MyGlasgow News

The MSc Medical Genetics teaching staff were finalists in the Prospects Postgraduate Awards 2013, held on Tuesday 19th November at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in Manchester, to recognise and reward excellence and good practice, writes Dr Maria Jackson, Senior University Teacher, Medical Genetics - School of Medicine.

Universities and businesses from the whole of the UK were represented, although Medical Genetics were the only team from Scotland to reach the finals in the category of Best Teaching Team. The panel of 13 judges represented interests across the Higher Education spectrum, and they commented that “the standard of entries was incredibly high”.‌

The nominations for these teaching awards were made by students and the Medical Genetics team was one of the four finalists for Best Teaching Team (Science, Engineering and Technology). Rasha Sabouny (MSc Medical Genetics, 2013), one of the students who nominated the Medical Genetics team, said:  

“It was such an honour to have nominated our beloved MSc Medical Genetics teaching team as the best across the UK! And no surprise indeed, as they have perfected their roles and more. I enjoyed every aspect of the course from day one until my viva, all thanks to a remarkably dedicated team. They’ve got it all covered: from welcoming new students, delivering super-interesting lectures, arranging multiple de-stress outings, even introducing us to the Scottish cuisine!

"I was personally inspired by how our course was structured and delivered by the entire team. Dr Maria Jackson and Dr Leah Marks could not have dedicated more time to their students and the course. Always there for us, ready to listen and give feedback, ensuring students were given the best guidance to excel, the space to put their suggestions forward, and the skills to become critical thinkers. I felt that my performance was significantly improving as the year progressed which was mainly made possible by their incredibly thorough feedback accompanying each submission. The team’s genuine concern about us students was really heartwarming and key to easing our transition to grad school and to Glasgow, for many international students. Knowing that there was someone to go to for literally anything was really comforting and allowed us to focus on what we were actually there for.

Many thanks to our wonderful teaching facilitators Mrs Elizabeth O’Hare, Mrs Linda Glasgow and Mrs Frances Cousins who have made learning Genetics a very enjoyable experience through numerous case studies and lab sessions. It was only because of them that we have mastered presenting in front of a large audience of students and professionals confidently and professionally. Their assistance extended beyond their office hours to attend presentation rehearsals and offer English corrections for those whose first language was not English. Clinical Genetics was one of my favourite sections delivered very neatly by Prof Edward Tobias. Bringing in the clinical side of Genetics and introducing us to various dilemmas encountered in the field has put everything we learned into context – not to mention how cool it was to be actually taught by the author of an internationally renowned Medical Genetics textbook! The team was surely complete with its effective administration for which we are very grateful to Miss Caitlin Welsh who willingly goes out of her way to lend a helping hand. There was no other way about it; they are the best postgraduate teaching team one could ever meet!”.

Kathleen Murphy (MSc Medical Genetics, 2013) who was also one of the student nominators, accompanied the team to Manchester for the awards ceremony.

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First published: 22 November 2013