Publications Student profiles Merrilee Frankish
Merrilee Frankish
- Future Students
- 番茄社区 Global Experience
- International Students
- Open Day
- How to apply
- Pathways to university
- Virtual Open Day
- Living on Campus
- Courses
- Publications
- Scholarships
- Parents and Partners
- 番茄社区 Heroes Programs
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Marine Science
- Elite Athletes
- Defence
- 番茄社区
- New students
- 番茄社区 Orientation
- Learn番茄社区
- Placements
- CEE
- Unicare Centre and Unicampus Kids
- Graduation
- Off-Campus Students
- 番茄社区 Job Ready
- Safety and Wellbeing
- 番茄社区 Prizes
- Professional Experience Placement
- Employability Edge
- Art of Academic Writing
- Art of Academic Editing
- Careers and Employability
- Student Equity and Wellbeing
- Career Ready Plan
- Careers at 番茄社区
- Partners and Community
- 番茄社区-CSIRO Partnership
- Alumni
- About 番茄社区
- Reputation and Experience
- Chancellery
- Governance
- Celebrating 50 Years
- Academy
- Indigenous Engagement
- Education Division
- Graduate Research School
- Research and Teaching
- Research Division
- Research and Innovation Services
- CASE
- College of Business, Law and Governance
- College of Healthcare Sciences
- College of Medicine and Dentistry
- College of Science and Engineering
- CPHMVS
- Anthropological Laboratory for Tropical Audiovisual Research (ALTAR)
- Anton Breinl Research Centre
- Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre (AgTAC)
- Advanced Analytical Centre
- AMHHEC
- Aquaculture Solutions
- AusAsian Mental Health Research Group
- ARCSTA
- Area 61
- Lions Marine Research Trust
- Australian Tropical Herbarium
- Australian Quantum & Classical Transport Physics Group
- Boating and Diving
- Clinical Psychedelic Research Lab
- Centre for Tropical Biosecurity
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology
- CITBA
- CMT
- Centre for Disaster Solutions
- CSTFA
- Cyclone Testing Station
- The Centre for Disaster Studies
- Daintree Rainforest Observatory
- Fletcherview
- 番茄社区 Eduquarium
- 番茄社区 Turtle Health Research
- Language and Culture Research Centre
- MARF
- Orpheus
- TESS
- 番茄社区 Ideas Lab
- TARL
- eResearch
- Indigenous Education and Research Centre
- Estate
- Work Health and Safety
- Staff
- Discover Nature at 番茄社区
- Cyber Security Hub
- Association of Australian University Secretaries
- Services and Resources Division
- Environmental Research Complex [ERC]
- Foundation for Australian Literary Studies
- Gender Equity Action and Research
- General Practice and Rural Medicine
- Give to 番茄社区
- Indigenous Legal Needs Project
- Inherent Requirements
- IsoTropics Geochemistry Lab
- IT Services
- 番茄社区 Webinars
- 番茄社区 Events
- 番茄社区 Motorsports
- 番茄社区 Sport
- Library
- Mabo Decision: 30 years on
- Marine Geophysics Laboratory
- Office of the Vice Chancellor and President
- Outstanding Alumni
- Pharmacy Full Scope
- Planning for your future
- Policy
- PAHL
- Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Rapid Assessment Unit
- RDIM
- Researcher Development Portal
- Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing
- Contextual Science for Tropical Coastal Ecosystems
- State of the Tropics
- Strategic Procurement
- Student profiles
- SWIRLnet
- TREAD
- TropEco for Staff and Students
- TQ Maths Hub
- TUDLab
- UAV
- VAVS Home
- WHOCC for Vector-borne & NTDs
- Media
- Copyright and Terms of Use
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine
- Pay review
Dr Merrilee Frankish is an eternal student at heart. A passion for learning coupled with a dedication to teaching the next generation motivated her to study a Graduate Diploma of Health Professional Education. As a Rural Generalist with a speciality in obstetrics, Dr Frankish is no stranger to continuously studying to maintain her skills and knowledge.
“I’m addicted to study,” she says. “I found the Graduate Diploma really useful. The course was very wide-ranging and I was able to meet inspiring people and clever, gifted individuals who serve the community and the world in wonderful ways.”
While studying, Dr Frankish worked full-time as a Senior Medical Officer at Mareeba Hospital (one hour west from Cairns). She did one subject per semester and graduated with a Graduate Diploma of Health Professional Education at the end of 2016.
“I had left general practice and moved to a hospital where I had a far greater teaching role,” Dr Frankish says. “I was also doing volunteer work in Papua New Guinea with health workers and I was teaching people who had many different sorts of learning styles and I needed to learn a lot about that.”
The course provided Dr Frankish with knowledge, strategies and skills to improve her clinical teaching. She also learned about different learning processes and ways to engage learners. Dr Frankish says these skills have come to the fore during her work, including when students come to Mareeba to complete their rural placements and when she teaches in Cairns.
“It is good to learn about how adults learn,” she says. “We are teaching a different generation who have different ways of learning. Health Professional Education also opens up possibilities if you want to work in developing countries because it’s better if we go there with a focus on education, rather than just on treatment.”
Dr Frankish has put her skills into practice while doing volunteer work in Papua New Guinea. She noticed her teaching improved when she used strategies she had learnt during her studies.
“The emphasis is on retention, not just about imparting facts,” Dr Frankish says. “The strategies were more interactive and case-based than didactic, so I could also step back and let them take over. The retention from that sort of teaching is huge.”
While Dr Frankish could have graduated earlier with a Graduate Certificate of Health Professional Education, she is glad she progressed to complete the Graduate Diploma. She enjoyed the more rounded education she received and became particularly interested in subjects that covered leadership and empowerment.
“The Graduate Diploma has greater breadth,” Dr Frankish says. “I think it’s really exciting to have that opportunity to study again and learn all the techniques they have now. It’s really good to be involved with university studies so you can actually empathise and understand where students are coming from and be part of it.”
Dr Frankish says the course would be especially useful for GP supervisors, Senior Medical Officers and health professionals who did not experience interactive learning while at university. She also recommended the course for people who hold mentoring or leadership positions.
“It’s a very useful degree for them because this has a lot about pastoral care and selection,” Dr Frankish says. “It gives you a better grounding when looking after interns and trainees. We have to learn about different aspects of educating the next generation.”
Dr Frankish had previously completed a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at 番茄社区. Her prior experience at the university and interactions with 番茄社区 students prompted her to study her Graduate Diploma there — and she hasn’t ruled out going back for more.
“At this stage, I’m taking a year off but I’ve been requested many times to continue on to complete a Masters of Health Professional Education,” Dr Frankish says. “The option is there for the future.”