Dr Lois Diane Meyer

Research Interests:

Lois Meyer is Honorary Associate Professor at UNSW.  She is the former Associate Dean (Postgraduate Coursework) in the Faculty of Medicine and Senior Research Fellow, Education and Development within the School of Population Health.  As Associate Dean in the Medicine Faculty, she undertook strategic oversight of the quality and relevance of the postgraduate programs for meeting the needs of graduates and the health sector. Within the School of Population Health, Lois provided a leadership role in curriculum design and mentoring academic peers in course design and pedagogical methods. Lois teaches in the Master of Health Leadership and Management in the area of health leadership and workforce management and draws on inquiry based methods in online and face to face modes to foster clinicians in developing their health leadership capacities for lifelong learning. 

Lois is recognised as having expertise in curriculum design and workforce development.  She has forged a number of innovative programs within the School and university: She led the educational design of the the first professional doctorate at UNSW, the Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) which commenced in 2009 with NSW Health and has now over forty alumni in Australian and international health service organisations who have undertaken work-based research.   Lois also led the design and development, and was the inaugural Director, of the first PLuS Alliance degree offered at UNSW, the Bachelor of International Health (BIPH) which commenced in 2018. 

Her areas of principal research interests are in curriculum design and professional health education and workplace learning in public health and health management within local and international contexts.  The research focus of her PhD was investigating the learning and professional trajectories of health practitioners undertaking a work-based professional doctorate in public health into senior roles in the government health system. 

Lois is undertaking current research focusing on learning and career trajectories of health professionals moving through higher education and workplace settings drawing on lifecourse research methods.  Her research contributes to the broader field of scholarship of learning and teaching in higher education contexts and organisations for strengthening health systems locally and internationally.  

Broad Research Areas:
Population Health, Organisational Learning, Health Leadership, Health Services Research, Curriculum and Health Professional Education, Learning and Evaluation, Workforce Development, Capabilities and Accreditation.

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:
Member, International Association for Practice Doctorates; Member, Higher Education Research Development Society of Australasia; Member, The Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE); Member, Public Health Association of Australia; Member, The Society for Health Administration Programs in Education (SHAPE); UNSW Co-representative on Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australia (CAPHIA); PLuS Alliance Fellow

Specific Research Keywords:
Curriculum Design, Health Professional Educational Research, Health Leadership, Workforce Development