Dr Sandra Flynn
Academic Lead Clinical Skills
Biography
Professor Flynn is the MBChB Lead for Professionalism and Fitness to Practise and co-lead for Personal and Professional Development. Additionally, she co-leads on the buddy on-boarding programme for the medical school. She commenced her academic career as a senior lecturer at the University of Chester in 2018, developing and leading the Physician Associate degree. In 2020 she was appointed to lead the Doctor of Medicine programme at Chester Medical School. Her role includes the development, leadership, and delivery of programmes, building partnerships with NHS organisations to develop research and education capability. Professor Flynn worked for the National Health Service for 38 years, and between 2008-2018 held the title of Consultant Nurse in Elective Orthopaedics at the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. She undertook clinical practice at an advanced level and exercised higher levels of judgement, discretion and decision making in clinical care using an advanced practice competency framework and was one of the first nurses trained to perform minor hand surgery in the UK. She is a member of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Nursing and has previously represented the RCN as Nursing Advisor to the Department of Health workforce planning sub-group, 18-week orthopaedic pathway. Professor Flynn has also worked as a Specialist Advisor to the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
Teaching and Supervision
Professor Flynn has extensive experience of teaching in clinical practice. Since moving to the University of Chester in 2018, she has taught on undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, including Physician Associate and Doctor of Medicine. She has teaching responsibility for a number of international doctors studying in the UK, ensuring that students comply with the GMC Good Medical Practice Framework for Appraisal and that the students intensive clinical training is mapped to the relevant Joint Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) specialist curriculum. She has taught on the University of Chester Professional Doctorate programme and has run successful workshops on writing for publication and writing research proposals including ethical considerations. She has led on several Trauma and Orthopaedic Nursing teaching events held both in the UK and Europe and has taught a wide variety of clinical skills at several NHS Trusts throughout her career. Currently she supervises several PhD and MSc students engaged in clinical research and has served as PhD Internal Examiner at the university.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Professor Flynn gained a PhD from the University of Liverpool in 2013; her research, mixed methods fit well in her area of expertise of caring and compassion. She has collaborated with national and international colleagues writing several journal papers and book chapters on nursing care, orthopaedic care, and clinical examination and assessment. Her principal research fields are: Caring and compassion Trauma and orthopaedic care