Meet Annie McKirdy

What course do you teach on and what is your role?

I am a Senior Teaching Fellow / Module Lead on the MSc Health Policy.

How has your career led you to teaching?

I've been on the other side of education my fair share of times, having completed a BSc in Developmental Medicine and my medical degree at the University of Glasgow, an MSc in Healthcare Design at Imperial and a Masters in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I'm now specialising in Public Health Medicine, completing a PhD in Health Services Research and have been a Teaching Fellow (and now Senior Teaching fellow) within the department at IGHI for 4 years. My postgraduate teaching experience ranges across students in the fields of Health Policy, Patient Safety, Public Health and Health Economics, as well as a wealth of clinical teaching for medical students and junior doctors. Each of my own degrees has taught me something different about effective ways to teach, and I try to incorporate these into my practice.

What aspect of the course do you enjoy teaching the most?

The part of the course I most enjoy teaching is the user-centred design component of the innovation in healthcare module. I introduced this to the course after having learned design research methods on the Healthcare & Design MSc, as I believe that using interdisciplinary approaches to healthcare research and policy is key to creating truly impactful change. It's also really engaging and a lot of fun. My favourite elements whilst teaching any of the courses are always the student contact elements.

What do you hope your students will go on to achieve on completion of this course?

My hope is that my students who complete the MSc in Health Policy will curate for themselves throughout the course a 'toolkit' of research methods, as well as an appreciation for the importance of academic rigour, which will enable them to lead meaningful and impactful research and policy change in the future.

What is your favourite part about teaching at Imperial College London?

Imperial is world-renowned, and thus attracts an excellent calibre of students and academics from a huge variety of fascinating backgrounds. My favourite thing about teaching at this institution is the connections - I am constantly learning and being inspired by both colleagues and students.

Find out more about the Health Policy course and apply.