Rachel Best
Subject Group Lead Midwifery / Lead Midwife for Education
Summary
I am the Subject Group Lead for Midwifery and the Lead Midwife for Education. These roles enable me to combine my love of midwifery with my passion for education, and support the team to develop the best future midwives we can.
About
I am an adult nurse and midwife by background, and have worked in midwifery education since 2001. During this time, I have held a variety of roles such as:
Teacher
Academic Advisor / Personal Tutor
Link Lecturer
Module Lead
Course Lead
Assessment Lead
Lead for Global Reach
Lead Midwife for Education.
My experience has allowed me to develop into my current roles as Subject Group Lead for Midwifery and Lead Midwife for Education. Although these roles are mainly strategic, I still enjoy teaching and engaging with students on a regular basis. I am passionate about providing high-quality care to childbearing women and people, and strive to inspire this in others. I am also passionate about working collaboratively with our stakeholders, in particular service users and practice partners - everything we do is for them and with them.
My interests include teaching biological sciences and practices surrounding assessments. I have previously created innovative methods of assessment, and am keen to disseminate my practice. I had an article published in the British Journal of Midwifery about innovation in assessment, and have spoken at the International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Congress in Prague, in 2014 about my work in developing biological sciences teaching.
I am currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Education, and am focussing on assessment for my research.
My expertise has seen me become a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) and I am also a member for the Royal College of Midwives.
Teaching
Department of Nursing and Midwifery
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Midwifery
Courses taught:
BSc (Hons) Midwifery
MSc Midwifery
Modules taught:
Sciences for Professional Midwifery Practice
Assessing and Addressing Complexity
Establishing Midwifery Practice
Enhancing Midwifery Practice
Strengthening Midwifery Practice
Research
Current doctoral research on the factors influencing midwifery educators when designing methods of assessment.
Best R, Coolin K (2021) Lockdown Learners: Student driven improvements to the digital experience. Presentation to Faculty E-Learning Special Interest group (FELSIG) Extra. 13th May 2021
Best R (2021) School of Education PGR Conference: Connecting, adapting and moving forward in education research. Conference host, 27th April, 2021. Member of School of Education PGR Conference Committee
Spendlove Z, Best R (2018) Innovation in assessment: Building student confidence in preparation for unfamiliar assessment methods. British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 26, No 3, pp 180-184
Best R (2017) The use of group debates to assess learning in healthcare education.
Abstract 194 in conference proceedings of the Royal College of Nursing Education Conference, Cardiff, 2017.
Best R, Nakielski KN (2015) Interprofessional case-note analysis – developing and enriching learning partnerships in practice.
Presentation at the Royal College of Nursing Education Forum National Conference and Exhibition, 10th March 2015, Nottingham, RCN
Best R (2014) Applied Biology in Midwifery Education – a meaningful bridge in the development of knowledgeable, skilled midwives
Abstract C341 in conference proceedings of the International Confederation of Midwives 30th Triennial Congress, Prague, ICM
Best R (2014) Applied Biology in Midwifery Education – a meaningful bridge in the development of knowledgeable, skilled midwives.
Concurrent presentation at the International Confederation of Midwives 30th Triennial Congress, 4th June, 2014, Prague, ICM
Best R, Ward S (2013) Interprofessional case-note analysis: working and learning together.
Presentation at the University of Nottingham, Interprofessional Practice Learning Team Conference, 6th June 2013, Nottingham
Other activities
Member of the Lead Midwives for Education UK network