Dr Rachel Winter

I graduated from Leicester Medical School in 2009 on the graduate entry course, having already completed a BSc in Psychosocial Studies at University of East Anglia. I have remained in Leicester since completing my medical degree and finished training to become a Consultant Psychiatrist in Old Age Psychiatry with Leicestershire Partnership Trust. Throughout my medical career I have always worked in research and medical education, working first as an Academic Foundation Doctor, then an Academic Clinical Fellow and finally as an Academic Clinical Lecturer, before being appointed an Associate Professor. 

I have worked with the Medicine with Foundation Year at University of Leicester since its inception in 2017, taking on the role of  module convenor for the Medicine module and as lead for the Clinical Empathy Programme. The Foundation Year at Leicester is a widening participation programme, supporting students from less traditional and less advantaged backgrounds access medical careers. Our empathy-focused curriculum aims to foster a patient-centred, empathic approach in medical students whilst developing professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills. I am a personal tutor for foundation year students and an educational supervisor for psychiatry trainee doctors. I am passionate about supporting widening participation and promoting careers in mental health and alongside my other activities I run a project, Medicine Calling, to inspire school and sixth form students to consider becoming part of our future mental health workforce. 

Curriculum Development Lead - Stoneygate Centre for Excellence in Empathic Healthcare

As curriculum development lead, I will work to develop evidence-based empathy-focused training and support the role out of an integrated empathy-focused curriculum across the five year undergraduate medical degree. As the Centre grows I will work to expand our reach into post-graduate and CPD training and into nursing and allied health education. In my role I will also support the investigation of clinical empathy, spending time researching to find innovative ways to assess the impact of empathy-focused training activities on students and practitioners, and the impact of empathic practice on patient safety, clinical outcomes and experience. 

My main research area is clinical empathy and the impact of empathy-focused training in healthcare, in which I am currently undertaking a PhD. Other areas of interest include mental health and well-being in medical students and trainees. I have a Masters degree in medical education for which my thesis explored the experiences of GPs who struggle to progress in training. 

Winter R, Leanage N, Roberts N, Norman RI, Howick J. A qualitative review of research to understand healthcare students, professionals and patients experiences of empathy-focused training. Patient Educ Couns. 2022 Oct;105(10):3017-3037. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2022.06.015. Epub 2022 Jun 30. PMID: 35811257.

Winter R, Norman RI and Patel R. A qualitative exploration of the lived experiences of GP trainees failing to progress in training. Educ Prim Care. 2020;1-9. doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2020.1831970

Archer D, Grainger K and Jagodzinski P (eds) (2020) Politeness in Professional Contexts. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Chapter 2 Emerson T, Harrington L, Mullany L, Atkins S, Churchill D, Winter R and Patel R. Learning to Manage Rapport in GP trainee encounters. Pp55-83

Winter R and Howick J. A qualitative review of research to understand healthcare students, professionals and patients experiences of empathy-focused training. OSF protocol registration 2020.

Winter R, Issa E, Roberts N, Norman RI, Howick J. Assessing the effect of empathy-enhancing interventions in health education and training: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open. 2020:10e036471. Doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036471

Winter R, Howick J, Roberts N. Assessing the effect of empathy-enhancing interventions in health education and training: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. PROSPERO 2019 CRD42019126843 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019126843

Winter R, Patel R and Norman RI. (2017) A Qualitative Exploration of the Help-Seeking Behaviours of Students Who Experience Psychological Distress Around Assessment at Medical School. Acad Psychiatry doi:10.1007/s40596-017-0701-9

Watts, J. Robertson, N, Winter R (2013) Evaluation of Organisational culture and nurse burnout. Nursing Management: 20.6.pp24-29

I am a personal tutor at the University of Leicester for Medicine with Foundation Year students. 

I have experience co-supervising Masters in students in medical education. 

I have experience as a Clinical Supervisor and am an Educational Supervisor in my role as Consultant Psychiatrist. 

• Educational Supervisor, Leicestershire Partnership Trust (2022 - present)
• Responsible for the overall supervision and management of trainees’ educational progress during their clinical training
  
  
• Junior doctor and nurse supervision, Mental Health Liaison Service, Leicester Royal Infirmary (2020-2021)
• As a senior clinician in the liaison team, I provided regular clinical supervision and professional development support to a team of nurses, allied healthcare professionals and foundation year 1 doctors.
  
  
• Module convenor and clinical lecturer, Medicine with Foundation Year, Leicester Medical School (2018-present) Module MD0004 (Medicine: the Patient) and the Clinical Empathy Programme.
• Development and delivery of a bespoke clinical empathy programme
• Co-development and delivery of the Medicine focused module for Foundation Year students
  
  
• Personal Tutor, Medicine with Foundation Year, Leicester Medical School (2018-present)
• Provided bespoke and personalised tutoring and student support to a group of personal tutees (5 to 8 students) each year.
  
