Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement

Dr. Ourania Varsou is a Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences and holds a BSc (Hons), MBChB, PgCert in Mentoring and Coaching and PhD in Neuroscience. She is an Associate Fellow of Advance HE and a University of Glasgow Recognising Excellent in Teaching Fellow, currently undertaking further postgraduate studies in Academic Practice. Ourania teaches anatomy to science, medical and dental students, from sub-honours to honours levels, with her specialist areas including the head and neck region and imaging. She also develops and delivers bespoke face-to-face and online teaching on medical humanities at the University of Glasgow and several international institutions as an invited faculty member. Ourania’s research includes imaging with a focus on ultrasound, clinically-applied anatomy and scholarship of teaching and learning. Her scholarly output is reflective of her pedagogical and discipline-specific academic work. Ourania is a strong advocate of medical humanities, writing her own poetry, and serves as an elected member of the international steering committee for The Doctor as a Humanist. She is also an editor for Consilience which is an online peer-reviewed science poetry journal. Currently, Ourania represents the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences on the University of Glasgow Library Committee. In 2020, she was appointed to the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland where she will serve as a member for five years. Ourania is passionate about sustainability, medical humanities and alternative approaches to teaching in Higher Education.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. The power of real-world observation.- Theater as a tool for an inquiry-based physics teaching.- The value of cinemeducation in teaching health sciences.- The use of narrative songs/poems of lament ('moirologia') in enhancing medical students' understanding of patient loss.- How humanities help medical students to a better understanding of pharmacology. A critical review.- Teaching Medical Humanities in Medical Schools with Open Education Resources.- Alive Together.- Seeing beyond labels - staff and student perspectives on the importance of building community.-  Research & Innovation. Making visible the invisible: using novel interactive visual methods to engage veterinary practitioners in reducing infection risk during surgical procedures.- Using poetry to actively target the incubation period. Public Engagement. The hidden curriculum of public engagement for creative methods of instruction.- TheFabric of understanding.- Quilts 4 Cancer: Quilting the chemical sciences for pancreatic cancer patients.- Cell Block Science: Seeking to improve science capital in Scottish prisoners and their families.- Reframing Heritage Delivery and Engagement.