Building capability. Connecting educators. Improving care.
The Melbourne Academy of Clinical Educators (Melbourne ACE) is a University of Melbourne initiative that brings together clinical educators across the health professions to support excellence in teaching, supervision, leadership and educational scholarship.
Through an interprofessional approach, Melbourne ACE supports educators across disciplines to inspire learning, strengthen partnerships, build leadership capability, and contribute to outstanding student learning and better outcomes for healthcare.
Melbourne ACE aims to develop and recognise excellence in clinical education by creating opportunities for educators to connect, learn, collaborate and lead across the health professions.
Our Aims
- Educational and leadership development of clinical educators
- Engagement between the University, placement providers and clinical educators
- Advancement of the scholarship of clinical education
- Contributions to standards for excellence in clinical education
Extension Events
Join Melbourne ACE Extension Events to connect with educators across disciplines, explore contemporary topics in clinical education and engage in collaborative professional learning
Melbourne ACE Graduate Certificate of Clinical Education Scholarship
Melbourne ACE offers the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education (EXCITE program), a one-year, part-time program designed to support clinical educators in developing expertise in teaching, supervision, feedback, curriculum design and educational leadership.
The program provides opportunities for participants to strengthen their educational practice, engage with scholarship, and connect with educators across disciplines through an interprofessional learning environment.
EXCITE supports clinical educators to further develop their capability as teachers, supervisors and leaders in health professions education.
Professional Learning Pathways
Melbourne ACE supports clinical educators across their professional development journey through a connected series of learning opportunities designed to build capability, foster collaboration and support leadership in clinical education.
Our pathways — Foundation, Extension and Advancement — provide opportunities for educators across the health professions to strengthen teaching and supervision skills, engage with peers and communities of practice, and contribute to the future of health professions education.
How to Get Involved
Clinical educators can participate in Extension activities by attending Melbourne ACE workshops, events and professional learning opportunities throughout the year.
Information about upcoming activities and opportunities to engage with Melbourne ACE are shared through the ACE mail list and on the Extension events tab.
Foundation
Build foundational supervision and teaching capability
The Foundation pathway supports clinical educators to develop the core skills, knowledge and confidence required for effective clinical supervision and teaching across healthcare settings.
Designed for educators across the health professions, Foundation activities provide flexible and practical learning opportunities that support high-quality student learning and patient care.
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The Clinical Supervision Online course is a flexible, self-paced program designed to support clinicians who supervise and teach students in clinical environments.
The course focuses on practical and evidence-informed approaches to supervision, feedback, learner support and creating effective clinical learning environments.
The CSO is available to clinical educators across Medicine, Genetic Counselling, Psychology, Dentistry, Oral Health, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Optometry, Audiology, Speech Pathology and Public Health.
Clinical educators supervising University of Melbourne students may be eligible for support to complete the course.
Extension
Expand your practice through collaboration and professional learning
The Extension pathway supports clinical educators to build on foundational teaching and supervision skills through workshops, collaborative learning opportunities and interprofessional engagement.
Extension activities provide opportunities for educators to connect with colleagues across disciplines, explore contemporary topics in clinical education, and share ideas and experiences from practice.
Participation in Extension activities is flexible, allowing educators to engage in opportunities that align with their interests, professional goals and availability.
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Melbourne ACE offers a series of online and in-person Extension Events throughout the year designed to support ongoing professional learning, collaboration and connection across the clinical educator community.
These events bring together educators from different disciplines and healthcare settings to explore contemporary topics in clinical education and share approaches to teaching, supervision and learner support.
Extension Events may include:
- workshops and seminars
- educator forums and panel discussions
- networking opportunities
- professional learning communities
- interprofessional learning activities
Topics may include:
- feedback and assessment
- learner wellbeing
- simulation and experiential learning
- interprofessional communication
- inclusive teaching practices
- placement support and supervision
- emerging issues and innovations in clinical education
In-person events also provide opportunities for educators to build professional networks, exchange ideas and connect with colleagues across disciplines and healthcare settings.
Through these activities, educators can strengthen professional relationships, share experiences and contribute to a growing interprofessional community of clinical educators.
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Extension activities bring together educators from different disciplines and healthcare settings to support collaboration, shared learning and professional connection.
These opportunities allow educators to exchange ideas, discuss challenges and innovations in clinical education, and build networks across the health professions.
Advancement
Lead and contribute to the future of clinical education
The Advancement pathway supports clinical educators seeking to further develop leadership capability, education and expertise in health professions education.
Through advanced study, scholarship opportunities and engagement in educator leadership activities, Melbourne ACE supports educators to contribute to innovation, teaching excellence and the future of clinical education across the health professions.
