In episode 83, we have students back on the show, talking about their ambitions for their society work duriung the academic year 2025-26. Inroducing Freya and her team to the show, we cover the impact that society work adds to the student experience, with both educational and social events throughout the year. We also get slightly distracted now and then and end up discussing why having a pie in a roll is even a thing, up here in Scotland!
In another special episode talking about body donation, myself and Professor Paul Rea speak with the daughter of one of our donors who was recieved by The University of Glasgow. In this one, we have a lovely chat with Anne Hempstock, who very generously talks us through the feelings and emotions within the family when a loved one chooses to donate their body for the purposes of research, education and training after their death. Anne explains how her mum was known to many as 'Wee Susie, and that she knew her own mind and exactly what she wanted to do once she passed. This provoked a lot of conversations amongst her family which she shares with us here. Anne tells us the heartfelt story of how proud her mum would have been of her, to know that she had contributed to this podcast, and that she able to tell her mum's story and raise the profile of body donation across Scotland.
In this episode we chat to Professor Eileen Cowey, who is Head of the Nursing & Health Care School, within the School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing at The University of Glasgow. Eileen's responsibilities include leading and managing the strategic direction of the Nursing & Health Care School, which consistently ranks highly in UK league tables for student satisfaction. Key activities include leading curriculum development, championing teaching quality, advancing internationalisation, and fostering interdisciplinary collaborations. We chat about the broader state of nursing education in the UK, the future of the NHS and much, much more, check it out!
It's time for episode 80 and in this one we speak with Maria Afonso who is a veterinary educator with an interest in pedagogy and scholarship of education - her main areas of interest are assessment, study skills, curriculum development and EDI. She currently teaches veterinary anatomy and is the course leader/level coordinator for the 2nd year of the UofG Veterinary Medicine (BVMS) programme.
In this episode we catch up once again with curriculum support manager Dr Ashley Lewis Cole who is part of The Curriculum Transformation Workstream; a concept which is predicated upon the idea that a student's core discipline should enable them to develop and demonstrate skills for the future workplace through an inclusive, accessible curriculum for Life (C4L) approach. So...what if every student at the University of Glasgow had the opportunity to engage in a curriculum that contains opportunities for work-related and experiential learning that explores and addresses societal challenges, such as climate action, sustainability and social justice? We discuss the phisophy underpinning the project and much more...
Body donation for anatomical education, training and research is so important in educating our future generations of doctors, dentists, nurses and scientists. The selfless act of donating your body after death for education is such a wonderful gift to our learners and donors are considered as the "silent teachers". Understanding human anatomy can only be done so effectively when we examine the human body in detail. Not only do our learners gain a better understanding of the human body, but it also instils an understanding of respect, care, dignity, empathy as well as communication skills and professionalism. For those students on vocational degrees, it goes beyond this and helps students develop the skills needed for their future careers with patients. We are delighted to present our Body Donation Podcast, from the Anatomy Facility here at the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing in the University of Glasgow. This podcast has been created by an expert panel of academics, technicians and administrative staff who lead on the Body Donation Programme. At the core of what we do in our Anatomy Facility is care, respect and dignity for the donors, and we have a dedicated team for the donors journey with us after death. We also ensure there is that same care, respect and dignity for the donors from all those who attend educational sessions, training, and undertake research on the human body. This care is also provided by our trainee surgeons and senior surgical faculty who rehearse and simulate surgical procedures in our Clinical Anatomy Skills Centre, a joint partnership with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. This podcast covers all the practicalities around body donation, for those considering donating their body, to those who might have to deal with the practicalities of carrying out someone's wishes that has registered with us, after their death. The podcast provides hints and tips to help with choosing body donation and making an informed decision; how to register for body donation; the ethics around decision making; administrative and legal advice; and demystifies the process. It is jargon free and there is no cost to listen to it, and no subscriptions are needed. This podcast is for anyone at all who is interested - from those wishing or considering donation; a family member, friend or associate who knows of someone considering donating; a healthcare practitioner or funeral director who wants to learn more; or for those who are simply curious and would like to hear more.
In epiosde 77 we talk to Cat Irving who is a human remains conservator at Surgeon's Hall, Edinburgh. After her postgraduate training in museum studies at Leicester, she became a licensed anatomist and has previously conserved the skeletal remains of the notorious nineteenth century serial killer William Burke, for display at National Museums of Scotland's exhibition Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life. Cat regularly gives talks on anatomy and medical history for places such as National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh International Science Festival, London Month of the Dead, The Mütter Museum, Arnos Vale Cemetery, University of Minnesota, Romancing the Gothic, and many others. Get ready for a fascinating conversation!
One of our most popular episodes in recent times has been the first one we did with Rahaf, who is a orthodontist, originally from Syria. It has been a year since we chatted last and much has changed, both in her personal and professsional life. In this episode (76) we talk to her about her developing career, some issues on educational approaches for learning subjects like anatomy and dentistry, and of course her continued success as a content creator on Insta - plus much more. Don't forget to check out her first episode if you have not heard that yet!
