Queen Mary University’s Professor Graham Easton Recognized with National Teaching Fellowship
The National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) celebrates and recognise academics who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes, student experience and the teaching profession.
Graham Easton, Professor of Medical Education and Honorary Professor of Clinical Communication Skills at Queen Mary, has been recognised for promoting a patient-centred approach to clinical communication. His experience as a medical educator, General Practitioner and medical journalist all weave into his teaching. For over 20 years, he has championed the patient voice in medical education, promoting person-centred primary healthcare and empathic communication.
“My core mission as an educator has been to develop our students’ communication skills so that when they graduate as doctors, they can communicate effectively and empathically with patients, building an authentic, trusting, doctor-patient partnership,” says Professor Easton.
Nationally and internationally, Graham has promoted the use of narratives in higher medical education through publications and workshops, both as a pedagogical approach and to understand doctor-patient consultations.
Queen Mary has a strong record of its educators being awarded National Teaching Fellowships, with 17 Fellows appointed since the scheme’s inception in 2000. This is the third year in a row a National Teaching Fellowship has been awarded to an educator from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry’s Institute for Health Sciences Education (IHSE), the Institute responsible for our undergraduate medical education. All of the Fellows have been recognised for their pioneering work challenging historical and societal norms around medical education.
On receiving the Fellowship, Professor Easton said: “I am absolutely delighted to be awarded a National Teaching Fellowship from Advance HE. It is a testament to the central importance of person-centred care and empathic communication in medical education. I look forward to continuing to champion the patient’s voice and hopefully inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals.”
Rob Tucker, Medical Student Representative and Co-Creator with Professor Easton, said: “This is hugely deserved for Graham! He has been not only deeply supportive to the medical faculty here at Queen Mary, but importantly he has worked closely with students in all of his roles to embed a culture of co-creation towards more modern medical curricula.”
Professor Stephanie Marshall, Deputy President and Principal and Vice Principal (Education) at Queen Mary, said: “Congratulations to Graham for this well-deserved honour. This is a proud moment for Queen Mary, as our educators continue to be recognised in the UK’s top teaching awards.”
This is also a major success for our medical education – all of Queen Mary’s National Teaching Fellows over the last three years have been within medicine. Queen Mary’s history is rooted in institutions committed to improving the health of our local community and making education more accessible. This achievement honours our history as we continue to train the next generation of doctors, and holds firm our belief that with diversity of ideas, we can take the world to new places.”