Meet Dr Erik Mayer
What course do you teach on and what is your role?
I am the MSc Health Policy - Programme Director and also the Module Lead for Measuring and Improving Performance in Healthcare
How has your career led you to teaching?
I obtained my undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery & Bachelor Science) from Kings College London before undertaking my Surgical Training at St Mary's Hospital, London and the North West London Specialist Training Rotation. I received a PhD in Health Services Research from Imperial College London, Department of Surgery & Cancer before becoming a Lecturer in Surgery and now a Clinical Reader. Ongoing health services research uses big data analytical techniques and Artificial Intelligence for improving the quality and safety and patient experience in healthcare and includes evaluation and translation of evidence-base to the real-world healthcare setting. I am Director Imperial Clinical Analytics, Research & Evaluation (iCARE) Secure Data Environment, and the Digital Collaboration Space, Paddington Life Sciences. I am Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust's Transformation CCIO (Analytics & Informatics), and a Fellow of the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT. I am Theme Lead in the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (Digital Health) and the NIHR NWL Patient Safety Research Collaborative.
What aspect of the course do you enjoy teaching the most?
I really enjoy seeing the students develop their critical reflection skills as they progress through the modules in Years 1 & 2. The course provides them with case study examples of how evidence is applied in developing health policy and then how it translates in the real-world setting.
What do you hope your students will go on to achieve on completion of this course?
With the specialised knowledge that the students acquire from the course, I hope that it supports their individual aspirations and progression in their careers, be it in academia, health & social care provider organisations, industry, government or non-governmental organisations.
What is your favourite part about teaching at Imperial College London?
All students on the course are current or future health policy practitioners and the diversity of the relevant experience they have to share really adds to the richness of the discussions in the synchronous learning activities.