A CUMBRIAN consultant psychiatrist has been awarded a prestigious fellowship for his work to improve medical education in the county.

Dr Samuel Dearman, director of medical education for Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), has been awarded a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators.

He is the only person in the county to gain this recognition.

He said: “How can I be anything else but honoured as well as a bit humbled to be accepted as a Fellow of the Academy, and it is only right that I say thank you to everyone that I have worked with - everything that has been achieved is a result of team efforts.

"I have come to understand two things during my work in Cumbria. Firstly, we all need to understand that there is very little difference between our educational and clinical work, as education is the indirect delivery mechanism for all the care we provide.

“Secondly, Cumbria sits at the tip of the north west of England, bordering different wider NHS institutions, which has its challenges but where we are does not define who we are, and certainly not how good we are at what we do. I might even go so far as it has some advantages.”

The Academy of Medical Educators is an international body that advances professional standards for all those involved in the educational and training of medical, dental and veterinary professionals.

Dr Andrew Brittlebank, medical director, said: “Fellowship of the Academy is the highest level of membership, only awarded to senior practitioners who demonstrate significant contributions to medical education."