Miss Sarah Howarth

Profile

I have been responsible for the development, coordination and running of clinical placements for the MSc Physician Associate Studies programme since 2019. I work closely with providers to make sure physician associate placements are of the highest standard. I am also Deputy Programme Lead, which means I support the delivery of all aspects of the 2 year programme. The landscape for physician associates in the UK is constantly evolving so it is important we adapt and innovate to reflect this.

I previously worked (2016 -2019) as a Research Assistant in Applied Health within the Leeds Institute of Medical education. This research focused on interprofessional education, patient safety and physician associate student development.

Responsibilities

• Deputy Programme Lead, MSc Physician Associate Studies
• Placements Coordinator, MSc Physician Associate Studies
• Doctoral Student

Research interests

I lead the regional Physician Associate Cohort Study (PACS), which is survey-based and explores the experiences over time of physician associates from student to practitioner (2017-2025)

I also started a PhD part-time in 2020. The focus of this is the training of newly qualified physician associates in secondary care and is qualitative in design.

My research interests are around the integration, training and development of new healthcare roles. 

Qualifications

• MSc Psychology (Leeds Beckett University)
• BA (Hons) History (University of York)

Student education

I lead the Research in Clinical Practice module, where students design and deliver their own quality improvement project. I also lecture on other modules in relation to evidence-based medicine, research methods and patient safety.

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Medical Education