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The EXCITE (Excellence in Clinical Teaching) program is a flexible suite of postgraduate courses at the University of Melbourne designed for health professionals who teach, train, or supervise students and peers. The program bridges educational theory with practical, day-to-day clinical workplace scenarios.It is highly interprofessional, bringing together doctors, nurses, dentists, physiotherapists, and allied health professionals. The curriculum is structured to accommodate busy clinical schedules through a blended model of online and face-to-face learning.Program StructureThe program offers a nested suite of qualifications that participants can complete part-time:
- Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education: Covers foundational teaching methods, assessment strategies, and feedback delivery.
- Graduate Diploma in Clinical Education: Expands on foundational skills to focus on curriculum design and educational evaluation.
- Master of Clinical Education: A comprehensive degree involving advanced leadership training and a workplace-based educational research project.
See further information about each of these courses below
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The Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education is part of the University of Melbourne’s Excellence in Clinical Teaching (EXCITE) program — a suite of postgraduate clinical education offerings provided through the Department of Medical Education.
Designed for health professionals involved in clinical teaching, the Graduate Certificate supports educators to further develop practical skills in clinical teaching, learner assessment, curriculum design and educational leadership.
The flexible one-year program brings together clinicians from diverse professional backgrounds and provides practical experience in clinical education theory, practice and scholarship.
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Melbourne ACE is pleased to offer one scholarship per Discipline within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences to support completion of the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education (EXCITE program) in 2026.
This is a one-year, four-subject program: Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education
The 2026 course fee is $17,000.
- University of Melbourne staff receive a 25% fee reduction, bringing the fee to $12,750. Melbourne ACE will cover 50% of this amount ($8,500).
- The remaining 25% ($4,250) is to be covered by the staff member or their Department.
Each Head of Department will work with their Course Co-ordinator and/or Clinical Co-ordinator to identify the most suitable candidate for this opportunity. Each Department/School will manage its own nomination process.
Eligibility and Conditions
- Applicants must hold a University of Melbourne appointment of at least 0.4 FTE and meet standard entry requirements for the program.
- Scholarship recipients must be able to complete all four subjects in 2026 (January intake; two subjects per semester).
- Successful applicants will be expected to contribute to Melbourne ACE activities in 2027.
Enquiries: speak to listed staff within your Department or email Melbourne-ACE@unimelb.edu.au
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The Graduate Diploma in Clinical Education (part of the EXCITE suite) at the University of Melbourne is a multi-disciplinary postgraduate program designed for health professionals who are moving beyond day-to-day teaching into the planning, development, and evaluation of clinical education.
Delivered over 2 years part-time using a flexible blend of short on-campus intensives and online learning, the program allows busy clinicians to balance their studies with active clinical practice.
Learn more: Graduate Diploma in Clinical Education -
The Master of Clinical Education (the capstone qualification of the EXCITE suite) at the University of Melbourne is an advanced postgraduate degree designed to prepare healthcare professionals for senior academic leadership, policy, and educational research roles.
Delivered part-time over 3 years, this flexible program uses a blended learning model featuring short on-campus intensive workshops supplemented by online learning, allowing clinicians to study without interrupting their active practice.
Extension Events
The Melbourne Academy of Clinical Educators (ACE) is committed to fostering excellence in clinical education through engaging events that bring together educators, clinicians and experts from across the health professions.
Melbourne ACE Extension Events are designed to support connection, collaboration and practical professional learning for clinical educators working across diverse healthcare settings. Sessions explore contemporary topics in clinical education and provide opportunities for participants to share experiences, ideas and approaches to teaching and supervision.
Recent events have explored areas including feedback in clinical environments, learner wellbeing, student placement experiences, rural health education, systems improvement in health professions education, interprofessional learning, and navigating challenging supervision scenarios. Upcoming events and recordings of previous sessions can be found below.
If there is a topic you would like to learn more about or explore through a future Extension Event, please contact Melbourne ACE at Melbourne-ACE@unimelb.edu.au
Upcoming Extension Events
Zoom Link to access online events*
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Past Events (2026)
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Tips from Experience: Helping Build Supervisor Confidence
Wednesday 29 April
About the Event
Building confidence in clinical supervision takes time, experience and reflection.
In this session, we will hear from experienced supervisors from across the Faculty as they share how they developed their confidence and capability in clinical supervision. Speakers will offer practical insights into supervising a range of learners, and discuss strategies for balancing supervision within busy clinical environments.
This session provides an opportunity to learn from peers, gain practical advice, and reflect on your own approach to supervision.
