Who’s who in MD Design

The MD Design Program Design Group has responsibility for the overarching design and implementation of the new MD Program. Chaired by the Academic Lead for MD Design, Professor Kirsty Foster OAM, the Group comprises the leads of each of the six core Themes of the new program, along with the Academic Lead Assessment and the Manager of MD Curriculum Design.

Following comprehensive consultation with a very wide range of stakeholders, the Program Design Group developed the Vision and Graduate Attributes for the new program, from which the high-level design, core pedagogical principles, and Staged Learning Outcomes for each course were determined. Together, the Group oversees the activity of the Course Design and Implementation Groups, and provides leadership regarding curriculum and assessment design, stakeholder engagement and implementation planning.

The members of the MD Design Program Design Group are as follows:

• Professor Kirsty Foster OAM, Mayne Professor and Director, Academy for Medical Education, Director, Teaching and Learning, Medical School, Academic Lead for MD Design, and Chair Year 1 Course Design and Implementation Group (May – October 2022)

As Director of the Academy for Medical Education (AME) and Director, Teaching and Learning in the Medical School, Professor Kirsty Foster leads the AME team in the ongoing development of high-quality learning, teaching and assessment across the educational programs of the Medical School, including the MD program. Kirsty brings 20 years of clinical experience, as well as more than 20 years’ experience and considerable expertise in medical education internationally. She has been recognised with a national teaching citation and  was awarded an OAM in 2019 for services to education and community health. She leads the AME in promoting a culture of scholarship and support of learning, and of engagement and collaboration with the broad range of stakeholders involved. Kirsty is also Academic Lead on the MD Design project, and an active medical education researcher.

Researcher profile

• Professor Di Eley, Director MD Student Research, Academy for Medical Education and Theme Co-Lead – Critical Thinker Scientist and School (Research)

Professor Diann (Di) Eley is the Director of MD Student Research in the Medicine Program and is the MD Post Graduate Coordinator in the Faculty of Medicine. Di also chairs the Low and Negligible Risk (LNR) Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and is deputy chair of the UQ HREC-A. Di became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2018. The primary focus of Di's research is research training and rural health workforce. Her specific area of research interest deals with personality and its association with student wellbeing and career decision making. Di is responsible for the development and implementation of the Clinician-Scientist Track in the UQ Medicine Program, which encourages student interest and experience in research, and facilitates medical students undertaking a higher degree by research (MD-PhD, MD-MPhil) alongside their medical degree. Di has been recognised for her leadership in several Faculty initiatives in medical education and received the 2015 University of Queensland Award for Excellence in Leadership.

Researcher profile

• Professor Mark Midwinter, Professor of Clinical Anatomy, Deputy Head of School, School of Biomedical Sciences, and MD Design Theme Co-Lead – Critical Thinker, Scientist and Scholar (Clinical and Biomedical Sciences)

Professor Mark Midwinter is a general surgeon with subspecialty interest in upper GI / hepatobiliary and pancreatic / Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. He moved to Australia and worked as Staff Specialist in General Surgery in Bundaberg before moving to Brisbane taking up the position at UQ as Professor Clinical Anatomy in 2018. Mark has pioneered innovative and integrated teaching of anatomy and pathology and his educational and research experience has been invaluable to the development of MD Design. Mark’s research interests include trauma and damage control resuscitation; the microcirculation; the endothelium and endothelial glycocalyx.

Researcher profile

• Associate Professor Linda Selvey, School of Public Health and Theme Lead – Advocate for Health Improvement

Associate Professor Linda Selvey is a public health physician and infectious diseases epidemiologist. She worked in senior roles in Queensland Health (as Director, Communicable Diseases Branch and then Executive Director, Population Health Queensland) before moving to the role of CEO Greenpeace Australia Pacific. She is now into her tenth year as an academic in public health. While at UQ, she has taught Health, Society and Research courses and she has a passion for teaching medical students about public health and climate change.  Linda is also the immediate past-President of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine within the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Researcher profile

• Associate Professor Helen Wozniak, Academic Lead, Assessment, Academy for Medical Education and Theme Lead – Assessment

Associate Professor Helen Wozniak is the Academic Lead Assessment in the Academy for Medical Education. She has over 30 years’ experience as an educator in health and higher education settings and a clinical background as an orthoptist. Her teaching excellence and use of innovative e-learning strategies have been recognised with the awarding of five university, national and international teaching awards. Helen’s award-winning doctoral work investigated the transition of students to online distance learning in the health professions and her current research interests include faculty development, learning design and assessment in the health professions. Helen is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Researcher profile

• Associate Professor Warrick Inder, Year 2 and Year 4 (Transition to Practice) Course Design and Implementation Lead and Theme Lead – Safe and Effective Clinician

Associate Professor Warrick Inder is an Endocrinologist who graduated from the University of Otago, New Zealand in 1988. He obtained his MD examining the effects of opioid peptides on ACTH secretion, before spending two years at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University on a post-doctoral fellowship researching pituitary adenomas. He has worked as consultant Endocrinologist at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand and St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and is currently an eminent staff specialist at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Associate Professor with The University of Queensland and member of the Translational Research Institute. He was the President of the Endocrine Society of Australia 2016-18 and chair of the Advanced Training Committee in Endocrinology for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians 2014-18. He is an editor of the international journal Clinical Endocrinology. His major clinical and research interests are pituitary and adrenal disease.

