Nick Ross is Head of Academic Innovations for the College of Medical and Dental Sciences.
He provides expert advice on curriculum development and enhancement across the College and oversees the College curriculum approval process. He also represents the College on a range of University committees, including the Education Enhancement Group and APRC.
He has published on a range of educational issues, including inter-professional learning and the development of the Physician Assistant (PA) profession in the UK and is currently leading the review of the PA Competence and Curriculum Framework for the Department of Health
Nick Ross’ first degree was in architecture, after which he qualified and practiced as a general nurse, working mainly in general and GU surgery. After moving into nurse education, he specialised in curriculum development, gaining an MA from Sussex University.
Having developed a number of innovative programmes at the University of Brighton, he was seconded to the University of Birmingham School of Medicine in 1994, the wake of the publication of the first version of the GMC’s Tomorrow’s Doctors to facilitate the development of the new Birmingham curriculum. In 1998, he took up a substantive post as Senior Lecturer, continuing to work on the development of the MBChB, including the changes required by the massive increase in cohort size that resulted from the Black Country Strategy and the development of the graduate entry programme.
With others, he played a key role in the development of the Physician Assistant programme, both locally and at a national level (as part of the DH steering group that developed the Competence and Curriculum Framework for the profession.
With the formation of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences, he has developed and taken on the role of Head of Academic Innovation, offering advice on curriculum development across all schools of the College and chairing the committee responsible for College approval of changes in education provision. At University level, he is a member of the Education Enhancement Group, of the CLAD Advisory Board and of APRC and has sat on a number of additional working groups.
Although no longer focusing on the MBChB, he continues to be a member of the main curriculum development and management teams, as well as groups looking at Professional Development and the Student Selected Component
Greenfield, S. Anderson, P. Gill, P. Loudon, R. Skelton, J. Ross, N. Parle, J., (2001), Community Voices: views on the training of future doctors in Birmingham, U.K., Patient Education & Counselling, 45: 43-50.
Miller, C. Freeman, M. Ross, N., (2001), Inter-professional Practice in Health and Social Care: challenging the shared learning agenda, London: Arnold.
MCP Steering Group, (2005), The Competence and Curriculum Framework for the Medical Care Practitioner: a consultation document, Department of Health (Key authoring role).
MCP Steering Group, (2006), Matrix Specification of Core Clinical Conditions for the Physician Assistant by Category and Level of Competence, Department of Health (Key authoring role).
Parle, J.V. Ross, N. Doe, W.F., (2006), The Medical Care Practitioner: developing a Physician Assistant equivalent for the United Kingdom., Medical Journal of Australia, 185: 13-17.
Draper, H. Ives, J. Parle, J. Ross, N. (2008), Medical education and patients’ responsibilities: back to the future?, J. Med. Ethics, 34: 116-119.
Ross, N. Parle, J., (2008), Physician Assistants: a UK perspective on clinical need, education and regulation, The Clinical Teacher, 5: 28-52.
Calvert, M.J. Ross, N. Freemantle, N, Xu, Y. Zvauya, R. Parle, J.V., (2009), Examination performance of graduate entry medical students compared with mainstream students., Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 102: 425-430