School Success at Teaching Awards

The Dick Vet has been successful in a number of categories at the EUSA Teaching Awards 2020

The Students' Association's Teaching Awards recognises the teachers, personal tutors, students who tutor, research supervisors, and support staff who make positive impact on students' learning experiences at the University of Edinburgh.

The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies prides itself on the quality of its teaching and we are delighted to see this recognised at the Edinburgh University Students' Association Awards.

The School had 87 nominations for the Teacher of the Year award and 22 nominations for the Outstanding Support Staff Award. We would like to thank all of our students who took the time to nominate staff.

Outstanding Feedback - Winner - Dr Gudrun Schoeffmann

Gudrun is a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Anaesthesia here at the School and a key part of the School's Clinical Services.

She graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Austria, and then went on to complete her doctoral thesis. In 2007, she started a residency in Veterinary Anaesthesia at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, then returned to the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna as Lecturer in Veterinary Anaesthesia in 2011. She re-joined the School in 2012 and is a key member of staff.

Feedback from students:

"At the end of rotations, she gives really personal and in depth feedback to each student she has worked with... She is such an inspiring teacher, quick to explain things very clearly and also assess how well you are doing... All in all, she is a very inspiring clinician who clearly wants the best for all of her students to succeed, and the vet school is very lucky to have her!"

Personal Tutor of the Year - Winner - Dr Jessie Paterson

Jessie is a Lecturer in Student Learning here at the School and is well known for her continued devotion to student welfare.

She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Chemistry from the University of Glasgow and then carried out a PhD in 'Factors influencing the availability of cobalt in soils, uptake by herbage and ruminant health and productivity’. After working for eight years as a Specialist Advisor in major and trace elements for the Scottish Agricultural College before taking over the management of the Analytical Services Department.

In 1999, Jessie joined the University of Edinburgh and worked in the School of Divinity initially as the Computing Officer and latterly as E-learning and IT Advisor. During that time, she developed a strong interest in student support and in particular supporting students with their learning. In 2012, she joined the Dick Vet initially as a Teaching Fellow and more recently as a Lecturer in Student Learning.

Feedback from students:

"Kind, understanding, accommodating, patient and willing to help. Those are only some of the qualities that I have observed in my personal tutor Jessie Paterson."

"While it is one thing to go above and beyond as an individual offering students support, Jessie has been instrumental in starting programs that encourage students to be able to support and teach each other, including Peer-Assisted Learning programs, offering workshops on empathy and compassion, taking her time to carefully pair incoming students with those that could best identify with their situation to ensure that each new vet student has the best mentor to assist them, and running a project to allow vet students to experience failure in a professional setting in a safe manner before getting into clinic, allowing students to reflect on her safe curriculum of failure to work through more serious failings in clinical scenarios once practicing medicine."

Best Teaching in Veterinary Medicine: Winner - Bronwyn Koterwas,

Bronwyn is a Veterinary Clinician within the Dick Vet Rabbit and Exotic Practice and is both an excellent clinician, as well as a popular and skilled teacher.

Feedback from students:

"Bronwyn is one of those professors whose enthusiasm for helping students to learn and grow extends from within her classroom to beyond it. Her lectures are organized, she genuinely cares about whether or not students have understood the concepts, she includes case examples of concepts to help make lectures applicable, and she's more than happy to explain things one-on-one if need be.

Best Teaching in Veterinary Medicine: Runner Up - Dr Ruth Fowler

Ruth is the Masters Programme Coordinator for the Food Safety Programme and is popular and well known for her excellent teaching.

Ruth completed a BSc in Zoology at Edinburgh University, followed by an MSc in Applied Parasitology and Medical Entomology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine before undertaking a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Parasitology at Imperial College, London. This was followed by research positions in parasitology and cell biology at CABI, King’s College London and the University of Edinburgh.

Since 2004 Ruth has been involved in various teaching and learning roles, including authoring UG Biology e-learning materials and acting as a PBL facilitator for medical students. For 10 years she taught both UG and PG students and ran the Food Science and Biotechnology programmes at Heriot Watt University. In 2018 she joined the PGT team as the Programme Coordinator for the online MSc Food Safety programme.

Feedback from students:

"I can ask her anything and she has been the reason I have started and stuck with this course the University of Edinburgh... Ruth has been kind to me, a complete stranger from the start. The amount of time and effort she has put into helping me get through the course goes along way beyond her position in the post grad food safety course."

School Success at Teaching Awards

Outstanding Feedback - Winner - Dr Gudrun Schoeffmann

Personal Tutor of the Year - Winner - Dr Jessie Paterson

Best Teaching in Veterinary Medicine: Winner - Bronwyn Koterwas,

Best Teaching in Veterinary Medicine: Runner Up - Dr Ruth Fowler

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