  
• Clinical Lecturer, MMediSci in Medical Education at University of Nottingham (2018-present) Module A24NC8 (Underperformance and Performance Enhancement)
• Designed and delivered an interactive lecture/workshop session on medical student and trainee mental health and illness

Medicine Calling (2016-present) Co-creator and lead of a Widening Participation Psychiatry recruitment and education project for year 7- 13 students interested in mental health careers, with a focus on the East Midlands. www.medicinecalling.co.uk Development, delivery and evaluation of multiple national and regional events (face-to-face and virtual) hosting 2000+ students, teachers and tutors

UK Council for Clinical Communication (UKCCC) 2019-present. Member and Leicester Medical School co-representative

Visiting Lecturer, University of Nottingham 2018-present, MMedSci Masters in Medical Education, module A24NC8.

Conference of Medical Academic Representatives (COMAR) 2018-2019 Leicester Medical School representative

Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards 2022 (London, UK) winner of Higher Trainee of the Year

Developing Excellence in Medical Education, 2021 (Manchester, UK) 'Spotlight on Poster' oral presentation award

University of Leicester Discovering Excellence Staff Awards 2019 (Leicester, UK) nominated in the category of Exceptional Team Member

Midlands Academy of Medical Sciences Research Festival 2016 (Leicester, UK) Awarded first prize for the Poster presentation

Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress 2016 (London, UK) Awarded Special Commendation for the Poster presentation

East Midlands Faculty Development Day, Health Education England East Midlands, Oct 2022 (Leicester UK): Workshop “Educating for Empathy: An empathy-focused curriculum in a widening participation programme at Leicester Medical School”

International Conference on Communication Skills in Healthcare, Sept 2022 (Glasgow, UK): Oral presentation accepted “Experiences of empathy training in healthcare: a systematic review of qualitative studies”

Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress, June 2022 (Edinburgh, UK): Poster presentation accepted ““Exploring school students’ knowledge and expectations of careers in psychology, psychiatry and mental health nursing: A thematic analysis”

Gateway and Foundation Student Medical Conference, Feb 2022 (virtual): Oral presentation “Clinical Empathy in Foundation Year training”

Empathy in Healthcare: 3^rd Biennial Colloquium, Nov 2021 (virtual): Oral presentation, key note “Educating for Empathy”

Developing Excellence in Medical Education, Dec 2021 (Manchester, UK): ‘Spotlight on Poster’ oral presentation “Educating for Empathy: Coffee morning discussions between artists, medics and medical educators”

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, Sept 2020 (virtual): Oral presentation “The Leicester Clinical Empathy Programme: Evaluating an 'empathy-focused' curriculum for Foundation Year medical students”

OTTAWA Conference: Assessment of health professionals and evaluation of programmes 2020 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia): Poster presentation “The Leicester Clinical Empathy Programme: Evaluating an 'empathy-focused' curriculum for Foundation Year medical students”

University of Leicester Discovering Excellence Staff Awards 2019 (Leicester, UK) nominated in the category of Exceptional Team Member

UK Council of Clinical Communication National Meeting 2019 (Dundee, UK): Meeting attendance

Compassion in Action Healthcare Conference 2019 (Boston, USA): Conference attendance

Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress 2018 (Birmingham, UK): Poster presentation “Rapid Tranquilisation in Mental Health Services for Older People”

Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) 2018 (Helsinki, Finland): Conference attendance

Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) 2018 (Newcastle, UK): Oral presentation “Medicine Calling: An innovative perspective on solving the recruitment crisis in psychiatry”

Royal College of Psychiatrists Medical Education 2017 (Belfast, UK): Two oral presentations “Supporting trainees achieve their full potential with a self-regulated learning approach” and “Medicine Calling: Evaluation of a widening-participation recruitment to psychiatry event”

Royal College of Psychiatrists and Royal College of General Practitioners Joint International Conference 2017 (London, UK): Workshop “Using the Team Sky approach supporting trainees reach their full potential”

Midlands Academy of Medical Sciences Research Festival 2016 (Leicester, UK): Poster presentation (First Prize) “A thematic analysis of student experiences about deteriorating mental health and the priority they give it”

Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress 2016 (London, UK): Poster presentation (Special Commendation) “I knew what I was feeling, still I chose to ignore it” A thematic analysis about deteriorating mental health in medical students”

National presentation, ASME 2015 (Edinburgh, UK): Oral presentation “Students’ experience of deteriorating mental health at medical school and the priority they give it”

• 2022:
  • Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), Old Age Psychiatry
• 2019: 
  • Registered for PhD, University of Leicester
• 2015-2018: 
  • MMedSci Medical Education, University of Nottingham
• 2014: 
  • MRCPsych, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• 2010-2011: 
  • Postgraduate Certificate Clinical Leadership, University of Leicester
• 2005-2009: 
  • MBChB Medicine (graduate entry), University of Leicester
• 2002-2003: 
  • Diploma in Further Psychology, The Open University
• 1998-2001: 
  • BSc (Hons) Psychosocial Studies, University of East Anglia