Speakers include:
- Ben Ross, School of Dentistry
- Stephen Lew, School of Medicine
- Kelley Graydon, School of Health Sciences
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Breaking the Silence: Tackling student under-reporting of placement incidents
Tuesday 24th March
About the Event
This workshop will review the student-led report Silent or Silenced: Understanding Students’ Reluctance to Report Placement Incidents and co‑design how MDHS turns its recommendations into action.
MDHS co-sponsored a project with UoM Graduate Students Association (GSA) to further assess the extent to which students are not reporting placement incidents and explore factors that may be contributing this. Will Mc Henry, a 2025 final year student and member of both GSA and CESAR committees, led this work, and over 1400 students across the faculty responded to his survey.
The report found 3 in 4 students who experienced a placement incident did not report it. It also found, if they report at all, they are most likely to report to supervisors. With the new National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence enacted in January 2026, now is the time to ensure safe, supportive, and consistent processes for students to access support.
Participants will:
- Hear a concise summary of the report’s key findings and recommendations
- Reflect on the factors that contribute to under-reporting to inform the prioritisation of actions
- Provide structured feedback to shape actionable MDHS initiatives that aim to improve student incident reporting
This is an interactive, workshop-style session, designed to draw upon your expertise about the context in which students are learning on placement to develop actionable initiatives to support students to report incidents, and to help educators and supervisors to manage student disclosures in line with University practices
Read the full report via the University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association here
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Providing Feedback to Students in a Clinical Environment
Tuesday 3rd February
About the Event
Effective feedback is a cornerstone of high-quality clinical education. This interactive seminar will explore how purposeful, timely feedback supports student learning and development in clinical settings.
Participants will:
- Understand the purpose and value of feedback in clinical education
- Explore different levels and types of feedback used in clinical environments
- Review practical models and tools commonly used to deliver effective feedback
This is an interactive, seminar-style session with limited capacity, designed to encourage discussion, reflection and shared learning among clinical educators.
Past Events (2025)
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Clinical Supervision Tips: When Clinical Supervision Gets Tricky
Thursday 16th October
About the Event
This interactive panel presentation with Keira Venables, Deb Virtue and Cathy Brimblecombe explores the challenges that arise in clinical supervision and offer practical strategies to navigate them.
The panel of experienced supervisors shared their perspectives on managing tricky situations, supporting learners, and maintaining effective supervision relationships. -
ANZAHPE revisited at The University of Melbourne
Thursday 11th September
About the Event
This event showcased highlights from the annual ANZAHPE Conference, bringing the latest in health professions education scholarship back to the University of Melbourne community.
Presentations from MDHS and clinical school staff explored innovations in curriculum design, clinician-educator development, and interprofessional learning. ANZAHPE Revisited provides an opportunity to hear from colleagues at the forefront of education practice and research, and to connect with others committed to advancing health professions education.
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Remove to Improve – Subtracting to Add Value in Health Professions Systems
Professor Tina Brock
Wednesday 6th August
About the Event
Tina Brock, Director of the Collaborative Practice Centre at the University of Melbourne, will lead this interactive session exploring how the concept of subtraction can enhance our work—whether in teaching, research, or administration.
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Optimising the clinical learning environment: Practical Strategies to Support Wellbeing
Denise Ho, Thomas Connell, Meredith Oldis and Victoria Rayner
Tuesday 15th July
About the Event
This interactive workshop will explore practical strategies for supporting student well-being while on placement. Drawing on the findings of an interprofessional initiative related to placements in Mental Health (MH) and Alcohol, and Other Drug (AOD) Settings, the session explores the connection between wellbeing and student performance and showcases key University of Melbourne supports for students and educators alike.
About the Speakers
- Denise Ho - with an MBA and background in project management, has an interest in process improvements to enhance stakeholder experiences.
- Thomas Connell - Thomas is a mental health accredited social worker with broad practice experience across several fields and sectors.
- Meredith Oldis - Meredith is a Clinical Psychologist with broad experience working across a range of mental health and alcohol and drug settings.
- Vicky Rayner - Vicky has a background in both project management and research within the field of youth mental health.
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Rural Health Clinical Education: Innovative Approaches for Engagement and Impact
Lauren Woodhart and Tara Case
Wednesday 7th May
About the Event
Clinical education in rural health settings presents unique challenges and opportunities, requiring innovative approaches that prioritise adaptability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strong community engagement. In this session, Lauren and Tara will explore the current landscape of rural health clinical education, sharing research, practical tools, and theoretical frameworks that support the delivery of creative, high-quality, and responsive clinical education within rural health.
