Dr Heba Azer
Senior Lecturer
MBBS (Hons), FRACGP, AFHEA, MMed (UQ)
Medicine & Health
School of Clinical Medicine
Dr Heba Azer is a Senior Lecturer and Convenor of the Phase 3 Primary Care course at the UNSW School of Clinical Medicine, Rural Clinical Campus in Wagga Wagga. She is also a practising rural General Practitioner with a strong commitment to educating the next generation of doctors through community-based clinical learning.
Dr Azer has been affiliated with UNSW for many years as a principal GP supervisor for medical students undertaking clinical attachments in general practice and as a lecturer at the rural clinical school. In her current role, she contributes to teaching across the UNSW medicine program and works closely with rural GP supervisors to support high-quality clinical placements and expand work-integrated learning opportunities across the Murrumbidgee region. She leads Phase 3 teaching and actively contributing to medicine curriculum redesign.
Originally from Cairo, Egypt, Dr Azer completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery with Honours in 2003 before moving to Australia to undertake postgraduate medical training. She obtained Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) in 2012.
In 2020, she completed a Master of Medicine in Skin Cancer at the University of Queensland and was awarded the Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence. She is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in Clinical Education and is an Associate Fellow of Advance HE (AFHEA).
Dr Azer leads research exploring dermatoscopy education and skin cancer diagnosis in rural Australia. She is also a Chief investigator and co leading on a $1.99 million MRFF-funded research project addressing inequities in access to care for children with developmental disorders in rural and regional communities. In addition, she contributes to national policy work as a member of the Guidelines Working Group for the Cancer Australia Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap Project, focused on improving early diagnosis and surveillance for people at high risk of pancreatic cancer which is recently published on Cancer Council. She actively collaborates on inter-university research initiatives focused on improving health outcomes for patients in rural and remote Australia and She also has a strong passion for global health and serving communities in low-resource settings, and has contributed to international volunteer medical and educational programs in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Africa, supporting rural and remote communities.
Dr Azer also serves as the Murrumbidgee representative on the RACGP NSW/ACT Faculty Council, advocating for rural general practice and supporting the development of the future GP workforce.
E-mail
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)–NHMRC Grant: $1.99 million awarded in 2025 for the EPIPC project.
Tutor of the year 2023 UNSW School of Clinical Medicine, Wagga Wagga Rural Clinical Campus
Dean's Commendations for Academic Excellence (University of QLD)
Dermatoscopy use and education in Regional Australia. 2023/2024
Systematic Review of Current Clinical Practice Guidelines and Adherence to Short- and Long-Term Follow-Up and Surveillance for Patients Post Melanoma Skin Cancer Diagnosis -2025
Team Projects:
Chief Investigator and Co-Lead on Enhanced Paediatrics in Primary Care , EPIPC-S hybrid cluster RCT
Chief Investigator - Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction as adjunct in the management of Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO) Pilot RCT
Therapeutic Ketogenic Diets in MAFLD (Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease)
Pancreatic Cancer Road Map Project-Guidelines Working Group (GWG)- Priority 1:Surveillance in Patients at High risk for Pancreatic cancer
Rural and Remote Optimal Care Pathways Working Group (OCP) member representing UNSW in collaboration with Deakin University
My Research Supervision
ILP student- Dermatoscopy use and education in regional Australia
Honours Student- Project Title: Review of Current Clinical Practice Guidelines and Adherence to Short- and Long-Term Follow-Up and Surveillance for Patients Post Skin Cancer Diagnosis
My Teaching
I am currently involved in the delivery of and teaching Phase 3 Primary care course contents. I also facilitate and teach some tutorials for Phase 2 medical students at the campus.
I supervise medical students undertaking clinical attachments in general practice.
One of my areas of expertise is teaching about skin cancer diagnosis using dermatoscopy and skin cancer prevention for both undergraduate and post graduate students.
I am currently leading a research project investigating "Dermatoscopy use and education in regional Australia". I am also a member of the Guidelines Working Group in the Cancer Australia Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap Project focused on early diagnosis, Working Group 1: Surveillance in people at high risk of pancreatic cancer.
My teaching philosophy;
As an academic in my clinical discipline I acknowledge that I bear a role in which I must” practice what I preach”. My teaching philosophy is inspired by my learning philosophy, where teaching is like learning: an ever evolving and dynamic process that is adapted and developed as I pursue my professional and personal life. Teaching is a passion, Driven by such a passion to teach throughout both my undergraduate and post graduate years, in addition to the practice of medicine as a GP, I had a goal: to be also an academic. a great opportunity to blend these two passions in one. As a facilitator of a primary care course, my role is to encourage active learning using various strategies to create a stimulating learning environment and hence encourage critical thinking and curiosity in the classroom. Such inquisitiveness will help students to develop their problem-solving skills and accordingly achieve their learning goals through encouraging self-directed learning and teamwork. I have the responsibility as a teacher to empower my students with skills, and not just clinical knowledge, to positively approach learning, not solely to pass exams but to ground themselves with the skills and apply the accumulated knowledge in their future practice.
I reflect to how I myself learned; I was inspired by dedicated engaged teachers that I encountered throughout my learning journey. I believe teaching practice is influenced by past learning experience as well as peers and learners’ feedback. My teaching should be based largely around my students’ strengths and weaknesses and not just their learning, through adopting a student-centered approach that aims at enhancing student’s engagement in class and create a supportive learning environment. [i] for that to be achieved, curriculum or course design and delivery should reflect teaching future doctors working in the 21st century. [ii]
It is also vital to uphold professional values, create an engaging and inclusive learning environment that is based on equity, respect of the diversity and backgrounds of learners. [iii]
Effective teaching should encourage the application of course material to the clinical contexts and foster critical thinking skills.[iv]
With time, experience and reflective practice I come to realise my own strengths and weakness, striving to know how I could enhance my teaching skills and competence as an academic. I would continually be looking for opportunities to achieve that through ongoing professional development activities. [v]
[i] Anon, Student centered learning - edpolicy.stanford.edu. Available at: https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/SCOPE-student-centered-learning-DL.pdf [Accessed September 12, 2021].
[ii] Spencer, J.A. & Jordan, R.K., 1999. Learner centred approaches in medical education. The BMJ. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/318/7193/1280.1 [Accessed September 12, 2021].
[iii] Anon, Achieving equity and quality in higher education global ... Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326922215_Achieving_Equity_and_Quality_in_Higher_Education_Global_Perspectives_in_an_Era_of_Widening_Participation_Global_Perspectives_in_an_Era_of_Widening_Participation [Accessed September 12, 2021].
[iv] Sharples, J.M. et al., 2017. Critical thinking in healthcare and education. The BMJ. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j2234 [Accessed September 12, 2021].
[v] S;, D., Embracing reflective practice. Education for primary care : an official publication of the Association of Course Organisers, National Association of GP Tutors, World Organisation of Family Doctors. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22306139/ [Accessed September 12, 2021].