Academic staff in Notre Dame’s Schools of Medicine and Physiotherapy have been recognised in the 2016 Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
The successful recipients of OLT citations were Susan Edgar, Acting Associate Dean in the School of Physiotherapy, Fremantle and the team of Professor Sankar Sinha, Dr Mohammed Ali Malik, Dr Gerry Ahern and Associate Professor Peter Clyne from the School of Medicine, Sydney.
Mrs Edgar’s citation is for implementing and promoting life-long wellness and self-management strategies to enhance the mental health, confidence and emotional wellbeing of physiotherapy students on clinical placement.
The proactive approach includes early identification and management of factors influencing motivation and engagement, and integration of self-management strategies in the lead-up to clinical placement experiences.
“During the process, it was great to work with our counselling team to discuss optimising student mental health on campus as well as engage with staff from other disciplines, sharing concerns and strategies,” Mrs Edgar said.
“This award will allow me to further investigate and promote student and mental health awareness across Notre Dame and the wider tertiary sector.”
The School of Medicine team was recognised for its successful implementation of student-centred learning of clinical anatomy through innovations utilising blended learning, near-peer tutoring, integrated workshops and collaboration of pathologists, radiologists and surgeons. These innovations have dramatically enhanced student learning of anatomy in the School of Medicine.
“The OLT recognition is a fitting acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of our Notre Dame anatomy team over the past five years in creating an exemplary program,” Professor Sinha said.
“Testament to the success of this program is the fact that our students won first prize with a perfect anatomy score in the Golden Scalpel Games Competition in NSW.
“The challenge in the future will be to maintain this trajectory while continuing to refine, improve and innovate in order to continue to deliver a high-quality anatomy program and produce safe and knowledgeable clinical practitioners of tomorrow.”
Notre Dame’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Celia Hammond, congratulated the two successful nominees for having their outstanding achievements in teaching and research recognised.
“As a university that openly strives for excellence in teaching, we are delighted with these externally judged awards for our staff. This is the second time that the OLT has recognised the work of Susan Edgar and Sankar Sinha, which is a commendable achievement,” Professor Hammond said.