Dr Jo Hartland (they/them) is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Education Director at Bristol Medical School. Their teaching focuses on the causes of health inequity, bias in healthcare, and ensuring the inclusion of marginalized people in health curriculum. Externally they sit on the Executive Board of the Medical Schools Council EDI Alliance, and are an independent queer activist. They are the lead author of The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors and Dentists (GLADD) Medical School Charter on so-called LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy, and write a BMJ Leader Blog.
Research Areas: marginalised people’s learning experiences, professionalism as a gatekeeping device, decolonising health education
What was your first role or job as an educator?
Clinical Teaching Fellow
What inspired you to become an educator and/or education researcher?
I’ve always wanted to teach, and during my CTF year found the educational theory of TLHP to be simulating
What challenges have you faced in your journey as a medical education researcher and how have you overcome these?
My biggest challenges have been:
1) Leaving clinical practice and maintain legitimacy as a medical educator. When I am asked what my medical specialty is, I state “medical education” and proudly embrace this as an alternative career for doctors.
2) Being an openly queer and gender diverse academic is challenging. I have experienced both conscious and unconscious discrimination in academia and the NHS. On top of this my public facing work has resulted in threats of violence against me. This is exhausting, but I am proud of my queer identity and I have seen how much an open role model means to our LGBTQ+ students. Finding allies and queer friends/colleagues who can share these burdens and support me has been essential, as well as accessing therapy.
What is your current medical education research project on?
How the concept of professionalism can act as a gatekeeping device to accessing healthcare careers
Who are your medical education/education research role models?
What would you consider your greatest academic success?
I am very proud of the way we have integrated marginalised voices in our curriculum, but my work on the GLADD charter remains something I am very proud of.
What do you think will be the greatest change to medical education over the next decade?
Part time study – we have to make this happen
What book are you reading at the moment?
Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Dr Annabel Sowemimo
What job would you do if you were not a medical educator/researcher?
I would love to be a fiction writer, but I would probably work in charitable organisations and human rights
What three top tips would you give to new medical education researchers?
1) Consider the importance keeping an NHS contract – this may benefit your teaching, and is likely to benefit your career (including pay). You can be a success without an NHS contract, but you need to weigh all your options
2) Undertake a teaching qualification, especially the Bristol Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals qualifications
3) Appreciate the expertise social sciences. Be open to understanding different academic philosophies and approaches to research
Where is your favourite place in the world and why?
My Nan’s garden in Devon – there is no-where in the world more important.