My role is....

Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Evaluation, which I started at the beginning of March. In this role I am Evaluation Lead for the Doctor of Medicine and Survery (MChD) program, which means I will be putting together and implementing an Evaluation Framework in fulfilment of our Australian Medical Council accreditation requirements. I will also help integrate into the program ways for students to learn how to proactively build and protect their own wellbeing during their studies and in their future lives as doctors. I am a Cognitive Neuropsychology researcher studying cognitive and sensory changes in clinical populations (most recently, people with chronic pain), however some of the ideas I am currently developing involve normal crossmodal pain perception and synaesthesia.

Before SMP....

I worked in the UK for over nineteen years, with a short stint in France. Most recently, I was Senior Lecturer in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology in the Psychology Department and Centre for Pain Research at the University of Bath. I have some dissertation and PhD students over there who are still finishing up, which means lots of late-night Teams meetings.

The top three things on my to do list are.....

1. “Develop MChD evaluation framework”. This is going to be in one of the top three positions of my to-do list for the rest of the year. Today this means “create over-view of current MChD evaluation activities”.
2. “Draft expression of interest for Arthritis Australia Project Grant”. I am hoping to convince someone else in the school to collaborate with me on a new research direction, so wish me luck.
3. “Prepare ethics application for Team-Based Learning vs Problem-Based Learning evaluation”. This year the MChD has switched from
   PBL to TBL for the first-year students, so I will be evaluating the impact of this change along with Alex Webb and Mary-Ann Ryall. Not all evaluations have to be research, however we are interested in understanding the impact of TBL vs PBL on placement preparedness among other things, and this hasn’t been done before so might be worth reporting in Medical Education journals.

The most famous person I've ever met....

Might be Prince Edward (King Charles’ younger brother), who is Chancellor of the University of Bath and who I have met twice (the guy couldn’t keep away from me!). He did a hand’s on demonstration of sensorimotor adaptation with me at a University event. He was a good sport about it. However, I am not particularly a fan of the royals, so the most famous person that I met who I was actually excited to meet was the retired Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield. It was in Oxford at a signing for his book of photographs that he took from the International Space Station (which people should definitely check out). I’ve shaken a hand that has been IN SPACE!

In my spare time I like to … 

Fantasize about finishing a sentence uninterrupted and sleeping in on weekends. I am sure that anyone else with small children can relate. But my hobbies are travel and outdoor pursuits (running, cycling, hiking, open-water swimming). I am really excited about taking advantage of Canberra’s amazing outdoor life.

My first job was...

A Check-out Chick at Cooma Woolies. I started at 14 and nine months of age, and was paid $4.25 per hour.

Coffee or tea? Milk in first or last?.... 

One morning Latte, then endless cups of tea. Milk goes in the cup last if I’m using a tea-bag, but first if I have used a teapot (which is vanishingly rare).