Our People

We have an experienced and professional team working collaboratively across projects. Expertise is drawn from the wider University community as required.

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Chris Roberts
MBChB MRCGP MMedSci PhD
Associate Professor, Director and Associate Dean of Education


Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Associate Professor Chris Roberts PhD is a medical educator of international reputation. His current role is Director of the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education (OPME) at the University of Sydney, one of the most significant collections of medical and health educational expertise in Australia. His particular research interests are the assessment of clinical performance, professionalism and clinical competence. He has undertaken consultancy on assessment in Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada, and the Middle East. He has published several articles on assessment in peer reviewed international journals. In the UK he was responsible for quality assurance of all high stakes summative assessments at the University of Sheffield. Whilst there he worked collaboratively with the team which has gone on to produce a major contribution to the international literature on work-based assessment. At the University of Sydney he has a major role in revising the Faculty of Medicine’s assessment strategy. This includes the establishing on the Mini-Cex as a summative assessment of clinical competence.

Tim Shaw
BSc (Hons) PhD
Associate Professor, Deputy Director, and Director Workforce Development


Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone +61 2 9351 5181
Fax +61 2 9351 6646

Tim Shaw is an Associate Professor of Health Workforce Education and Director of program development in the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education (OPME) at The University of Sydney. He specialises in the development, management and evaluation of large innovative health-based educational projects. He holds a PhD in biomedical sciences.

Recent projects that have been managed by OPME include the review of Cancer Care CPD for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, development of the National Patient Safety Education Framework for the Australian Council for Quality in Health Care, the development of Basic and Advanced Surgical Training online for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Pharmacotherapy Accreditation training for NSW Health, Online Medication Management Review Training for the Pharmacy Guild and Junior Medical Officers online modules in appropriate use of blood products for the Northern Centre for Health Improvement.

Jill Thistlethwaite
BSc MBBS PhD MMEd FRCGP FRACGP DRCOG
Associate Professor and Director, Research & Teaching




Room 210, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 7853
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Dr Jill Thistlethwaite is a medical educator and general practitioner. She trained in the United Kingdom and received her PhD in medical education from the University of Maastricht. Her interests are consultation/communication skills training and assessment, shared decision making, professionalism, portfolio-based assessment and interprofessional learning. She still practises as a GP for 2 sessions a week.

Dr Thistlethwaite chairs the Prevocational Education Sub-Committee of the NSC Education Committee of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. She is on the board of InterEd, an international organization for promoting and evaluating interprofessional education. She is associate editor of the Journal of Interprofessional Care and on the editorial advisory board of the Clinical Teacher and Work Based Learning in Primary Care.

She has published in a variety of education and clinical journals and is co-author of three books to be published in 2006: on consultation skills (for the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK), professionalism and working with simulated patients.

Merrilyn Walton
BA BSW MSW PhD
Associate Professor and Director, Patient Safety




Room 209, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 3678
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Associate Professor Walton teaches medical students and clinicians about ethical practice, quality and safety.

Her particular interests include:

• Educating health care workers about ethical practice and patient safety,
• Enhancing the training environment for medical students and doctors,
• Advocating for patients to be fully engaged in health care at every level.

Merrilyn was the founding Commissioner for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (1993-2000) and has convened many Government Inquiries. She has been published widely in Australian and international health, medical and law journals on issues relating to regulation, ethical practice, standards of care, and patient safety. She was the Director and author of the National Patient Safety Education Framework.

She is the author of 3 books, the latest being Safety and ethics in Health Care with co authors Professors Bill Runciman and Alan Merry, published by Ashgate Publishers (2007). She has contributed chapters to 14 books.

She is a member/director on many committees and boards including the NSW Institute for Medical Education and Training as member of the NSW Ministerial Advisory Committee and Management committee, Chair of the Prevocational Council (IMET), Clinical Ethics Committee at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, The Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the NSW Health Quest Appeals Committee and Faculty Member of the NSW Clinical Practice Improvement Program. She is also a member of the review committee for the University Review of Social Sciences, and Chairs the judging panel for the NSW Baxter health Awards.

