Dr Jo Brown

National Teaching Fellow 2012 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, patient-centred 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 Georges 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 Jos 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.