Professor John Bligh has become the School of Medicine’s first-ever Dean of Medical Education responsible for the University’s undergraduate medical curriculum.
As well as leading a key review and a modernisation of the medical undergraduate curriculum, he will help maintain Cardiff on the national and international map as a centre for medical education excellence.
Speaking about his role, Professor Bligh said: “The School of Medicine has a long and proud reputation for pursuing the highest standards of education and training and for producing the next generation of Welsh and UK doctors.
“However, the needs of modern medicine and a 21st century NHS mean that the way the next generation of doctors are educated needs to constantly change.
“As the University’s Director of Medical Education it will be my job to ensure that the skills and training our students get from the School fit the needs of their careers in medicine.
“Recent experience has shown that Wales continues to experience difficulties in filling some specialities but by working jointly with the Postgraduate Deanery and NHS Wales we can hopefully help address vacancies in some of the key areas where there are gaps.”
Who is Professor Bligh?
A leading figure in designing medical education, Professor Bligh is the former Vice Dean, Professor of Clinical Education and Director of the Institute for Clinical Education at Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.
President of the Academy of Medical Educators he led the Expert Advisory Panel on assessment and selection for the Tooke Inquiry into MMC, and was Editor in Chief of Medical Education between 1997 and 2005. He represented medical education research on the 2008 HEFCE Research Assessment Exercise.
After house jobs in Neurosurgery at Manchester Royal Infirmary and General Medicine in North Wales his main clinical background is in general practice where he was involved in postgraduate teaching successively as a GP trainer, course organiser, and then associate adviser for quality to Mersey Region.
During his time in general practice he was a clinical assistant in alcohol and drug dependence at the Mersey Regional Drug and Alcohol Centre, and in ophthalmology at Chester Royal Infirmary. In 1991 he was appointed Regional Medical Adviser to join a team establishing the National Medical Adviser’s Support Centre for the Department of Health.
From 1990 to 1995 he was International Fellow for Saudi Arabia for the Royal College of General Practitioners, helping to establish a postgraduate training programme for the Ministry of Health within the Kingdom.
He became Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and Director of the University Medical Education Unit at the University of Liverpool in 1993, during which time he was a member of the foundation staff at the International Medical College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1995 he was appointed Professor of Primary Care Education at the University of Liverpool, and subsequently Professor of Medical Education. He was head of the Department of Health Care Education from 1995 to 2001 when he joined the foundation staff of Peninsula Medical School as Associate Dean (Education).
His main professional interest is in designing medical education programmes to meet the needs of modern health care delivery. He has published extensively and is co-author, with Noel Boaden, of a book, Community Based Medical Education: towards a shared agenda for learning published in 1999.
