Staff Profile

OVERVIEW

Meenakshi is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medical Education (SME). She leads anatomy teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate MBBS, Speech and Language Sciences, Biomedical Sciences and MRes Surgical Anatomy Programmes. She is the anatomy assessment lead and Short Answer Paper (SAP) Assessment lead for Year 2 and graduate-entry MBBS programmes.

Her research interests are medical education, anatomy pedagogy, clinical/ surgical anatomy, ultrasound education and supervises undergraduate and post graduate students.

After completing her MBBS in 2009, she obtained MD in anatomy at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India. She has worked as a doctor in the NHS, UK and in India. She has previously taught anatomy and clinical skills at Durham University, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St. Christopher’s College of Medicine in the UK.

QUALIFICATIONS

• MBBS, Bangalore University, India (1999)
• MD (Anatomy), Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India (2003)
• Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education, Newcastle University, UK (2010)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK (2010)

MEMBERSHIPS

Professional Bodies:

• British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA), Honorary Secretary https://www.baca-anatomy.co.uk/pages/6-about-us. She is a Director, Trustee and BACA Ambassador of the north east region. She was the Deputy Secretary of BACA (2018-2021).

• Anatomy Associations Advisory Committee (AAAC), BACA representative
• Anatomical Society
• Human Tissue Authority (HTA) Person Designated
• General Medical Council
• AMEE (2013- 2018)
• ASME (2012- 2018)

Committees and Networks:

• Newcastle University Race Equality Network (NU-REN), Executive Committee member  https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/nuraceequalitynetwork/about/
• FMS Equality Project Strategic Oversight Board member
• Newcastle University Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team member
• Race Equality Charter Student Workstream Self-Assessment Team member
• Newcastle Health Innovation Partners (NHIP) Widening Participation Workstream member
• Regional BAME Network member

Meenakshi delivers anatomy teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across FMS and HASS faculty.

Module and MBBS Case Leadership

• MBBS Year 2 and A101 Case 24 Lead
• MRes Surgical Anatomy module lead
• Biomedical Sciences Anatomy module lead
• BSc Speech and Language Therapy and MSc Language Sciences Anatomy module lead

Assessment Leadership

• MBBS Year 2 and A101 Short Answer Paper (SAP) lead
• Anatomy assessment lead

Mentor

• Currently Year 2 MBBS Academic Mentor. I have been an academic mentor for Year 1 and A101 MBBS students previously.
• Learning Community Lead

Postgraduate medical courses

• FRCR (Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists) Part 1 regional anatomy course, upper limb anatomy lead
• Newcastle Ultrasound Guided Regional Anaesthesia (NUSGRA) international course, faculty
• Newcastle Ultrasound Guided Advanced Regional Anaesthesia and Pain (NUSGRAP) international course, faculty

External examiner

• University of Manchester, Anatomical Sciences Programmes
• MRCS (Membership of Royal College of Surgeons) examiner

Awards

• Excellence in Teaching Award at Durham University in 2017

• Nomination for the NUSU Teaching Excellence Award for outstanding contribution to teaching at NU in 2019

Meenakshi has published her work in anatomy and medical education journals. She is an Associate Editor of BMC Medical Education and acts as a peer reviewer for several other journals.

She has successfully hosted British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) conference in December 2019 at Newcastle University. She was an organising committee member of the first-ever Virtual Anatomical Society Conference held virtually at Newcastle University in January 2021.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PoLeQPYAAAAJ&hl=en

Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Meenakshi-Swamy

• Aftab R, Bibby P, White P, Swamy M, Patten D, Saleh DB. An anatomical appraisal of dynamic muscle transfer of the orbicularis oculi muscle. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery 2021, 75(1), 258-264.
• Swamy M, Kakwani R, Venkatachalam S. Role of clinically relevant anatomy teaching in undergraduate medical education. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) Virtual Conference. 2021, Virtual: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. In Press.
• Keenan I, Green E, Swainson H, Scotcher K, Swamy M, Saunders E, White P. Rapid and medium-term adaptations to Covid-19: Insights from an undergraduate medical programme. In: Anatomical Society summer meeting. 2022, Glasgow and Virtual: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Parkes A, Chaudhry A, Saunders E, Swamy M, Keenan E. Student and educator perceptions of a digital 3D anatomy learning resource. In: Anatomical Society Virtual Summer Meeting. 2021, Glasgow, UK: Journal of Anatomy, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Raditya M, Swamy M. Unilateral partial absence of rectus abdominis muscle and variations of the abdominal vasculature: a cadaveric study. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) Virtual Conference. 2020, Virtual: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Munro S, Swamy M. An unusual accessory infrahyoid muscle: a cadaveric study. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) virtual conference. 2020, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
• Jarman B, Womack J, Koneti K, Swamy M. Workshop on Improving Medical Education with Innovative Ultrasound. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) Winter Meeting. 2019, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Dangerfield P, Moulton A, Swamy M. Workshop on Clinical Anatomy Education. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) Summer Meeting. 2019, Preston, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Swamy M, Ngu S, McCaughey S. Anatomy teaching with DICOM image viewer on iPad as an adjunct to medical students. In: International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) conference. 2019, London, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Gough M, Clowry G, Swamy M, Surash S. Anterior transcallosal approach to the lateral ventricle: A cadaveric study comparing an innovative approach using a minimally invasive port-assisted device with a standard retractor technique. In: British Association of Clinical Anatomists (BACA) Winter Meeting. 2019, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Hamilton D, Manickam B, Swamy M. Pattern of spread of injectate following erector spinae plane block in human cadavers: preliminary findings. In: 37th Annual European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA) Congress. 2018, Dublin, UK: BMJ Group.
• Illing J, Corbett S, Kehoe A, Carter M, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Finn G, Medford W, Ikah D, Rothwell C, Swan L, Page G, McLachlan J, Tiffin P. How does the education and training of health and social care staff transfer to practice and benefit patients? A realist approach. Final Report for Department of Health. 2018.
• Hesselgreaves H, Swamy M, Kehoe A, Illing J. Evaluating the effectiveness of educational interventions for patient benefit: The development of reporting guidelines. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2018, Switzerland: An International Association for Medical Education.
• Illing J, Corbett S, Kehoe A, Carter M, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Finn G, Medford W, Ikah D, Rothwell C, Swan L, Page G, McLachlan J, Tiffin P. How does the education of health and social care staff lead to patient benefit: a realist synthesis. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2018, Switzerland: An International Association for Medical Education.
• Illing J, Corbett S, Carter M, Kehoe A, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Medford W, Finn G, Tiffin P. How does the education and training of health and social care staff lead to patient benefit? A realist synthesis. Interim report for the Department of Health. 2017.
• Swamy M, Putturaya S, Ballard P. Clinically most relevant aspects of anatomy in current obstetrics and gynecology practice for teaching medical students. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2017, Finland: An International Association for Medical Education.
• Swamy M, Ngu S, McCaughey S. Anatomy teaching with DICOM image viewer on iPad as an adjunct to Phase I medical students. In: Joint Summer Meeting of the British and European Associations of Clinical Anatomists. 2017, Coventry, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Swamy M, Sawdon M, Chaytor A, Cox D, Barbaro-Brown J, McLachlan J. First-year medical students' perceptions of using SimMan® in clinical skills examination session. In: 13th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC). 2016, Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Ferguson GR, Bacila IA, Swamy M. Does current provision of undergraduate education prepare UK medical students in ENT? A systematic literature review. BMJ Open 2016, 6(4), e010054.
• Ferguson GR, Bacila IA, Swamy M. Does current provision of undergraduate education prepare UK medical students in ENT? A systematic literature review. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2016, Barcelona: Association for Medical Education in Europe.
• Swamy M, Venkatachalam S. Clinically oriented anatomy teaching to maximise second year medical students learning experience. In: 17th Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions 2016. 2016, Perth, Australia.
• Illing J, Corbett S, Crampton P, Carter M, Tiffin P, Hesselgreaves H, Kehoe A, Sawdon M, Swamy M, IKAH D, Medford W, Page G, Finn G, Swan L, McLachlan J. Education Outcomes Framework: Developing indictors and the evidence base. Interim Report for the Department of Health. 2016.
• Illing J, McLachlan J, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Tiffin P, Carter M, Corbett S, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Ikah D, Finn GM, Swan L, Page G, Husband A, Kehoe A. A realist synthesis of the evidence linking education and training to patient benefit. In: Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) conference. 2016, Perth, Australia: ANZAHPE.
• Illing J, Corbett S, McLachlan J, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Tiffin P, Finn G, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Kehoe A. How can we enhance the transfer of learning into practice?. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2016, Barcelona: Association for Medical Education in Europe.
• Illing J, McLachlan J, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Tiffin P, Finn G, Corbett S, Sawdon M, Swamy M, Kehoe A. How does learning transfer to practice to improve patient safety, clinical effectiveness and the patient's experience?. In: AMEE Annual Scientific Meeting. 2016, Barcelona: Association for Medical Education in Europe.
• Ikah DSK, Finn GM, Swamy M, White PM, McLachlan JC. Clinical vignettes improve performance in anatomy practical assessment. Anatomical Sciences Education 2015, 8(3), 221-229.
• Swamy M, Searle RF. Evaluation of body painting as a learning gap in anatomy and clinical examination session. In: International Congress of Clinical Anatomy. 2015, Rouen, France: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Illing J, McLachlan J, Hesselgreaves H, Crampton P, Tiffin P, Carter M, Corbett S, Sawdon M, Swamy M, IKAH D, Finn G, Swan L, Page G, Husband A, Kehoe A. The Education Outcomes Framework: Interim report for the Department of Health. 2015.
• Swamy M, Venkatachalam S, McLachlan J. A Delphi consensus study to identify current clinically most valuable orthopaedic anatomy components for teaching medical students. BMC Medical Education 2014, 14(1), 230.
• Swamy M, Sawdon M, Chaytor A, Cox D, Barbaro-Brown J, McLachlan J. A study to investigate the effectiveness of SimMan® as an adjunct in teaching preclinical skills to medical students. BMC Medical Education 2014, 14, 231.
• Swamy M, Sawdon M, Chaytor A, Cox D, Barbaro-Brown J, McLachlan JC. A study to investigate the effectiveness of SimMan as an adjunct in teaching preclinical skills to medical students. In: 16th Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions. 2014, Ottawa, Canada: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).
• Swamy M, Searle RF. Anatomy teaching with portable ultrasound to medical students. BMC Medical Education 2012, 12(1), 99.
• Swamy M, Searle R. Evaluation of anatomy teaching with portable ultrasound to medical students. In: The Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) conference 2014. 2014, Brighton, UK: ASME.
• Swamy M, Bloomfield TC, Thomas RH, Singh H, Searle RF. Role of SimMan in teaching clinical skills to preclinical medical students. BMC Medical Education 2013, 13(1), 20.