Teaching context and philosophy

My teaching in Medicine focuses on communication, physical examination, and procedural skills - core elements of the doctor-patient relationship and central to the professional identity of the clinician. Clinical Skills teaching extends across the six years of the undergraduate medical program, forming a continuous developmental pathway that contributes critically to the readiness for clinical practice of our 1,600 students.

My pedagogical approach is grounded in two key understandings: 1. mastery of clinical skills depends on explicit knowledge of their components and associated competencies; 2. experiential learning principles must shape how these are acquired and refined. In short, learning is most effective when it is active, contextualised, and reflective. Accordingly, I design learning experiences that require students to engage directly with patients - real and simulated - and reflect critically on those encounters. This approach both develops technical proficiency and fosters the habits of empathy, curiosity, and self-awareness that underpin professional behaviour, whilst further reinforcing self-directed and self-regulated learning.

In recent years, changing clinical environments have reduced opportunities for supervised practice with real patients. Hospitals are busier, patients are more acutely unwell, and clinical teachers face competing demands on their time. To sustain and scale experiential learning within these constraints, I have led a number of carefully aligned initiatives. From 2015, I introduced the campus-based Simulated Patient Program, soon followed by its online sister OSPIA providing scaled access to simulated patients. This was further complemented by the CWAapp which allows mass collection of Workplace-Based Assessments. 

In 2024/2025, I integrated SimConverse (these three initiatives are fully described in the 'Design and development of learning activities and assessment' section)), an AI-driven virtual patient platform, into the Phase 2 curriculum. The platform enables students to practise advanced communication scenarios, such as motivational interviewing, discussing sensitive topics, or exploring cross-cultural issues, with an artificial, conversationally responsive patient-bot. Each interaction is followed by structured, personalised feedback and guided reflection. This design extends the reach of experiential learning, enabling mastery through repetition, and supports students’ development of self-evaluation skills.

While SimConverse is not a substitute for human interaction, it addresses long-standing pedagogical and logistical challenges in communication teaching. It allows every student equitable access to practice and feedback, provides standardised experiences aligned to course learning outcomes, and generates analytic data that inform both teaching and assessment. At the same time, I remain attentive to its limitations, particularly regarding human affect and the potential for over-reliance on simulated encounters. Its role in our curriculum is therefore complementary: to prepare students for, and consolidate learning from, their real patient experiences.

I derive deep satisfaction from this work because its impact is enduring. Every graduate who communicates with competence and empathy contributes to the quality and safety of patient care. As future patients ourselves, we all stand to benefit from doctors who listen, explain, and connect effectively. My goal as a teacher is that UNSW medical graduates are recognised by their patients and peers alike as clinicians distinguished by the quality of their communication and the professionalism of their practice.