Emma Anderson

Dr Emma Anderson is a Lecturer in Medical Education in the College of Medicine and Dentistry at James Cook University (JCU). Since joining the academic staff in 2022, she has contributed extensively to medical education, curriculum development, assessment, subject coordination, research supervision and educational scholarship. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate programs, with particular expertise in social and behavioural sciences, preventive medicine, global health, health promotion, public health and research methods.

Emma currently coordinates and contributes to several subjects across the medical and health professional programs. Her responsibilities include coordinating Research Methodologies for Health Professionals, Preventive Medicine and Addiction, and the Townsville delivery and assessment of the Ecology of Health curriculum. She also teaches qualitative data analysis and contributes to assessment moderation. Her educational approach emphasises active learning, teamwork, critical thinking and the application of evidence to real-world health challenges.

Emma holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Health and Ageing from JCU, for which she received a Dean’s Award for Excellence. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Glasgow and has undertaken postgraduate study in public health. Her interdisciplinary background informs her commitment to preparing future health professionals to understand the social, cultural and environmental factors that influence health, particularly in rural, regional and remote communities.

Emma’s research interests include medical education, rural health workforce development, ageing, social prescribing, technology-enabled healthcare, health professional wellbeing and access to healthcare in rural and remote settings. She has contributed to mixed-methods studies, qualitative research, systematic and scoping reviews, program evaluations and collaborative educational research. Her publications have examined rural general practice training, the development of the female rural generalist workforce, the retention and application of basic sciences in clinical practice, teacher occupational wellbeing, telehealth, fertility care and the experiences of ageing in rural Australia. She has contributed as a chief investigator or collaborator on competitively funded projects supported by JCU, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. These projects have addressed social prescribing, rural generalist advanced skills training, basic science retention, cultural safety, clinical supervision and models of medical education.

Emma is also an experienced research supervisor across Honours, master’s and doctoral programs. Her supervision portfolio encompasses rural caregiving, clinical leadership, nursing and midwifery practice, oral health, reproductive healthcare, diabetes self-management, teacher wellbeing and simulation-based education. Earlier in her career, she served as a Research Governance Coordinator with Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals in the United Kingdom, where she supported research governance, ethics, safety reporting, policy development and regulatory compliance.

Across her teaching, research and service, Emma is committed to collegiality, professional integrity, inclusive education and improving health outcomes for rural and underserved communities.