MBBS Director wins teaching award
Associate Professor Michelle Leech
Associate Professor Michelle Leech, Director of Clinical Teaching Programs for the Monash MBBS program, has won the highest teaching accolade, the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) 2012 National Teaching Award.
The award is given annually to a teacher who has shown dedication to medical student teaching, voted upon by representatives from each of Australia’s 20 medical schools at the AMSA National Council. It promotes excellence in medical education by recognising significant contributions to the field in Australia.
Professor Leech, a Monash MBBS graduate, is also a research fellow at the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash Institute of Medical Research, and a consultant rheumatologist at Monash Medical Centre. She completed her PhD at the University's Centre for Inflammatory Diseases.
“Like many doctors at Monash University, Southern Clinical School and Southern Health, I have been teaching medical students since I graduated,” Associate Professor Leech said.
“In the last six years as Director of MBBS programs, I have stayed very involved in direct teaching because this is what I find most useful and energising.”
She was surprised to hear she had been nominated for the National Teaching Award, and even more so when she received notification of her win.
“As I told my students, winning this award means more to me than anything else on my CV,” Associate Professor Leech said.
“I have always loved to watch medical students learn and to be present when a student understands something or finds a clinical sign – and to see the joy on their faces. Watching that happen is one of the greatest privileges and pleasures of my life.”
As an educator, she has had a significant impact on the learning of countless medical students.
“I hope that I have set a good example as a teacher, researcher and doctor and I also hope that any medical student who has been taught by me remembers that in the practice of medicine the person you are is as important as what you know."