Dr Melanie Fentoullis
Senior Lecturer
BSc(Med) MBBS MMedEd FRACP SFHEA AFANZAHPE AFAMEE
Medicine & Health
Faculty Office
Melanie Fentoullis is Clinical Academic Lead (UNSW Medicine Program Redesign) and Senior Lecturer (Clinical Education Fellow) in the Office of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine & Health. Melanie supports clinical learning and teaching across the UNSW Medicine Program and leads innovation in education in the Faculty of Medicine and Health. She is an inspirational and creative medical educator who partners with students and colleagues to co-design authentic, experiential, peer-driven learning - including novel digital learning resources that support blended curricula - that effectively prepares students for clinical and professional practice. She supports the professional development of students and early career clinical teachers and especially fosters their skills as educators to enhance their effectiveness in teaching their patients, peers, health professional colleagues and community.
Melanie is currently Co-Chair of the Medical Deans (MDANZ) Clinician Educators Working Group and the UNSW Medicine representative in the Medical Deans (MDANZ) Workforce and Training Committee. She has been a long-standing advisory member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Curriculum Advisory Group (CAG). She is currently an advisory member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Paediatrics & Child Health Division Basic Training Committee having previously held positions on the Paediatrics & Child Health Division Education Committee (PDEC).
In 2021, Melanie received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning as well as international professional recognition through Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). This recognition added to her 2019 and 2020 UNSW Medicine Educational Excellence Awards for successful initiatives that included interactive online resources to enhance students’ work-place readiness; a cross-cohort peer teaching program for senior students; and responding to the pandemic crisis in medical education with an online ‘Tele-Hospital’.
As a UNSW EF Champion, Academic Co-Lead of the UNSW Clinical Teachers Community of Practice, UNSW Academic Mentor, UNSW Experienced Peer Reviewer of Teaching, UNSW FMH Peer Support of Educators Champion and as an Associate Fellow of AMEE - The International Association for Health Professions Education (AFAMEE) and the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (AFANZAHPE) she is a strong advocate for teaching and the Education Focussed (EF) model campus-wide collaborating with her colleagues across UNSW and beyond.
E-mail
Location
Office of Medical Education (OME)
UNSW Medicine & Health
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
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2024: Education Focussed (EF) Grant Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Student Experience (PVCESE) UNSW $3300 M. Fentoullis
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2023: Education Focussed (EF) Grant (EF CoPs Special Projects) Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Student Experience (PVCESE) UNSW - Clinical Teachers EF Community of Practice – “Support for the development of a dashboard for tracking and managing activities related to medical entrustable professional activities (EPA’s)” $10,000 A. Torda, A. Damodaran, M. Fentoullis, M. Kalucy, A. Seccull
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2023: Education Focussed (EF) Grant Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Student Experience (PVCESE) UNSW $2000 M. Fentoullis
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2022: Education Focussed (EF) Grant Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Student Experience (PVCESE) UNSW $2000 M. Fentoullis
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2022: Education Focussed (EF) Grant Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education and Student Experience (PVCESE) UNSW $500 M. Fentoullis
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2020: Education Focussed EIF program (Education Initiatives Funding program) Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education (PVCE) UNSW “Assessment and Feedback - OSCIA (Online Simulated Clinical Interactions Platform)” $30,000 M. Fentoullis, A. Seccull, S. Taylor
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2021: recipient of the UNSW Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (Early Career)
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2020: recipient of the UNSW Medicine & Health Award for Educational Excellence (Academic)
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2019: recipient of the UNSW Medicine & Health Award for Educational Excellence (Early Career Academic)
International
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Co-Chair, Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ), Clinician Educators Working Group (2023 - ongoing)
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UNSW Medicine Representative, Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ), Workforce and Training Committee (2022 - ongoing)
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Member, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Curriculum Advisory Group (CAG) (2014 – ongoing)
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Member, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Paediatrics & Child Health Division Basic Training Committee (2023 – ongoing)
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International Presentations and Invited Lectureship: See Publications - Conference Presentations
National
