Chatting with Richard Canter

In episode three we chat with Professor Richard Canter from the University of Oxford. He reflects over the decades of his fascinating career, sharing his story of how he, a surgeon, became involved in medical education and research. This includes curriculum, assessment, quality assurance and reforming surgical education in the UK (and many other settings), the importance of collaboration and the open sharing of intellectual property (for global change), and issues of power and hierarchy (and competing interests of stakeholders) in the health professions. His story, and success, is encouraging for the very reasons that much of the journey was not intentional but “a series of accidental events”. The importance of curiosity and continued evolution (and the usefulness of mistakes), questioning assumptions, working across generations and learning together, and being strategic and purposeful in qualification and career decisions (with education being a great place to be!) are some of the takeaways.