Kirsty Foster

Professor Emerita Foster retired from the role of Mayne Professor and Director of the Academy for Medical Education and Director of Teaching and Learning in the Medical School on 30th April 2023. She led the major curriculum change to the UQ MD Program, MD Design which welcomed its first students in 2023. Kirsty has a national and international reputation in medical education leadership and in global health (especially in the area of maternal and child health and primary care). After graduating in Medicine from Edinburgh University she undertook specialist training in General Practice and gained membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners UK by examination. She has a strong clinical background with twenty years’ experience in the Scottish National Health Service as a principal in general practice and partner in a large academic group practice in one of Edinburgh’s most socially deprived areas. Since coming to Australia in 1998 she has focussed on health professional education and research firstly as a postgraduate medical educator with Central Sydney Area Health Service and then as an academic at the University of Sydney. Kirsty has led many educational initiatives in diverse settings such as the Balkans, Timor Leste, China, Ghana, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam. She is recognised as an expert on education in the tertiary and continuing professional education sectors with particular strength and experience in integrated curriculum design and development, interactive teaching methods and faculty development. She worked in global health for more than a decade and held academic leadership roles at the University of Sydney including as Sub Dean Education at Northern Clinical School from 2008 - 2019, Associate Dean International and Head of the Office for Global Health for 5 years 2014-2018. She was appointed to the position of Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Sydney in August 2018. Kirsty was adn Australian Office of Learning and Teaching citation for outstanding contributions to student learning in 2012 and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for Services to medical education and community health. She first joined UQ in March 2019 as Director of the Office of Medical Education and MD Program Convener. Kirsty is an Honorary Professor at Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam. She continues to provide mentorshp in medical education leadership and remains active in medical education research and research supervision, in accreditation activities with the Australian Medical Council and is sought after as a keynote speaker.