Dr Ross Davey, a researcher at Swansea University's Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, has received an award from the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales to support his work on improving teaching skills among future healthcare professionals. Dr Davey is involved in a programme where medical students act as senior teaching assistants, helping their peers learn anatomy, physiology, and clinical skills.
The award was given after a competition open to early-career researchers at Swansea University. As part of his Masters degree in medical education, Dr Davey developed and tested a new training programme aimed at equipping early-career educators with strong teaching skills from the beginning. Currently, there is no standardised approach across the UK for training clinical educators at this stage, leading to varied practices. Dr Davey's research aims to introduce evidence-based guidelines for more consistent and high-quality teaching within healthcare education.
Dr Davey has been invited to present his findings at AMEE 2025 in Barcelona, an international conference focused on medical education. This will allow him to share Swansea’s model globally and build partnerships that could help strengthen the training of clinical educators in Wales.
Dr Ross Davey said:
"I am honoured to receive funding from the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales to present my research, which I completed at Swansea University as an academic doctor.
Presenting my thesis at this prestigious conference will not only help me develop as an educator and scholar, but will also allow me to collaborate with colleagues from across the world, working to improve training and support for clinical educators at the very start of their careers.
I look forward to using these discussions to help develop a structured training process that can raise the quality of clinical teaching in Wales and beyond."
The Worshipful Livery Company of Wales was established in 1993 with one goal being “to promote education, science, technology and the arts in Wales.” The organisation supports young people through scholarships and bursaries offered annually across schools, universities, technical colleges, apprenticeships, and youth military programmes.
Henry Gilbert, Master of The Company, said:
“This timely opportunity for Ross illustrates how such valuable and groundbreaking work can make a vital contribution to medical education in Wales.
One of The Company's aims is to encourage and support students to progress with a specific project. We raise funds through various charitable events and also by reaching out, not only to our Liverymen for financial support, but also to the wider community in Wales. We encourage like-minded Welsh organisations interested in promoting education, science, technology and the arts in Wales to support our activities.
We are delighted to be able to support Ross in taking this project forward and sharing his important research work with a wider international and influential audience.”