Professor Jim McKillop was recently awarded a double honour of being appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators, and an Honorary Doctorate by Örebro University.

Jim was awarded the Honorary Doctorate on 12 February for the work he has put in establishing a brand new medical school in the Swedish institution, only the seventh in the country.

He and colleagues in the Glasgow Medical School have been behind Örebro University’s application for a medical school since the bid was launched in 2005. Since then the team has given Örebro  advice, training and support in their efforts to gain the right to grant medical degrees from their institution, and has promoted further cooperation between Glasgow and the Swedish town. Örebro admitted its first cohort of medical students in January of this year.

Örebro University was only established in 1999, and is currently one of the fastest growing universities in Sweden, boasting over 17,000 students and 1,200 staff.

On top of this, Jim was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators on the 26 January.

Another Glasgow academic, Prof Jill Morrison, the Dean of Learning and Teaching at the University, was awarded the Academy of Medical Educators President’s Medal 2010 for her exceptional and sustained contribution to medical education.

South Front tower The Academy provides leadership, promotes standards and supports those involved in all stages of medical education and training. It aims to provide a recognised framework so that those in education can demonstrate expertise and achievements in medical education through accreditation as a medical teacher to an agreed national standard.

During his day job, Jim is the University’s Muirhead Chair of Medicine and holds the very prestigious positions of Council Member of the General Medical Council (GMC), the regulator for the medical profession in the UK, and Chair of its Undergraduate Board.

He said of his recent awards, “I am very honoured to receive these awards. They recognise the centrality of specialist educational skills in delivering high quality medical education and the many contributions made in this area by the staff of Glasgow Medical School, both in the UK and beyond.”

First published: 25 February 2011

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