Royal Society of Medicine appoints first Director of Learning

The Royal Society of Medicine has today announced the appointment of Bridget Gildea as Director of Learning. Ms Gildea will join the RSM from Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), where she spent four years as Director, Strategic Market and Programme Development in Executive Education.

At HKS, Ms Gildea was responsible for the development and launch of key flagship programmes for public servants from all over the world, with a focus on innovation and impact in lifelong and continuous professional learning.

She pioneered the HKS strategy of creating Communities of Practice, collaborating with more than 200 experts in key institutions throughout the world to develop new content and hone programme curricula. In these Communities of Practice, she has worked with the White House Office of Science and Policy, the US Health and Human Services Agency, the World Bank, the OECD and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Former chair of the cross-Harvard Professional Education Programme Development Affinity Group, Ms Gildea has worked with both the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Medical School to promote innovation in online modules, digital outreach and learning tools, including blended learning and team-based curricula. She also created the first-ever HKS executive programme for sitting Parliamentarians with the Robert Bosch Stiftung-sponsored programme for the German Bundestag, and the world’s first programme focused on corruption control and behavioural insights with the US MacArthur Foundation.

Ms Gildea previously led a higher education policy portfolio as Chief of Staff at the British Consulate General in Boston for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. She holds an MA in English from Trinity College, University of Cambridge.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Gildea said: “I am delighted to be joining the RSM in this new role of Director of Learning at an exciting and critical time for continuing and professional postgraduate medical development. Every day we understand more about how learning can be made more impactful with new curricular tools. I am very much looking forward to working with the RSM and its treasure trove of specialty experts and library services to develop learning and innovation for the wider health community in the UK.”

Dr Fiona Moss, Dean, Royal Society of Medicine, said: “I am looking forward enormously to working with Bridget who brings a wealth of experience in creating and delivering stimulating and effective educational programmes. This is an exciting time for RSM Learning, as we seek to modernise the content, delivery and scope of our continual and professional development. Bridget will play a significant role in helping us power our ambitions.”

Professor Roger Kirby, Chairman of the Academic Board, Royal Society of Medicine, said: “Developing and extending the RSM’s educational remit using new digital models is a key priority for the Society. Bridget Gildea’s experience of innovation in the field of digital learning will be a terrific asset for the Society.”