A University of Plymouth medical professor has been awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Professor Hisham Khalil, Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Liaison in the Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry (PU PSMD), has been recognised in the 2017 awards for his long-standing work on ‘engaged student learning’ at regional, national and international levels.
Professor Khalil becomes the 23rd Plymouth academic to be awarded an NTF, maintaining the institution’s proud track record of being one of the most successful in the country, including nine awarded in the last six years alone.
Professor Khalil joined the University in 2004, when he was also appointed as a Consultant ENT Surgeon at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust. In his time at the institution, he has led a major curriculum review with student and staff involvement, as well as a national project on engaged-student learning with the HEA. He has also contributed to numerous General Medical Council activities including the accreditation of medical schools, and is an external assessor for the Irish Medical Council.
Professor Khalil said:
“I have always believed that one of the principal functions of the ‘Educator’ is to act as a ‘role model’ for their students and trainees, inspiring them, making them aware of their potential and helping them realise their ambitions. Throughout my career, I have been committed to learning and teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students and trainees in Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing. To receive this fellowship is a great honour.”In 2015, Professor Khalil was made a Principal Fellow of the HEA, in recognition of his strategic leadership in academic practice and academic development as a key contribution to high quality student learning. He says the fellowship will enable him to undertake new collaborations across Plymouth and with other higher education institutions, and provide a springboard for grants to enhance clinical education research and healthcare professions learning resources.
Professor Rob Sneyd, Dean of PU PSMD, paid tribute to his work, saying:
“Professor Khalil is an outstanding academic, and one who has contributed hugely to our undergraduate and postgraduate clinical education. And in his role as Associate Dean, he has also had a profound effect upon overall quality standards in the faculty.”Professor Khalil will formally receive his fellowship at a black tie awards ceremony in Westminster in November.
Professor Julian Chaudhuri, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience), said:
“The University is rightly proud of its long-standing record of National Teaching Fellowships because it recognises the number of influential thinkers, theorists and practitioners that we have here across the academic spectrum. Teaching is our bedrock, and it is academics like Professor Khalil that ensure that our student experience is founded upon pedagogic innovation and creativity and its translation into university teaching practice.”