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Clinical Examiner, Australian Medical Council (AMC) Clinical Examination (2021 - ongoing)
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Member, Australian Medical Council (AMC) Clinical Examination Child Health Writing Group (2020 - ongoing
UNSW
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Academic Lead, UNSW Clinical Teachers Community of Practice (2021 – ongoing)
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UNSW Education Focussed (EF) Champion (2021 – ongoing)
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UNSW Experienced Peer Reviewer of Teaching (2021 – ongoing)
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UNSW Academic Mentor (2022 – ongoing)
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EF Partner, UNSW PVCESE Course Enhancement Program (2022)
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UNSW Presentations and Invited Lectureship:
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Facilitator, Roundtable Session, EF Retreat, “Education Hackathon Challenge” Theme: Getting students back in the classroom. (2023)
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Presenting Author, Gallery Session, UNSW Education Festival “A Framework for Students to Build their Professional Portfolio as Educators” M. Fentoullis, M. Kalucy, C. Cunio (2022)
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Invited Speaker, EF Lunch & Learn (Faculty of Medicine & Health) “Teaching Students to Teach - Designing Core Curricula Supporting Students' Professional Skills Development” (2022)
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Presenting Author, Assessment & Feedback UNSW Education Festival “Interdisciplinary Peer Feedback to Enhance Effective Workplace Communication” A. Burdett, M.Fentoullis, M. Kalucy (2021)
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Presenting Author, Student success & wellbeing UNSW Education Festival “Empowering students to self-reflect and proactively plan their self-care as learners and professionals of the future” M.Fentoullis, M. Kalucy, C. Marley (2021)
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Invited Speaker, Pecha Kucha Presentations EF Retreat “Supporting Students as Educators and Professionals” (2021)
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Invited Speaker, EF Lunch & Learn (Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture) “Mentimeter: Overview and… something new” (2021)
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Invited Speaker, EF Lunch & Learn (Faculty of Medicine & Health) “Online Approaches to Clinical (Workplace) Learning” (2021)
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Invited Speaker, EF Lunch & Learn (Faculty of Medicine) "Helping our students see the links: A curricula resource fostering flexible and self-directed learning" (2021)
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Faculty of Medicine & Health
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Clinical Academic Lead, UNSW Medicine Program Redesign project (2021 - ongoing)
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Peer Support of Educators Champion (2024 – ongoing)
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Mentor, UNSW Medicine and Health Staff Mentoring Scheme (2022 – ongoing)
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FMH Presentations and Invited Lectureship:
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Keynote Speaker, UNSW Medicine 2020 Education Forum (Theme: Innovation in Education) “Innovation in Clinical Learning: Harnessing the challenges and opportunities of the COVID-impacted clinical learning environments” (2020)
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My Teaching
As Senior Lecturer (Clinical Education Fellow) and Clinical Academic Lead (UNSW Medicine Program Redesign) I support clinical learning and teaching across the UNSW Medicine Program (as Clinical Skills Tutor - Years 1 and 2, Clinical Transition Course MFAC2507 Convenor - Year 4, Phase 3 Medicine Co-Convenor - Years 5 and 6) and lead innovation in education in the Faculty of Medicine and Health.
Leading the design and implementation of the UNSW Advantage accredited Learning to Teach (LTT) program I support the professional development of students and early career clinical teachers to enhance their skills as educators.
Teaching Interests
My teaching interests combine the areas of patient education, clinical education, professionalism, professional identity formation, clinical teaching, student-as-teacher (SaT) curricula, clinician educator and faculty development.
Teaching Context and Philosophy
I am a strong advocate for supporting student and staff wellbeing and fostering their professional development within respectful, collegial and inclusive learning and work environments.
The concepts of ‘ako’, demonstrating teacher vulnerability and role modelling a growth mindset, and that of ensuring a ‘relentless welcome’ for our students all underpin my teaching philosophy - to embrace diversity and create pedagogical warmth that ensures brave and inclusive learning environments within all learning modalities and for all our students.
As a Clinician and Clinician Educator, I want my students — our future clinicians — to embrace the challenge of life-long learning and improvement, so they can provide, and advocate for, the best possible care for all their patients and our community.
I see clinical workplaces as challenging environments, where medical and health staff must address many competing, often time-critical, demands to deliver safe and high-quality patient care.
I therefore believe it is crucial that our students develop the diverse clinical competencies and skills they need to thrive, not just survive, in such dynamic workplaces.