Dr Graeme Horton

A career in medical education has enabled Dr Horton to combine a keen interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning with continuing fulfilment from a wide range of roles in clinical medicine and preventative healthcare in regional and rural communities. He trained in rural general practice in locations including Alice Springs, rural Tasmania and the Western Plains of NSW. An anaesthetics training post at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals, UK completed the requirements for a Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice. He has worked in remote communities of the Northern Territory as a District Medical Officer of the Aerial Medical Service, and now works in general practice in Newcastle.

Research Expertise
Dr Horton completed a Masters of Environmental Studies (with merit) at the University of Newcastle in 2006 and as a member of the Management Committee of Doctors for the Environment, Australia co-authored the “Climate Change Health Check 2020 report for the Climate Institute in 2008, about which he presented at the 61st United Nations Department of Public Information/ NGO conference. His publications in peer-reviewed journals include a number of articles on the links between preventative health advice and environmental sustainability and on the health impacts of climate change.  In 2018 he obtained a PhD which explored on the attitudes of Australian medical students to the incorporation of the topic of climate change health impacts in the medical school curriculum with supervisors from the University of Newcastle and the University of Melbourne. 

Teaching Expertise
Since 2006 Dr Horton has been involved in professional development of problem-based learning tutors and for written assessment writing.  He is a regular participant at item writing workshops for the Australian Medical Council examinations for which he is also a clinical examiner.     Dr Horton is Associate Dean of Interprofessional Learning and Student Wellbeing for the School of Medicine and Public Health at UON.  He has co-authored book chapters on interprofessional communication and on student support.  

Administrative Expertise
Since first joining the University of Newcastle as a Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination academic in 2005, Dr Horton's roles in the medical program have included Chair of the Rural Implementation Committee in 2008, Coordinator for the Year 3 Professional Practice course from 2006 to 2008. and Year 3 Chair of the Joint Medical Program of the University of Newcastle and the University of New England in 2009 and 2010. He was Discipline Lead in Medical Education 2010 to mid- 2012 and from 2011 to 2018 was Program Convenor for the Bachelor of Medicine and from 2017-2018 Convenor of the new BMedSc/MD Program.   He is now Program Convenor of the Master of Clinical Medicine (Leadership and Management).

Collaborations
Dr Horton is the Joint Medical Programs representative on the Consortium Policy Committee of the International Database for Enhanced Assessments and Learning (IDEAL) Consortium.   He convened the 2015 combined conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) and the Asian Medical Education Association (AMEA) which hosted 600 delegates.   From 2011 to 2018 he was the Joint Medical Program representative on Test Management Committee of the UMAT Consortium.