Dr Sarah Walpole
Before taking up post as National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow at NICE, Sarah completed her second year of Specialist Training in Infectious Diseases and Medicine in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sarah appreciates that Infectious Diseases training affords her the privilege of working directly with patients, and opportunity to gain experience of other clinical and public health roles, such as microbiology and IPC. Alongside clinical training, Sarah took an active role as a clinician representative in the North East’s Integrated Care System Sustainability Group, led the development of the Association of Medical Education in Europe’s Consensus Statement on Planetary Health, and contributed to Health Education England North East (HEENE)’s Dean’s Education Meeting (Quality) as trainee representative. She also led a SusQI (Sustainable Quality Improvement) project which set a baseline and implemented tools and education for patients and health professionals about inhaler prescriptions and techniques.
Sarah studied Medicine at Leeds University and a BSc in International Health at University College London. During Foundation Medical training, Sarah worked part time researching the health impacts of climate policies with WHO and as a Clinical Teaching Fellow in Sustainable Healthcare at Leeds University. She gained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in 2014, before completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Research Training and an MSc(Res) in Medical Education in 2015 and the RCP Diploma in Tropical Medicine in 2016. Sarah develops curricula and delivers teaching online and face-to-face, including as Associate Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle Medical School and for Bangladeshi junior doctors through Medglobal and Doctors Worldwide.
Reason for applying for the scheme
Prior to starting Infectious Diseases training, Sarah gained experience as a clinician, leader and manager in diverse settings, including as Clinical Lead at refugee camp clinics in Greece, Clinical Assessment Doctor at Freedom from Torture (London), Medical Activities Manager for Medecins Sans Frontieres in DRC, and Lead Postgraduate Faculty for Doctors Worldwide in Bangladesh. Through this Clinical Fellowship, she hopes to further her understanding of leadership theory, develop her own self-awareness and leadership qualities, and learn from expert healthcare leaders.
Sarah’s interests include health promotion, health policy, global health, migration and systems thinking. Sarah’s previous research includes mixed methods research on delivering mental health services to need the needs of Muslim patients, health policy research on governance of private patient care in NHS hospitals, participatory research developing education for sustainable healthcare in UK medical schools and education research developing sustainable healthcare and global health competencies.
Sarah is passionate about addressing health inequity. To do so, requires that we both mitigate and adapt to anthropogenic environmental changes; thus Sarah hopes to progress her competence to collaborate within and across disciplines to foster positive changes in this regard. Sarah has worked to promote planetary health through formal and informal education, promoting eco-ethical leadership, and applying SusQI methods. Mitigating the most severe impacts of climate change, pollution and other health hazards, however, requires a transformation in governance, participation and action across society; therefore Sarah is keen to learn more from and with leaders in healthcare to address this challenge alongside other current health challenges.