Researcher profile

• Dr Charley Greentree, Year 3 Course Design and Implementation Lead and Theme Lead – Kind and Compassionate Professional  (April 2021 – November 2022)

Dr Charley Greentree is an emergency physician at St Vincent’s hospital in Toowoomba and is one of the founding members of Wellness Resilience and Performance in Emergency Medicine (WRAPEM). Charley has a passion for clinical education at all levels of training, including developing curriculum and assessment. She has expertise in developing curriculum for and delivering simulation education and has performed the roles of Director of Clinical Training, Director Emergency Medicine Training, and Clinical Subdean (Uniting Care Health Clinical School). Clinically, she has interests in risk, error wisdom and bias, vulnerable populations and health literacy. She is part of the Australian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) committee, Mentoring Reference Group and Education Resources Review Panel, and a member of the Network of Women in Emergency Medicine (NOWEM).

• Dr Michaela Kelly, Year 4 (Advanced Practice) Course Design and Implementation Lead and Theme Lead – Partner and Team Player

Dr Michaela Kelly is a medical graduate of The University of Queensland and a general practitioner with a specific interest in aged care. She is interested in the health and well-being needs of older people, multi-morbidity, rehabilitation within aged care, palliative care and the ethical issues surrounding the medical care of elderly people. Michaela has been teaching medical students at UQ since 2010 and is currently a Year 2 case-based learning tutor and the academic coordinator for the Medicine in Society course. Michaela completed a Master of Clinical Education in 2017 and contributes to the work of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) in the development of guidelines for general practice care of older patients and standards for aged care. Michaela won a UQ Excellence in Teaching Award in 2021 for leading the team which developed the innovative Vulnerability in Medicine program.

Researcher profile

• Dr Shannon Armstrong, Project Manager, MD Design
• Ms Kate Sweeney, Manager, MD Curriculum Design

During Stage 2 of the MD Design Project, eight Theme Leads were appointed to lead the detailed design of the new MD program. Each of the Theme Leads bring a different mix of clinical, medical education, teaching and research leadership to the table.

The Theme Leads are:

• Professor Mark Midwinter: Critical Thinker Scientist and Scholar (Clinical and Biomedical Sciences)
• Professor Di Eley: Critical Thinker Scientist and Scholar (Research)
• Associate Professor Bernadette Richards: Kind and Compassionate Professional
• Dr Laura Clarke: Safe and Effective Clinician
• Dr Michaela Kelly: Partner and Team Player
• Associate Professor Linda Selvey: Advocate for Health Improvement
• Associate Professor Alison Ledger: Dynamic Learner and Educator (commenced 14 November 2022)
• Associate Professor Helen Wozniak: Assessment

Eight working groups, led by the Theme Leads, were established to develop appropriately staged learning outcomes (SLOs) and learning activities for their key theme. These SLOs lead over the four years of the new MD program to the Graduate Attributes for the MD which in turn align with the Australian Medical Council graduate outcomes. These working groups comprised more than 70 academic, professional and Academic Title Holder staff together with students, UQ Alumni and other key MD program stakeholders. View the MD Design Theme Working Groups members and roles (PDF, 627.4 KB).

At the start of Stage 3 of the MD Design Project, the theme working groups were superseded by the Course Design and Implementation Groups; however, the Theme Leads continue to have an important and ongoing role in the Project.

The Course Design and Implementation Groups have responsibility for the development of the detailed planning and implementation plan for the five courses in the new MD program in line with the overall curriculum design and underpinning principles. The course design encompasses the development of specific learning activities which enable students to attain the Staged Learning Outcomes of each course. They also collaborate with the Assessment Team on assessment modalities and tasks and prepare the detailed course schedule and implementation plan.

So far, Course Design and Implementation Groups have been established for Years 1, 2 and 3. The Year 4 group will be formed in due course. As the project progresses and course design is completed, the Course Design and Implementation Groups will transition to Course Coordination Teams. These Teams, led by the relevant course coordinator, will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the course in collaboration with the Clinical Schools, MD Learning Hub and Learning Communities.

The Year 1 Course Design and Implementation Group was chaired by Ms Angela Brandenburg, former Academic Lead (Year 1 and 2), from October 2021 – April 2022, with Professor Kirsty Foster OAM, Mayne Professor and Director, Academy for Medical Education and Director, Teaching and Learning, Medical School, assuming this role in May 2022.

The Year 1 Course Design and Implementation Group has now handed over its activity to the Year 1 Course Team, under the leadership of Course Coordinator Dr Iulia Oancea, as of October 2022.

The following colleagues were members of the Year 1 Course Design and Implementation Group:

The following colleagues are members of the Year 2 Course Design and Implementation Group:

The following colleagues are members of the Year 3 Course Design and Implementation Group: