About
Research
Email: rakesh.patel@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
I am Professor of Medical Education at St Mary’s University and a consultant nephrologist by training. I joined St Mary’s in October 2025 as Head of Professional Practice and Development, and Head of Research and Innovation to support the Executive Founding Dean establish the new medical school.
I am currently Interim Director of Undergraduate Medicine, with responsibility for the strategic management and operational delivery of the MBBS programme. I also chair the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee, the Patient and Public Sub-Committee and the Health and Conduct Sub-Committee.
Background
I qualified in medicine in 2002 at the University of Leicester and entered postgraduate medical training in the East Midlands as a house officer, senior house officer, and eventually specialist registrar in nephrology and general internal medicine.
Alongside my specialist postgraduate training, I completed a Master's in medical education at the University of Dundee in November 2011 and a professional doctorate (MD) in medical education at the University of Leicester in 2012, before formally entering academia by undertaking an NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship in Medical Education in 2012-16 at the University of Leicester.
After obtaining my certificate of completion of training (CCT) in nephrology and general internal medicine in 2016, I was appointed Clinical Associate Professor in Medical Education at the University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust between 2016-23.
From January 2023, I was appointed Professor of Medical Education and Head of MBBS at Queen Mary University of London and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at Barts Health NHS Trust.
Awards
I have been fortunate over my career to have received several prizes related to my teaching, research, leadership and patient safety expertise. In recognition of my master's research, I was awarded the ‘New Researcher of the Year’ by the Education Research Group of The Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) in 2011.
In recognition of my doctoral research, received the University of Leicester Festival of Postgraduate Research Grant Thornton Prize for Best Presentation in Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology.
I also received the ‘Education Innovation Award’ from the Educator Development Group of The Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) in 2012. The educational technology that I designed for my doctoral research was recognised in the Medipex NHS Innovation Awards and Showcase in 2013. My post-doctoral research has also been recognised for its quality and excellence.
I was awarded winner in the Network Quality Improvement Competition in 2014, as well as receiving the Frontline Innovation of the Year as part of the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network Innovation in Healthcare Awards.
I was also awarded Innovator of the Year by the East Midlands NHS Leadership Academy in 2014 as well. The post-doctoral research intervention was also recognised in the Education and Training to Improve Patient Safety and Reducing Avoidable Harm category of the Patient Safety and Care Award in 2014.
Finally, my team were Finalists in the Education Team of the Year as part of the British Medical Journal Awards in 2016. Finally, I am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and I hold external examinerships at Brunel University of London, University of Sunderland and the University of Newcastle.
I am a fully qualified Resuscitation Council UK advanced life support onstructor, and I have also been a General Medical Council education associate and member of the Undergraduate Medicine Accreditation Team since 2016.
Hobbies and interests
I love reading, especially the broadsheet newspapers on a weekend, and new academic peer-reviewed publications in my subject area. I also love listening to BBC Radio 4 especially programmes such as the Moral Maze, When it Hits the Fan, Political Thinking and Radical. I love sport, especially football, cricket, tennis, badminton and hockey.
Qualifications and accreditations
- 2017 - SFHEA (Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy) - Awarding body: Higher Education Academy
- 2015 - MRCP (Nephrology) (Specialty Certificate Examination) - Awarding body: Royal College of Physicians of London
- 2012 - MD (Doctor of Medicine) - Awarding body: University of Leicester
- 2011 - MMEd (Medical Education) - Awarding body: University of Dundee2005 - MRCP (UK) (Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London) - Awarding body: Royal College of Physicians of London
- 2002 - MB, ChB (Bachelors Medicine and Surgery) - Awarding body: University of Leicester.
Membership of professional bodies
- British Medical Association
- Royal College of Physicians of London
- General Medical Council
- International Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).
Research
Research profile
My academic expertise is in the field of medical education. In particularly, I have a strong interest in the science of learning and instruction, assessment philosophy and principles, curriculum design and development, feedback and remediation, and both the learning and clinical working environment.
My Master's research investigated the experiential-relevance of self-regulated learning in underperformance, and I described a conceptual model for understanding the student failing experience at medical school.
My doctoral research investigated the use of virtual patients created from web-based simulation for developing clinical problem-solving and decision-making skills among novices at medical school.
My post-doctoral research investigated the effectiveness of a multifaceted educational intervention for increasing the prescribing performance and safety behaviours of junior doctors across hospitals in the NHS.
My current research investigates the role of clinical decision support technologies including artificial intelligence on clinical reasoning performance in both classroom and clinical settings.
Publications
I have over 70 peer-reviewed publications, and the full list of my academics outputs can be found on ORCiD.