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Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Tensions Supporting Learning: Patient Safety as an example

Inaugural Lecture

Della Freeth, Professor of Professional Education

Professional education links well-chosen content with appropriate learning contexts and provokes a wide range of emotions. 

Holding these three elements in creative tension supports high quality learning. To do this requires substantial skill and the balancing of other tensions in workplaces and learning environments. 

This lecture explores creative and challenging tensions in learning related to patient safety, making reference to Professor Freeth’s research studies concerning safety culture, learning through simulated professional practice and interprofessional collaboration.

Professor Freeth's biography

Professor Freeth grew up in Staffordshire and studied Mathematics and Education at Loughborough University. 

Her career began teaching secondary school mathematics in Suffolk and moved to research in Actuarial Science at City University London. Days engaged in statistical analyses were balanced by evenings and weekends studying for a PhD in Higher and Professional Education from the Institute of Education, University of London. 

By this unusual route, having gained confidence in both quantitative and qualitative research, since 1995 she has been conducting mixed methods studies in partnership with healthcare professionals. Safety and improving the quality of working lives are recurrent themes.

More about Professor Freeth

Times and location

This lecture took place on 31 March 2011 in the Perrin Lecture Theatre; Whitechapel Campus

Podcast

Length: approx 50 minutes

Other media

Other lectures in the series

This lecture is part of a series of Primary Care and Public Health at Barts and the London lectures.

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