Julia Harrison, a practising emergency physician, has made an outstanding contribution to healthcare education over the past 12 years. Julia has provided local and international leadership through the conceptualisation and implementation of an innovative undergraduate curriculum in the new field of patient safety education. This program has attracted widespread national and international recognition and was awarded a Monash University Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in the innovation category in its first year (2006).
Julia’s work has helped hundreds of graduates meet the many challenges of patient care in our increasingly complex healthcare system with confidence, capability, professionalism and a patient-centred approach. A feature of Julia’s work is in recreating realistic workplace scenarios in a simulation laboratory, thereby providing powerful learning opportunities incorporating reflective practice. Other teaching methods include story-telling and collaborative learning. Julia is an inspirational and committed teacher with a great capacity to challenge, motivate and engage with learners at all levels and across different health disciplines. Julia is a tutor on the Monash University Graduate Certificate of Health Professional Education in which she helps other clinician educators improve their teaching. In 2007 Julia was a recipient of the Monash University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.