related to teaching, eg. External examining.

In addition, a Teaching Focused SL will:

• Play an important and sustained role in the recruitment and admission of students; and
• (as at Lecturer, grade 8), they may co-supervise, with a research-focused or research and teaching-focused member of staff, doctoral students to completion; and
• Undertake the same learning and teaching responsibilities of any Senior Lecturer, contributing at a senior level on a sustained basis in learning and teaching. Where appropriate for the discipline, this may include some but not all of the responsibilities listed below.
• Lead the development of new and appropriate approaches to learning and teaching. This may be underpinned by research and evaluation of teaching methods and systems
• Act as adviser for teaching and learning methods through excellent practice and mentoring other colleagues
• Lead the design and/or co-ordination of programmes or equivalent activities across the School or Department; this is expected to include playing a key role in the development of an intercalated BMedSci in Medical Education
• Contribute to the development of teaching and learning policy more widely than the School
• Contribute to debate nationally about policy, methods & practices through publications, conference activity and roles that advance quality in the discipline
• Lead the development and management of assessment strategies within the School/Department, ensuring that the strategic development of assessment and individual assessments meet accepted best practice
• Lead sustained high-value impact in knowledge transfer and enterprise (including business engagement, public engagement) that enhances the student experience and/or or employability, and is of manifest benefit to learning and teaching in the College and the University

Include in their learning and teaching responsibilities some but not necessarily all the indicative responsibilities from grade 8 level listed below.

• Teach and examine courses at a range of levels including development and administration of assessment and quality assurance of teaching and assessment
• Plan and review own teaching approaches and act as a mentor to encourage others to do the same
• Develop programme proposals and make substantial contributions to the design of teaching programmes more widely in the Department or School, as appropriate
• Undertake and develop the full range of responsibilities in relation to supervision, marking and examining
• Use appropriate approaches to learning and teaching in their field
• Disseminate appropriate practices through suitable media
• Develop and advise others on learning and teaching tasks and methods.

The teaching-focused role-holder's teaching practice is informed by discipline-based research, and they participate actively in the research culture of the School.

Teaching-focused Lecturer roles carry a higher volume of teaching and related duties than those staff who carry out both teaching and research.

Management/administration

Chair and/or lead activities in the Department/ School and represent the School on College/ University committees or working groups. Where appropriate to the discipline, this is likely to include some but not all of the responsibilities listed below.

• Make an important contribution to the development and running of the School or Institute, for example, leading activity on teaching assessment
• Develop and manage staff and resources in support of major research and/or teaching activities
• Make important contributions to the development of the School or Institute research strategy and/or learning and teaching strategy
• Contribute significantly to the development and delivery of knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement and public engagement activities with sustained high-value impact of manifest benefit to the College and the University, for example the Birmingham Education for Healthcare Conference
• Develops and implements a culture (including policies and procedures) that promotes Equality and values diversity and inclusion

In addition, the management/administration responsibilities will include some but not necessarily all the indicative responsibilities from grade 8 listed below.

• Contribute to the administration/management of research and/or teaching across the School or Institute; this is expected to include strategic leadership and operational management of agreed areas of the undergraduate medical curriculum and the E4HP programme, including assessment
• Lead/project manage a team to devise and implement a new and/or revised process (e.g. new programme or a recruitment drive)
• Advise on personal development of staff and students.
• Make a sustained contribution to widening participation, schools outreach and/or public understanding of the discipline.
• Contribute to administrative activities within the University (e.g. appeals panels, working groups).
• Develop and manage staff and resources in support of major research and/or teaching activities

Person Specification

• Normally, a higher Degree relevant to the discipline area (usually PhD) or equivalent qualifications
• Fellowship (or higher) of Advance HE
• PGCE in Higher Education teaching or equivalent

Demonstrated excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Management and administration.

Learning and teaching requirements

An excellent teaching profile and performance in terms of both impact and quality, within a healthcare environment and/or to healthcare practitioners.

Teaching quality demonstrated to be informed by an appropriate level of scholarship.

Evidence of success under the following headings.

• High national reputation for the development of teaching and learning excellence within the discipline
• Successful and sustained use of a range of appropriate teaching methods, and assessment strategies that promote high-quality learning, including learning that is flexible, distinctive and current and stimulates learners' natural curiosity.
• Significant and sustained contribution to one or more of the following: strategic development of new programmes, approaches to learning, the development of learning resources.
• High quality and sustained contributions to fostering excellence in teaching activities more widely, i.e. in the Department/School or College and/or externally.
• Mentoring and expert advice which develops the skills of colleagues in teaching and in fostering learning
• Sustained high-value impact knowledge transfer and enterprise that is of manifest benefit to the College and University.

Management and administration-related requirements

Demonstrated significant achievement in management and administration-related activities, which may include leadership of activities/initiatives. Evidence of success under the following headings.

• Successful and sustained performance in significant administrative/managerial role (s) (e.g. exams officer).
• Significant and sustained high-quality innovative contributions to the management/administration of the Department/School/College or University.
• Successful and sustained contribution to the corporate life of the School/College/University, displaying willingness to contribute actively to committees, collaborative teaching and administrative tasks.
• Actively promotes equality and diversity to internal and external stakeholders.
• Able to use data to identify equality and diversity issues.
• Experience of developing interventions to address equality and diversity issues.

Further particulars can be found here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working