Biography

I’m a consultant in acute and respiratory medicine and a researcher focused on assessor cognition and technology enhanced assessment within clinical education. My research uses varied methods, including social constructivist grounded theory, cognitive experimentation, interventional trials and psychometric analysis.

I qualified from Newcastle University medical school in 2001 and have been involved in medical education since 2005. I studied for a PhD through the University of Manchester between 2009 and 2012. My doctoral research contributed to the beginnings of the field of “assessor cognition”, which studies the origins of judgemental variability in assessment within medical education. In particular that work focused on the influence of “contrast effects” on assessment judgements.

Post-doctorally I completed an NIHR matched clinical lectureship in medical education at the University of Manchester in 2013, and then moved to the School of Medicine at Keele University in September 2015. I was awarded an NIHR Clinician Scientist Award in 2018, which I completed in 2023.

Research and scholarship

My research is focused on assessors’ cognition and technology-enhanced assessment within clinical education. I have recently lead an NIHR programme of research to develop, test and implement an innovation called Video-based Examiner Score Comparison and Adjustment (VESCA) to compare and adjust for examiner variability in large-scale distributed OSCE exams in clinical education. This culminated in the AD-Equiv study, a multi-centre complex intervention trial which aimed to enhance the equivalence and authenticity of graduation level OSCEs.

I am leading the ALIGN study, a multi-centre trial funded by the MPS Foundation, and in collaboration with the MSCAA investigating the effectiveness of Video-Based Benchmarking (VBB) on calibrating OSCE examiners judgements.

I’m interested in a variety of innovative approaches to assessment, including video feedback, scale development, standard setting and approaches to supporting and augmenting assessors’ judgements through artificial intelligence.

I co-lead the faculty wide theme for research and scholarship in health professionals’ education. I am part of the leadership team of Keele’s Methodology Hub. I lead teaching on research methods within Keele’s Masters of Clinical Education. I supervise a number of masters and doctoral students on a range of clinical education topics. I am lead for medical education within Keele’s NIHR-funded Integrated Academic Training programme. I am academic lead for student evaluation within Keele’s MBChB programme. I am part of the executive group of the national incubator for clinical education research, and led a national research priority setting exercise in 2023 which included funders, regulators, royal colleges, patients, trainees, universities and researchers.

Publications

School of Medicine
David Weatherall building
University Road
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG

Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733937
Email: fmhs.facilities@keele.ac.uk
Admissions enquiries: enquiries@keele.ac.uk

The Clinical Education Centre
Keele University
Clinical Education Centre
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Newcastle Road
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST4 6QG
Email us: services.cecreception@keele.ac.uk
CEC general enquires: 01782 731876