National Teaching Fellowship Scheme - Higher Education Academy

National Teaching Fellows 2012
Dr Jo Brown
Head of Clinical Communication
in Medical EducationSt George’s
University of London
Dr Jo Brown’s enthusiasm for her subject is infectious. Her interest in clinical communication
began when, as an 18 year-old student nurse, she noticed the impact that effective, patientcentred
communication had on the physical and psychological wellbeing of patients and health care
professionals alike, and she has been fascinated by the subject ever since.
Jo took up her first academic post in 1992 and moved to teaching clinical communication in 2001. It
was at this time that she began to think about how the subject was taught and learned and to examine
its academic origins. In 2006 she moved to St George’s where she took over as academic lead for the
clinical communication curriculum and recruited a team of five highly creative lecturers to deliver it. In
2009 the General Medical Council said: “We found the overall approach to teaching and assessment
of communication skills to be an area of good practice. We found this was integrated throughout the
curriculum and used patients as teachers and in assessment.”
Undergraduate medical courses attract high achieving students and there has been little recognition
in the past that these students struggle or fail academically. Over the last ten years Jo has developed a
comprehensive academic support programme and is passionate about supporting medical students to
learn effectively. During this time she has worked with over 800 students to facilitate their progress
through medical school. One student commented of Jo’s work:
“Thank you for your patience and wisdom. You truly inspire students to achieve their best and this
can be seen by the effort you put into your teaching. Please keep doing what you are doing for
students as it is truly appreciated.”
Zofran, a final year medical student.
Jo is a curriculum designer, an academic leader and an external examiner. She presents at
conferences, writes books and articles, and reviews for education journals. Her research centres
on workplace learning and her focus for the future is the more authentic placement of clinical
communication teaching and learning in the clinical environment.
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