Conference Report: TICC 2025

The latest blog is a conference report from Dr Shiras Patel, reflecting on the Teaching, Innovation, and Collaboration for CTFs (TICC) Conference, held in Bristol in April this year.

The Warm Welcome

On Friday 25th April 2025, the halls of the Wills Memorial Building at the University of Bristol were buzzing with activity—not only from students preparing for their final examinations, but also from the Teaching, Innovation, and Collaboration for CTFs (TICC) Conference. This year’s event was bigger than ever, building on last year’s regional success to welcome over 120 attendees from across the UK.

Even before the official welcome, the atmosphere was lively, with Clinical Teaching Fellows (CTFs) from various institutions exchanging ideas about their innovative teaching methods and the challenges they had overcome.

The conference began with a warm welcome from Dr David Rogers, Programme Co-director at the Bristol Medical School, and Dr Sam Chumbley, TICC Director.

This was followed by a captivating keynote delivered by Dr SanYuMay Tan (University of Oxford), focusing on sustainability in medical education. Her thought-provoking talk highlighted the crucial need to prepare medical students to be sustainable clinicians, capable of navigating the healthcare challenges of the future.

A New Addition for 2025

Inspired by their ASME sponsors, the conference introduced short communication presentations, providing CTFs with a platform to showcase their research and innovation projects. Topics ranged from gamification in learning to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), simulation-based education, and pastoral care. The impressive volume of submissions led to a four-room parallel session format, allowing attendees to curate their own experience based on individual interests.

Lunch and Networking

Over lunch, the energy remained high as attendees engaged in enthusiastic discussions about the morning’s presentations and how the ideas could be implemented within their own institutions. The high-quality catering certainly helped, but it was the lively, academic conversations that seem to fuel the room.

Afternoon Workshops

Three concurrent workshops kicked off the afternoon sessions:

  • Dr David Rogers and Eliza Burdass (University of Bristol) led an insightful workshop on practical strategies for effective teaching amidst busy clinical schedules. The dual perspectives of a curriculum designer and a medical student offered a complementary and holistic view.
  • Dr SanYuMay Tan returned with Dr Theresa Martin (University of Portsmouth) to run a workshop on integrating sustainability into OSCE station design, extending the themes from the morning keynote.
  • Dr Ourania Varsou (University of Glasgow) delivered a hands-on, forward-looking session on AI in medical education, exploring its practical applications in everyday teaching.

Oral Presentations and Final Sessions

In the late afternoon, additional oral presentations highlighted outstanding work being done by CTFs nationwide, addressing some of today’s most pressing challenges in medical education.

The day concluded with two final parallel sessions:

  • A powerful workshop on Teaching in Low Resource Settings led by Dr Julie Thacker and Dr Ian Fussell (University of Exeter), sharing inspirational insights into delivering medical education without the typical technological support many rely on.
  • A popular Q&A panel featuring experienced educators who discussed career pathways in medical education, offering candid reflections on balancing academic and personal commitments.

Closing Moments

The conference wrapped up with a prize ceremony celebrating outstanding presentations, followed by closing remarks that set sights on the future—namely, the ambition to make TICC 2026 an international event, a goal that was met with great enthusiasm. A post-conference social offered a relaxed space for continued networking and reflection.

Final Thoughts

TICC 2025 was an overwhelming success. It showcased the strength, creativity, and dedication of the CTF community and left many—including myself—energised and inspired for the year ahead. I eagerly look forward to seeing how the conference evolves in 2026 and beyond.


If you want to learn more about TICC, you can visit their website at ticc.blogs.bristol.ac.uk


BMERG News: Reflection on winning an ASME education award

In this blog, Dr Grace Pearson reflects on her recent TASME Mentorship Prize from the Association for the Study of Medical Education. She describes how this award has supported her work in collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe Medical School.

Dr Grace Pearson with Dr Zaranyika, junior doctors and medical students working in the Faculty of Medicine in Harare (March 2024)

I was absolutely delighted to receive the 2024 TASME Mentorship Prize, which I’ve put towards my ongoing collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe Medical School and Parienyatwa Hospital in Harare.

The population of Africa is ageing faster than any other continent, yet teaching in ageing and geriatric medicine is lacking in many countries. In response to the Zimbabwe Healthy Ageing Strategy, and with the mentorship of Dr Trust Zaranyika, we are working to implement innovative undergraduate and postgraduate training in geriatric medicine at UZ, which will equip their workforce with the knowledge and skills required to care for their growing population of older people.

I was privileged to visit Dr Zaranyika, junior doctors working in the Faculty of Medicine, and medical students (all pictured) on a recent scoping visit to Harare in March 2024. I was touched by their warm welcome and invigorated by their keen interest in geriatric medicine.

To ensure that any resources generated are authentic, applicable, and sustainable, I attended ward rounds, clinics, meetings, and teaching to understand when, where, and how training in geriatrics might ‘fit’. It was a pleasure to be part of such a supportive and rich learning environment, where teams regularly meet together to discuss clinical cases, and I was myself reminded of how best to incorporate teaching moments into every day clinical practice.

It was my pleasure to pilot teaching on ‘core’ geriatrics topics, such as frailty, falls, and delirium, and I found it refreshing to revisit my own ‘bread and butter’ from the ground up. I made so many friends in such a short time, and I really can’t wait to return to Harare to develop and implement more teaching.

More about the TASME mentorship award:

The TASME mentorship award provides funding for healthcare professions trainees to travel to meet mentors, to develop a mentoring relationship that will support their professional development as a medical educator. The application is a short self-nomination form, consisting of three questions: 1. Can you tell us about your career as an educator so far? 2. How do you plan to spend the award? 3. How might this impact your career as an educator? The next submission window opens on the 4th January 2025.

More about Dr Grace Pearson (she/her):

Grace is a Clinical Lecturer in Ageing Education at Bristol Medical School, and an Adjunct Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe. Since finishing her PhD in the field of undergraduate geriatric medicine education, Grace has been continuing her work to innovate and evaluate ageing education in an equitable partnership between the Global North and Global South. @GraceInvaders