Dr Catherine Coelho has been a dentist for over 30 years and started her journey into academia in 2007. Catherine was inspired by listening to the bid for a new Dental School opening down the road from her home, with an innovative enquiry-based learning pedagogy. Catherine was thrilled to start working at Peninsula Dental School as a small group facilitator and clinical supervisor. Having enjoyed teaching the students, Catherine went on to obtain a Masters in Clinical Education and became a full-time clinical academic in 2012. Since then in a short space of time, she has taken on senior roles and is now the faculty’s Associate Dean for Health and Conduct and Clinical Lead for the Simulated Dental Learning Environment (phantom head). Catherine has also published nine papers in this time.
Catherine is a full-time carer for her daughter with a learning disability and uses skills she has learnt from her for advocacy and tolerance to promote a fair working environment for all. Catherine is passionate about valuing diversity, using her positions to promote inclusive cultures and to empower staff and students to become designers of their own development. Catherine believes in leading by example.
Catherine is very proud of the impact she has had on students who are struggling to be successful, by designing and implementing an academic remediation process. Students who engage in this process show short-term improvements (12.5% on average) and more importantly, longitudinal improvements in their outcomes. Catherine is delighted that her sustained track record of being an outstanding educator and leader has been recognised nationally by being awarded an “Excellence in Dental Education Early Educator Award” by the Association for Dental Education in Europe and being the team leader for a project nominated as one of the finalists in Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence in 2016.