In this episode we speak to student Luca Papoff about why he chose to do an internship as opposed to a typical research project in his honours year. Traditionally, students get the choice to do either a lab based project or a dissertation in the final year of their degree, but many instititions are now also offering an internship as one of their options too. This option gives the student the chance to work with an external partner, to give them a real world experience of working for a company and delivering on an objective in the work place. In this episode we talk about Luca's experience - how is it different, why might you choose it and what are the benefits. Check it out!
It's time for episode 74 and in this one I chat with Steph Scholten who is the Director of The 'Hunterian Museums' and its collections at the Univeristy of Glasgow. This episode provides some insight into managing this side of The UofG's estate, and so we discuss some of the issues that arise for Steph and his team during their daily work. We chat about things like, interesting specimens, ethical considerations, repatriation of items, the media, and much much more!
In this episode (#73) we get Joe Gray back in for a catch up on what he has been doing since he was last a guest on the show. There is of course the usual random nonsense intertwined with discuissions on The Royal Society of Biology accreditation, NSS stuff and talk on assessment and feedback too.
In this epiosde we have a festive round up of all the Univeristy of Glasgow's top news stories from 2024, along with some insights into how the communications team work and what they do. I am joined by Richard Warburton - Head of Commmunications and External Relations at UofG, and Charlotte Morris - the Communications Manager for The College of Social Sciences for a light hearted chinwag. Ever wondered how media requests are managed and how our staff end up on TV or radio? How does the Principal get advised on political or financial news that could affect the HE sector? It's all fascinating stuff, so join us for what ended up being a very long but highly enjoyable chat!
In epiosde 71 we speak with some 2024-25 anatomy student society committee members on the importance of student societies within Higher Education Institutions. I'm joined by University of Glasgow final year students, Olivia Campbell, Hannah Clark and Fraser MacLean to discuss all of this, their ambitions as a team, the extra curricular wokload, staff/student partnerships and a whole lot more!
In episode 70 we chat with Aileen bell, who is Deputy Head of School for Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, Head of the Dental School and Professor of Oral Surgery & Dental Education at The Univeristy of Glasgow. In this one we chat about the NSS, where Aileen and her team have a sustained exemplary record, that has often led the way for further conversations on how things should be done, or could be improved in other disciplines. The conversation unpacks some of these aspects and we get some tips from Aileen about how to tackle areas that trouble many institutions, such as feedback and how it is acted upon.
In episode 69 we are joined by Ashley Lewis Cole, who is a curriculum support manager at Glasgow and has been involved in driving the COIL innitaitive. This stands for Collaborative Online International Learning and is a University wide project aimed at offering our student population opportunities for a more diverse cultural experience, especially when it is not possible to travel. Ashley has a wider role in policy and governance too, but here we mainly focus on the benefits of cultural diversity in undergraduate teaching at Glasgow, and how it can enrich the student experience.
In this one we get chatting to Hamish (a lectuer in biomedical Science at Glasgow) and Lauren,(a graduate teaching assisstent in Anatomy at Glasgow) to discuss the launch of a new MOOC on the considerations and applications of generative AI in educational settings. This has been a project led by Dr Ourania Varsou, who has been on the podcast prevsiously to discuss generative AI in higher education. We chat about why such a course is desirable, who it is for, and what it covers. Check it out!
In episode 67 we welcome Anton Muscatelli to the podcast to chat about the legacy he will leave at The Univeristy of Glasgow having served as its Principal and Vice Chancellor for 15 years. Sir Anton anounced his intentions to retire earlier this year, so we thought it would be a great idea to have him on the show and to have a reflective conversation about his time in office and to discuss some of the big changes/ challanges that he and the sector as a whole has experienced throughout that time. Since this is a teaching focused podcast, we take the opportunity to delve into Anton's approaches and attitudes to learning and scholarship and talk about aspects of the UofG education strategy. We even managed to squeeze in a brief chat about his favourite football team too, the mighty Inter Milan of course!
In episode 66 we chat to Dr Claire Fitton, who is the anatomy lead for the early years of the medical degree programme at Glasgow. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences (anatomy) from Cardiff University and an MSc in Forensic Anthropology from the University of Dundee. Claire's PhD focused on biomechanical properties of Thiel embalmed arteries to help validate this as an endovascular research model. Since then Claire has developed some innovative teaching approaches to overcome the challanges of increased student numbers and enagagement levels in large practical anatomy classes, so this is our chance to chat about all this stuff and more - enjoy!
In epiosde 65 we catch up with British entrepreneur and former ostetrics doctor Johann Malawana. This is his second visit to the podcast, but his first in person. The Healthcare Ladership Academy was running face to face sessions from The University of Glasgow so this was the perfect opportunity to catch up with him about leadership training, and digital education, as well as finding out what he has been up to and how his initatives have developed since our previous conversation a few years ago. Since we are old pals, we also engage in a bit of banter and go off topic a few times, sorry about this, very unprofessional behaviour (sorry not sorry).
In this episode we catch up with Claire Donald who works in The School of Infection and Immunity at The University of Glasgow. Her background is in virology but she is passionate about supporting early career researchers in becoming passionate about teaching and has been part of a project that seeks out opportunities for them. We have a great chat about her interest in public engagement and discuss issues around pressures on modern academics and if aspiring to be a well balanced researcher and teacher has now become a thing of the past.