Associate Professor Charlotte Rees
BSc (Hons) MEd PhD CPsychol
Director, Medical Education




Room 211, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 2814
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Charlotte is a psychologist and educationalist by background. She received her degrees from the Universities of Liverpool, Exeter and Sheffield in the UK. She has recently joined OPME (February 2007), before which she was Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, UK. She joined Peninsula in March 2002 as the Foundation Lead for three longitudinal themes of the new undergraduate medical curriculum: Human Sciences, Communication Skills and Personal and Professional Development. Her major responsibilities within this leadership role included curriculum development, implementation and evaluation, faculty development and management, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and medical education research. In preparation for the UK Research Assessment Exercise 2008, Charlotte’s job description at Peninsula Medical School changed radically in March 2005, whereby her primarily role was medical education research and evaluation. Her major research interests focus on the development of professionalism and professional behaviours in medical students and are underpinned largely by social cognition theory. She has expertise as a qualitative and quantitative researcher and has published widely on topics such as patient education in oncology, communication skills learning, professionalism assessment and service user involvement in medical education, with over 40 peer-reviewed journal publications.

Rola Ajjawi
BAppSci (Physiotherapy) Hons PhD
Lecturer
rajjawi@med.usyd.edu.au



Room 216C, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 7208
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Rola Ajjawi is an Associate Lecturer in Medical Education at OPME. Her work involves curriculum evaluation and design and conducting educational research. In her PhD research she explored how experienced practitioners learn to reason and learn to communicate their reasoning in professional practice.

Rola’s research interests include: professionalism, workplace learning, and assessing and promoting clinical reasoning ability.

Stewart Barnet
BA Dip Teach Grad Dip Ed Tech
Manager, Educational Design
stewartb@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 215, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9351 5677
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Stewart Barnet is the Manager of Educational Development in OPME. Stewart brings over 30 years experience in the educational sector, including 20 years as a practicing instructional designer in both the VET and Tertiary sectors. He was originally the instructional designer for the University of Sydney Medical Program and more recently responsible for educational design consultancy to major commercial projects undertaken by OPME.

The role of Manager, Educational Development is to ensure that all OPME projects and ongoing programs receive appropriate support in terms of educational design and delivery and that the work of the Educational Development stream contributes to the overall innovation and research output of OPME.

Katrina Chemello
BAppSc GradDip IT (e-Commerce)
Project Manager
katrinag@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 212, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9351 4650
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Katrina Chemello is a Project Manager within OPME, specialising in managing education projects. She has worked in both the private and pubic sector with roles ranging from project management, marketing, website management and other website related roles. Recently in OPME Katrina has successfully completed a range of projects including, JMO Blood Transfusion Products, VQC Safety and Quality Education Program and WRAD - Catching The Dragon.

With her industry experience and education qualifications Katrina is skilled to project manage the development of education and eLearning projects whilst providing both business and technical advice.

Gemma Connolly
BA MA (International Relations)
Project Officer
gemmac@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 220, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9351 3888
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Gemma Connolly is a Project Officer with OPME, working largely on a Commonwealth project reviewing CPD for cancer care professionals. Prior to joining OPME, Gemma worked in Sri Lanka as a Program Manager in the area of disabilities and disaster relief. She has a background in the not-for-profit sector and has experience in program development, project management, proposal writing and general administration.

Gemma’s key job functions within OPME involve administrative and project support to the cancer project, coordinating the development of reports, maintaining project research activities and recruiting casual project related staff.

Christine du Fresne
Research Assistant


Room 207B, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 4542
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Christine is a Research Assistant working primarily with Associate Professor Merrilyn Walton. She has an education and research background, has been a film maker, professional writer and artist, and currently teaches Yoga part time. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Professional Art Studies and a strong interest in innovative and ethical practice in the field of health education and training.

Within OPME Christine is responsible for researching PPD themes, analysing and synthesising material from literature searches, and researching and writing material for various OPME projects.

