Students award three Faculty staff for going above and beyond
The Teaching Excellence Awards allow students to nominate and recognise all staff who go above and beyond to support learning and teaching at King’s.
In 2017, three staff members of the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine were awarded for their contributions to supporting our students.
Dr Alison Snape, Head of Teaching Department of Biochemistry
Dr Snape has received the Sustained Excellence Award in 2017; this is her third Teaching Excellence Award.
Speaking about her win, Dr Snape is surprised and excited, “I was quite surprised when I won”, she said, “I do have quite a bit of contact with the students, but winning for a third time was surprising. You think you’ve had your turn and it’s someone else’s,” she laughed.
“I am excited that I won it (again). It’s a really nice thing to win and makes you feel appreciated. Knowing that the work you do is the right thing for our students and that it’s having an impact is wonderful.”
What some of the nominators said
“Dr Snape is arguably the best lecturer we've had this year. Her lectures are fun and engaging and she's able to explain complex things pretty well at a pace that suits us all. What sets her apart though is that she cares for us and our efforts to pass our modules, making time for our questions after every lecture, PSW and practical we have with her. The best quality of her teaching is that, like all the best teachers, she makes every subject interesting to learn about and makes us want to find out more. This is shown by her efforts to create slides of 'Discoveries and Dilemmas' after a lecture, which are inspiring and give us a taste of the scientific options open to us after our degree, again proving that she cares.”
“She's helped me navigate the most challenging parts of my degree. She's patient and calm, almost like a mom away from home.”
“During lectures, Dr. Snape is very enthusiastic, and her way of teaching makes us want to learn more about the subject. You can tell when a lecturer is passionate about their subject or not. She happily answers further questions, and is not intimidating at all - meaning that someone might ask an irrelevant/wrong questions, but no matter what, Dr Snape's response will always involve a smile.”
“She is the best professor I ever had, her lectures are perfect, she always answers questions fully and it's obvious that she enjoys teaching so much.”
“Dr. Snape strikes the perfect balance of warmth, accessibility and expertise- authoritative but unassuming. This has made her lectures and classes both engaging and clear whilst often entertaining. The time she made a course mate of mine enact the difference between cis/trans fatty acids live on stage will go down as a classic. Lastly, Dr.snape is extremely responsive to our needs as a cohort and as individual students, doing her best to accommodate illnesses or other qualms we may have.”
Dr Jane Valentine, Co-Director Extended Medical Degree Programme, GKT School of Medical Education
Dr Valentine has received the Student Support Award for 2017. She is incredibly thankful to the students who nominated her: “Many thanks to those who nominated me. It’s very much appreciated and I am glad to have been able to support you throughout the year! Recognition is also due to the wider support network – to the EMDP advisers, MBBS personal tutors, MBBS Student Support Group and student services colleagues – a big ‘thank you’.”
What some of the nominators said
“Dr Valentine, in my opinion, has been the biggest influence and greatest advocate on behalf of students during the transition to MBBS 2020 curriculum.
Dr Valentine exhibits diligence in her work as Director of Extended Medical Degree Programme and I believe she should be commended for her passion in medical education and her continuing work for students.
My first two years at university would have turned out a lot different without the help of Dr Valentine.
Thank you Jane, your help is always appreciated.”
“Such a supportive and lovely personal tutor and Emdp advisor. Truly an asset to EMDP and Kings as a whole!”
“She makes everything 100% easier for all of the hundreds of medical students who rely on her daily for even the smallest things. She always replies to her emails on the same day and made the transition to university much easier.”
“Dr Valentine has put in an incredible amount of effort making sure that myself and others on my course have settled into university and are getting the most we can from the course. She also always goes above and beyond by offering us opportunities to meet patients and improve our presenting skills. Dr Valentine is also brilliant at listening to and acting on any feedback we give her which is so important because it makes us feel heard and valued. Thank you for all your hard work Jane!!”
“Dr Valentine has been a brilliant teacher and friendly figure, helping us all to settle into our first year at university. Her ability to relate to us students meant that we could always approach her for guidance, help and most importantly, a person to rely on in times of need, be it educational or otherwise.”
Dr Sreena Das, Quality Improvement Supervisor, GKT School of Medical Education
Dr Das has received the Rising Star Award for 2017. Speaking of the nomination she is not only extremely honoured but is impressed with GKT School of Medical Education students:
“I am thrilled and extremely honoured to receive such an accolade. I have been very impressed at the enthusiasm and ability of the King's medical students and I hope I have inspired some of them to pursue careers in paediatrics. I am very grateful for the support I have received from my colleagues in the department of Child Health at King's College Hospital."
What some of the nominators said:
“Dr Das has been incredibly supportive and has gone out of her way to help us with our Quality Improvement Project. She has met us on countless occasions to discuss our project progression regardless of the fact that the university only required her to do so three or four times. She has put us in contact with a variety of people who have aided us in our project work. Furthermore, she has encouraged us throughout and been a hugely positive influence.”
“Dr Das goes so far above and beyond what we (as students) expect of her: she is intimidatingly clever; always kind and totally dedicated. She always has a stash of chocolate in her office, always remembers our names and always says 'hi' in the corridors of the hospital. She has been supervising a project that a few students and I are doing this academic year and she is always enthusiastic, creative and so, so helpful. She meets us as often as we like and is always available by email for any problems and hiccups we encounter, however small (discussing with our peers suggests that this is not universal of all project supervisors). For example, letting us use the printer in her office when the library printers let us down one morning.
She enables us to find out things for ourselves and has really helped us along the way. For example, she arranged meetings for us with various clinicians in the hospital and with the local council at their offices in Southwark so that we could explore how wide an impact our project could have (rather than containing the data collection and impact of our project to the hospital, we wanted to see if we could expand our area to the local borough or even London).
She is an inspiration to all students who meet her and whenever I have mentioned her to another student who knows her, their face has lit up: she is very well regarded by the students she teaches. She has so many interests outside of the hospital and is a great reminder of the importance of maintaining non-medical activities.
I hope that I am like her when I qualify and I would love to have her as my own doctor (sadly, as a paediatrician, she doesn't see grown ups!).”