Roma Forbes

Roma Forbes is the Program Director of the Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) program at The University of Queensland. A highly experienced APA-titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, she brings extensive clinical and academic expertise to her role.

Roma is a Director of the Australian Physiotherapy Council and serves as the National Chair of the Accreditation Committee, overseeing the quality and standards of physiotherapy education and practice. She also represents Australia on the World Physiotherapy Education Committee, contributing to global advancements in physiotherapy and interprofessional education. She serves a number of editorial roles including as an Associate Editor for The Clinical Teacher and Editor for Education for the Archives of Physiotherapy.

Ensuring health professional students are prepared for a challenging and changing workforce is a global priority. Roma leads programs of research that explore the use of work integrated learning and the readiness of health professional graduates across emerging and challenging aspects of clinical practice and workplace settings. Her work spans local, national, and international efforts, where she leads work-integrated learning and health professional education policy, advocacy, and student success.

Roma's current research focuses on teaching and learning in the health professions, with a specific focus on graduate preparedness for clinical practice and outcomes of clinical education. This research uses several approaches to explore graduate, educator, and employer perspectives with a focus on knowledge translation to improve clinical education capacity and outcomes. Her research draws on multiple perspectives; graduate, educator, and employer, to inform system-level improvements in curriculum, assessment, and educational strategy. She has a strong track record of national and international collaborations in patient education training, clinical education capacity, and physiotherapy teaching and learning. Roma is passionate about fostering a supported community of health professional students, educators and researchers at UQ and beyond, and remains committed to improving equity and outcomes for students from university entry through to graduate transition and beyond.

Awards and Fellowships

• Advance Higher Education Global Impact Award (2023)
• The University of Queensland Award for Teaching Excellence (2023)
• Association for the Study of Medical Education - Medical Education Developing Scholarship Award (2023)
• Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow (2023)
• Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty Award for Programs that Enhance Learning (2023)
• Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2021)
• Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Fellow (2021)
• The University of Queensland Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2020)
• Flinders University - ANZAHPE Award for Excellence in Health Professional Education (2020)
• Higher Eduction Academy Fellow (2019)
• Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2019)
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2018)
• Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) Associate Fellow (2018)