Jennifer Cleland: “Seeing tangible changes makes the hard work worthwhile”
In connection with the installation of professors on 3 October, Professor Jennifer Cleland received Karolinska Institutet's prize for research in medical education, KIPRIME, 2024. Her work has, among other things, changed the way medical universities in the UK select and examine students. The aim of Professor Cleland's research is to address inequalities in healthcare skills needs.
Jennifer Cleland is Professor of Medical Education and Vice Dean for Education at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore. Originally, she is from Scotland, UK, where her work has been pivotal in addressing key issues such as fairness, equity, diversity, and inclusivity in selection and training of medical students.
Interest in organisational development
The ultimate goal of her research is to ensure a diverse and capable medical workforce. With a background in psychology, Professor Cleland has always been interested in organisational development and change.
“In my research I have been interested in getting the right people into the right jobs, starting from the point of selecting students into medical school, then examining how we train and assess them”, she says.
Her home country, with its large differences in healthcare access and outcomes across rural and urban areas and for different social groups, has greatly influenced her work.
Traditionally, medicine in the UK has been dominated by white males from privileged backgrounds. In her research Professor Cleland has tried to unpick the mechanisms behind this situation, trying to create a system that better aligns with the needs in terms of healthcare workforce.
“If you only select students from affluent, urban backgrounds, you will continue producing doctors who gravitate towards urban, specialized fields. We know that students from rural and less privileged backgrounds are more likely to return to those communities as doctors, which is crucial for addressing healthcare disparities”, she says.
Research that makes a difference
Professor Cleland’s work has had significant impact in the UK, leading to changes in how medical schools select and assess students, shifting from biased academic criteria and interviews to more evidence-based approaches.
“It feels great to know that my research has not only been cited by other academics but also has been used by the government to change policies. Seeing tangible changes that help improve the system makes the hard work worthwhile”, she says.
Professor Jennifer Cleland received her accolade in KI’s Aula Medica on 3 October. With the prize money of 100.000 euro, she is thinking of establishing a fund or scholarship to help colleagues from under-resourced settings attend professional development events, such as the annual medical education conference by The Association of Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).
“Attending an international conference is expensive and this make engaging in such events is challenging for people from less affluent countries. I would love to use the prize money to widen access to such meetings,” says Jennifer Cleland.
Text: Karin Tideström