Veterinary Professional Preceptor (Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Professional Development)

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Harper & Keele Veterinary School
Location:  Keele University
Salary:  Grade 7 - Salary Scale: £37,099 – £45,585, pro rata
Post Type:  Full Time
Closing Date:  Monday 22 January 2024
Reference:  KU00003814

The Harper and Keele Veterinary School are looking to recruit into our team of Veterinary Professional Preceptors who provide professional coaching and mentorship to our students as they progress through the 4th and 5th year of the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (BVetMS) programme.  This uniquely student-centric role is open to veterinary professionals with an aptitude and capabilities for coaching, personal leadership skills and a passion for the profession. We are developing a dynamic and diverse team of professional coaches who will uphold the precepts of professional development, reflective practice, performance optimisation, self-regulation and life-long learning, allowing our students to develop autonomy in their learning and establish their own professional identity.

Working individually with small groups of up to 12 students, and collectively as a team, the professional preceptors maintain a community of learning and engagement, optimise and tailor learning outcomes, manage expectations, promote feedback-seeking behaviours, foster effective reflective practice and ensure each student adopts an individualised, holistic and relevant approach, not just in achieving the requisite day one competences, but in their development of their early career as a veterinary professional.  A structured training programme will be provided for all successful appointees, which will include formal coaching training post graduate certificate in higher/clinical education and other academic professional development relevant to the role.  

Two appointments will be offered on a permanent 0.8–1 FTE basis, and a fixed-term up to 12-month post is also available to provide maternity cover.  Appointments can be tailored to accommodate a variety of flexible working patterns, including other fractional appointments or job-share arrangements, as appropriate.   Agile working will be an inherent component of the preceptor role, which will combine on-campus activities, provision of in-person support to students whilst on placement, remote teaching and maintenance of online communities of learning.  

This post will provide autonomy in workload planning and require some agility to tailor the level of student support provided according to the phase of teaching or placement.  Successful candidates will be expected to travel to either the Harper Adams or Keele campus, or to partner practice sites (within the midlands region) depending on where the post-holders preceptees are based at that time.

Appointees will be expected to role-model the school’s commitment to widening access to the veterinary profession for students from all backgrounds and to embrace and engage in the school’s culture of innovation in teaching and learning.  The Harper & Keele Veterinary School values equality and diversity across our workforce and to ensuring our staff community is reflective of the diversity of our student population. In support of these commitments, we welcome applications from individuals of Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds for all roles. 

School Background

A unique partnership between two outstanding universities, the Harper and Keele Veterinary School brings together two distinctive institutions with a track record of excellence in teaching and student experience to provide an exciting new opportunity for veterinary students to train within rural Staffordshire and Shropshire. Pooling the ambitions, experience and resources of both universities, the Harper and Keele Veterinary School represents a unique step forward in the provision of veterinary education in the UK. 

Together Keele and Harper Adams universities have 186 years of heritage in the animal and human health areas. Both institutions are recognised for their strengths in employability, student satisfaction and first-class teaching and have a shared commitment to research in food security and sustainability. Set on a 635-hectare farm in Shropshire. Harper Adams University has a long pedigree in agriculture and animal sciences, supported by first class animal facilities; veterinary nursing and veterinary physiotherapy.

Keele University in nearby Staffordshire is a broad-based research-intensive university with sustained excellence in life sciences as well as home to a highly successful medical school, frequently ranked among the UK's top ten.  The joint veterinary school provides students with the opportunity to take advantage of both institutions with a common commitment to excellence and complementary skills.

For an informal discussion regarding this role, please contact Dr Mike Cathcart, Director of Veterinary Education on [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-cathcart/

For full post details and to find out more about working at Keele please visit: www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies 

Closing date for applications: 22 January 2024

Post reference: KU00003814