Pleased to share that I was recently elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Eductaors (FAcadMEd). I was previously a Member (MAcadMEd) since 2022. I achieved this through direct application to the Academy. I’m grateful to Dr. Sandy MacQuarrie, and Dugg Steary for serving as external references and peer reviewers of my teaching.

Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators recognises established educators who demonstrate a sustained commitment to excellence in medical and health professions education, together with leadership, influence and contribution to the wider educational community. The Fellowship process provided an opportunity to reflect critically on my educational practice across teaching, curriculum and assessment, educational leadership, mentorship, scholarship and the development of others. It was also an opportunity to consider how my work as a paramedic educator has extended beyond the classroom and contributed to the development of the profession more broadly.

The application was challenging, requiring me to bring together evidence from across my educational career and demonstrate not simply what I had done, but the impact, rationale and educational thinking underpinning that work. One of the most valuable aspects of the process was therefore the reflection it prompted on how my educational philosophy has evolved and how I have sought to influence education beyond my own teaching.

For anyone considering Fellowship, my main advice would be:

1. start by thinking about impact rather than activity. It is relatively easy to produce a list of teaching, leadership, curriculum or scholarship activities. The more difficult, and more important question is what changed as a result, why you made particular choices, and what evidence demonstrates that change.
2. approaching the application as an opportunity to tell a coherent story about your development as an educator, rather than simply assembling evidence against a set of criteria. The strongest evidence is not necessarily the most impressive achievement; it is the evidence that demonstrates sustained educational thinking, influence and impact.