Kirsty Foster
Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and PhD Student


Room 221, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 7211
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Kirsty is based at the Northern Clinical School, Royal North Shore Hospital and works in the OPME office on a part time basis.

Rita Gudinho
Finance Officer


Room 214 Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 5006
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Rita Gudinho is the Finance Officer with OPME coordinating the Centres finances. Rita’s responsibilities include: accounts payable and receivable, purchasing, monitoring staff corporate cards, assisting with budgets, processing staff travel requirements and attending to financial enquiries.

Prior to joining OPME, Rita has gained extensive experience in administrative roles - 5 years as Project Administrator for a national project, National Opioid Treatment Training Programme at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and 5 years as Secretary to the Executive Vice President, Bayer (India) Limited.

Michelle Kempnich
Educational Officer
michellek@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 220, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 9406
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Koshila Kumar
MA (Hons)
Research Offficer



Room 208, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 3130
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Koshila Kumar is a Research Officer at OPME at the University of Sydney. She holds a MA (Hons) in Education from the University of Auckland, and has worked in educational research for a number of years. She has extensive expertise in research planning and development, and in the coordination and management of research projects including the preparation of grant and ethics applications, research design, literature review, data collection, management and analysis, and contribution to research reports and publications. Koshila is recently enrolled PhD candidate and her research examines the development and role of professionalism in team contexts and the process by which teams negotiate a shared understanding of their professionalism values and responsibilities.

Joanne Newsome
Project Assistant


Room 222, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 7317
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Joanne is a Project Assistant with OPME, working on a Commonwealth project reviewing CPD for cancer care professionals. She is also the Executive Assistant to Associate Professor Tim Shaw.

Jackie Ross
BA Grad Dip Cont Ed Grad Dip Human Nut
Senior Project Manager
jross@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 217, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9351 8799
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Jackie Ross is Senior Project Manager, leading OPME's project management stream and responsible for managing major commercial projects and for project management support across OPME's project portfolio.

Jackie has extensive experience in project management and policy development in the higher education sector. She brings a high level of expertise to the management of professional health education projects within OPME. Jackie recently managed a national project to scope and analyse CPD for cancer care professionals. Her portfolio also includes oversight of the Sydney Professional Master of Medicine Program (SPMMP), a major new initiative for the Faculty of Medicine with streams across a range of medical disciplines. In 2004 she coordinated the project to develop the National Patient Safety Education Framework for the Australian Council for Quality in Health Care.

Imogene Rothnie
B.A., B. Sci., Post Grad Dip (Psych)

Lecturer (Assessment)
irothnie@med.usyd.edu.au

Room 206, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9036 6434
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Associate Lecturer Imogene Rothnie works in the development of medical education assessment strategies and educational evaluation. Imogene is also involved with teaching in the Postgraduate Program in Medical Education, particularly in the areas of design and analysis of assessment instruments and program evaluation.

Imogene’s background is in educational psychology with a particular interest in the psychometrics of student assessment and approaches to the evaluation of medical education innovations, particularly in IT. Her research interests include the use of alternate measurement theories in standard setting and the use of information technology in the design and delivery of medical education curriculum resources and assessment.

Samantha Van Staalduinen
BSc (Integrated Science), MMedEd (in progress)
Project Officer


Room 207A, Mackie Building (K01)
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

Phone: +61 2 9351 3687
Fax: +61 2 9351 6646

Samantha Van Staalduinen joins OPME after a number of years at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she was actively involved in research, curriculum development and community outreach in the areas of doctor-patient and cross-cultural communication. She developed a flexible module-based program on cross-cultural communication that has been incorporated into the curricula of several health science faculties and was a founding task force member of the international conference /Where's the Patient's Voice in Health Professional Education?/. She also served as program manager for the university's CPD health and human services portfolio.

Samantha currently coordinates a project investigating the education, training and support of NSW's prevocational doctors and international medical graduates. Her ever-expanding interests are in community involvement in medical education, communications training and interprofessionalism.