Dr Selma Omer

BSc (Hons), PhD, FHEA

Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health

Senior University Teacher in Medical Education

s.omer@sheffield.ac.uk

The Medical School

Full contact details

Dr Selma Omer
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
The Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX

Profile

I am a biochemist by background and after completing my PhD (Reading, UK) and post-doctoral research (Oxford, UK), I pursued education training through a fellowship on Health Professions Education (University of California San Francisco UCSF, USA). I subsequently worked as an Education Coordinator at UCSF’s Global Health Sciences on a programme that centred on a twinning partnership between UCSF and MUHAS (Tanzania) to identify effective strategies for curriculum reform and faculty development at MUHAS.

I joined the University of Southampton’s Medical Education Development Unit (MEDU) in 2012 as a Senior Teaching Fellow in Faculty Development. As part of this role, I organised and delivered face-to-face training and led in the development of bespoke online training modules to support staff who teach medical students in teaching learning and assessment practice. I took up a position as a Year 1 lead for Graduate Entry Bachelor of Medicine programme (BM4) in 2015 and later as BM4 Deputy Programme Leader. I provided leadership for the curriculum and education activities within BM4 Year 1 and was responsible for overseeing the students’ academic progress bringing together the whole team of academic and clinical teaching staff, administrators and pastoral tutors) to provide a high quality learning experiences for students.

I joined Sheffield University in November 2019 as the Staff Development Lead at Sheffield Medical School. As part of this role, I developed a 5-year strategic plan for a longitudinal programme for staff development that encompass taught courses and both formal and informal opportunities in learning, teaching and assessment and I will be overseeing its implementation.

Research interests

I am currently involved in EU Erasmus+ Capacity Building projects in early Improving Early Nutrition in South Africa (ImpENSA) in collaboration with The University of Southampton, Ludwig-Maximillians University of Munich (LMU) and three SA higher education institutions. The project utilises an innovative training of trainers approach, that combines eLearning and face-to-face training, to train health care professionals in South Africa in optimising micro-nutrition in the first 1000 days if life and supporting behaviour change.

I am interested in developing strategies for staff development in learning teaching and assessment and evaluating their effectiveness, in particular studying the role of informal approaches such as mentoring and communities of practice.

I have supervised student elective projects in medical education and I am interested in exploring the impact of a longitudinal development programme for peer teachers as a pathway towards developing the next generation of medical educators.

I also co-led a project, as part of the Medical School Race and Equality working group, that involves staff and student collaboration towards achieving racial equality and inclusivity in the learning environment. The project aims to explore the experiences of students who identify as BAME, about racial inequalities in their learning environment and to identify strategies that will help to address these.

Publications

Journal articles

Omer S, Choi S, Brien S & Parry M (2017) Log In to Experiential Learning Theory: Supporting Web-Based Faculty Development. JMIR Medical Education, 3(2), e16-e16.
McManus B & Omer S (2017) A tiered approach in mandatory assessment training. Medical Education, 51(5), 548-548.
Timm A, Hill F, Omer S & Karousou R (2014) New Resources to Support Staff and Students with the Transition into Learning on Initial Clinical Placements. Health and Social Care Education, 3(1), 48-50.
Mkony CA, O'Sullivan PS, Owibingire SS, Fyfe MV, Omer S, Freeman P, Makubi A, Mloka DA, Portillo CJ, Leyna GH , Tarimo E et al (2012) Teaching and educational scholarship in Tanzania: Faculty initiative to improve performance of health professions’ students. Journal of Public Health Policy, 33(S1), S150-S170.
Mloka DA, Omer S, Mkony CA, Kisenge RR, Macfarlane SB & O'Sullivan PS (2012) Health professions educators as agents of change in Tanzania: Creativity to implement new curricula. Journal of Public Health Policy, 33(S1), S171-S185.
McKee E & Omer S (2010) Applying Thermodynamics, Enzyme Kinetics, and pH in Medical Biochemistry - A Team-Based Learning Exercise. MedEdPORTAL, 6(1).
McKee E & Omer S (2010) Protein Structure in Medicine - A Team-Based Learning Exercise. MedEdPORTAL, 6(1).
Omer S, Hickson G, Taché S, Blind R, Masters S, Loeser H, Souza K, Mkony C, Debas H & O'Sullivan P (2008) Applying innovative educational principles when classes grow and resources are limited. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 36(6), 387-394.
Taché S, Kaaya E, Omer S, Mkony CA, Lyamuya E, Pallangyo K, Debas HT & MacFarlane SB (2008) University partnership to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in Africa. Global Public Health, 3(2), 137-148.
Davies E, Omer S, Buckingham JC, Morris JF & Christian HC (2007) Expression and Externalization of Annexin 1 in the Adrenal Gland: Structure and Function of the Adrenal Gland in Annexin 1-Null Mutant Mice. Endocrinology, 148(3), 1030-1038.
Davies E, Omer S, Morris JF & Christian HC (2007) The influence of 17β-estradiol on annexin 1 expression in the anterior pituitary of the female rat and in a folliculo-stellate cell line. Journal of Endocrinology, 192(2), 429-442.
Morris JF, Omer S, Davies E, Wang E, John C, Afzal T, Wain S, Buckingham JC, Flower RJ & Christian HC (2006) Lack of Annexin 1 Results in an Increase in Corticotroph Number in Male but not Female Mice. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 18(11), 835-846.
Omer S, Meredith D, Morris JF & Christian HC (2006) Evidence for the Role of Adenosine 5′-Triphosphate-Binding Cassette (ABC)-A1 in the Externalization of Annexin 1 from Pituitary Folliculostellate Cells and ABCA1-Transfected Cell Models. Endocrinology, 147(7), 3219-3227.
Morris JF, Budzik JM, Omer S & Christian H (2006) KATP channels are expressed by pituitary folliculostellate cells and are involved in VEGF secretion. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 27(1), 149-150.
Omer S, Lomthaisong K & Bicknell AB (2002) IDENTIFICATION OF TWO ALTERNATE SPLICE VARIANTS OF A NOVEL SERINE PROTEASE EXPRESSED IN STEROIDOGENIC TISSUES. Endocrine Research, 28(4), 339-348.

Teaching interests

I am the Staff Development lead at The Medical school and a tutor in PG Cert in Medical Education and The Gateway course.

I was involved in developing the new Persona Academic Tutoring ( PAT) scheme to enhance student support through the continuity of PATS tutor/tutee relationship and improve links to other key themes of support (including professionalism, health and wellbeing and career planning and development). I lead the training for new PATs and the development of ongoing support for all PATs.

As a staff development lead, I represent the Medical School in the Faculty Post Graduate Teaching Committee and the School EDI committee. I also attend PG cert committees and exam boards.