Dr. Emma Thomson
Dr Emma Thomson is a UK trained Paediatric Surgeon who has been living and working in Malawi for 13 years. She has been working in the field of health professions education since 2016. She was Chair of the College of Medicine Education Training Office and Quality Assurance Director under the University of Malawi and is now the Acting Director of the Teaching and Learning Development Centre at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), the only institution with a Medical School in Malawi. Her office is responsible for faculty development, innovations in teaching and learning, curriculum oversight, evaluation of teaching, simulated clinical skills teaching and ODeL.
She is passionate about teaching, learning and assessment and is a seasoned faculty development facilitator having personally directed more than 60 faculty development workshops covering a range of issues from mentorship to assessment. She has facilitated workshops in Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe. In addition, she led the development of an online faculty development tool that is utilised by faculty at KUHeS and other health professional training institutions in Malawi.
She spearheaded the development and implementation of an accredited 100% ODeL Master of Health Professions Education, which is the first of its kind in Malawi.
Dr Thomson has published in peer reviewed journals with a focus on equity in health professions education. She is a FAIMER Fellow (with distinction) who firmly believes in the value of networking in enhancing quality in medical education, and is a project advisor for East African FAIMER Regional Institute (EAFRI). She graduated with a Masters in Medical Education (with distinction) at the University of Dundee and is currently undertaking a PhD in Medical Education.
She continues to teach medical students and as a COSECSA Fellow by election, she is also actively involved in training Paediatric Surgeons for Malawi and the region.
She believes in the appreciative inquiry approach to quality improvement – focusing on what can be achieved Africa, rather than focusing on what is lacking. She is passionate about the influence of culture on best teaching practices and the need for locally generated research in HPE.