Alumni Profile: Dr Cian Wade
Dr Cian Wade (Clinical Medicine, 2015) is a Fulbright Scholar studying for a Master of Public Health at Harvard University.
He has a particular interest in understanding how good medical leadership and strategy can be applied to improving the quality of care provided to diverse groups of patients across healthcare systems.
Recently he has particularly focused upon how to mitigate the differences in risk of harm from healthcare experienced by different groups of patients, and how this intersects with wider social and political efforts to reduce health inequalities.
During his time at Green Templeton, Cian was President of the Richard Doll Society. Cian says the college were very supportive of his committee’s organisation of a conference focusing upon infectious diseases with pandemic potential.
Aside from the unexpected relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic, these experiences helped spark Cian’s interest in population and public health. Thereafter, he became interested in understanding how to translate the scientifically rigorous approach to evidence-based practice engendered by the Oxford medical course into achieving real improvements in health outcomes for large groups of patients. This inspired his predominant focus during his Academic Foundation Programme, during his first two years as a junior doctor at Oxford, where he led an international collaboration that generated new national pain guidelines for neonates in Kenya. Cian recalls being particularly grateful to Dr Laurence Leaver and his team for going the extra mile in preparing their cohort so well for the AFP interviews alongside preparation for Finals.
Alongside his academic pursuits, Cian was delighted to receive college support for his sporting activities whilst at University. A Nautilus Award for sporting achievement provided recognition and some financial support for playing University football, which included three Blues Varsity match wins and several international tours.
Cian particularly valued Green Templeton’s promotion of the importance of good medical leadership and management. After completing his AFP, he was appointed as a National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow working at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and NHS England & NHS Improvement. This appointment gave Cian the opportunity to explore and develop his own leadership capabilities within national healthcare organisations during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. He particularly enjoyed leading the initial work of the NHS national patient safety team in the health inequalities space, providing clinical leadership on the Evidence-Based Interventions programme, and regularly briefing and working with senior medical leaders of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Cian is now studying for a Master of Public Health at Harvard University. In addition to developing his interest and aptitude in public health, he is looking forward to exploring the international context of his work addressing health inequalities in patient safety. Cian is also excited to experience the wider opportunities afforded by studying with so many talented and ambitious individuals from all over the world who share similar interests in healthcare innovation. All the better if he can manage to squeeze in some Ivy League Soccer matches on the side! Upon returning from Harvard, Cian hopes to continue to ally clinical medical training with ongoing work in the space of health policy, leadership and management.
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