About the Speakers
- Lauren Woodhart: A physiotherapist by training, Lauren brings over two decades of expertise in rural health practice and clinical education. She is currently Lecturer in Interprofessional Rural Education in the Department of Rural Health at The University of Melbourne. As part of the Going Rural Health program, Lauren works collaboratively to develop and implement innovative models of allied health work integrated learning. Her work is grounded in her rural upbringing and a deep commitment to building capability, confidence, and sustainability within both the current and future rural health workforce.
- Tara Case: With over 20 years of experience as an Occupational Therapist across diverse clinical and educational settings, Tara is dedicated to exploring innovative educational approaches to improve rural health outcomes. As an Associate Lecturer in Interprofessional Rural Education with the Going Rural Health Team at The University of Melbourne's Department of Rural Health, she collaborates on the design and delivery of high-quality clinical education programs aimed at strengthening the capacity of the rural health workforce. Currently pursuing her PhD, Tara is conducting a cross-disciplinary study in North East Victoria, exploring the impact of emotion coaching interventions on children’s mental health outcomes in rural Australia.
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Students on Student Placement Experiences: Perspectives, concerns and priorities for change
A/Prof Lisa Cheshire and Will McHenry (Graduate Student Association)
Wednesday 2nd April
About the Event
Join fellow clinical educators and academics to hear from a multidisciplinary student panel on student placement experiences. The panellists will share their experiences and perspectives on challenges and successes on placements, and their thoughts on how academic and clinical educators can enhance experiences. The panel will be co-chaired by Graduate Students Association (GSA) coursework representative, and final year Doctor of Medicine student, Will McHenry and A/Professor Lisa Cheshire.
Will McHenry is lead author of the 2024 GSA report ‘Placement: Student Perspectives, Concerns and Priorities for change’. Lisa is an academic with decades of experience supporting students to learn in the most challenging situations and is Academic Director for FMDHS Clinical Education Strategy and Risk, a role in which she leads a team that helps all courses approach their trickiest issues in clinical education.
About the Speakers
- A/Professor Lisa Cheshire currently the Academic Director for FMDHS Clinical Education Strategy and Risk academic leading the team that helps all courses with their trickiest issues in clinical education. She comes to this role after decades of experience supporting students to learn in the most challenging situations.
- Will McHenry is the GSA Course Work Rep and a final year MD student. Will authored the 2024 GSA report ‘Placement: Student Perspectives, Concerns and Priorities for change’.
- We will be joined by a panel of students in their final years, with representatives across all schools. You will hear first-hand, what makes a placement excellent, what are the challenges and what helped the students most in the moment.
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Beyond See One, Do One: Cognitive Apprenticeship and Motivation in Clinical Education.
A/Prof Kayley Lyons and Professor Tina Brock with Dr Sam Corea
Thursday 6 March
About the Event
In this session, Kayley, Tina and Sam will share science and strategies to enhance student learning, build confidence, and foster motivation, leading to a more effective and engaging clinical education experience.
Join to explore the findings and stay afterward for refreshments and the opportunity to connect with fellow clinician educators.
About the Speakers
- Associate Professor Kayley Lyons is the Director of the Master of Public Health in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at The University of Melbourne. She is a pharmacist who has experience in health systems administration. She was previously the Digital Health Education Lead at the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health.
- Professor Tina Brock is the Director of the Collaborative Practice Centre at The University of Melbourne. She is a pharmacist and educational activist with experience collaborating on systems projects in all six WHO regions. Tina studies the transformative power of teamwork to improve health.
- Dr Sam Corea is a 2024 graduate of the University of Melbourne’s Doctor of Physiotherapy program and is now a Clinician at Lifecare Croydon Sports Medicine.
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Clinical Educator Careers and Identity Development: Insights from the GEM Scott Fellowship
Tuesday 4 February
About the Event
How are clinical educators developing their careers and expertise as educators?
What are clinical educators experiencing as enablers and barriers for satisfying and dynamic careers?
And what do clinical educators want to better develop their expertise, professional connections and careers?In this lecture the experiences, insights and interests of diverse clinician educators will be shared by A/Prof Caroline Johnson, Dr Wonie Uahwatanasakul and Dr Daniela Ramirez-Duran. Drawing upon the findings of a study that surveyed the voices of 328 clinician educators from diverse professions the speakers will describe the perceptions of clinicians who teach and clinical education as a career path.
At the event core findings on career and identity development of clinicians who teach will be shared. Join to explore the findings and stay afterward for refreshments and the opportunity to connect with fellow clinician educators.
Graduate Certificate of Clinical Education Scholarship
The event also celebrated the scholarship recipients for the Graduate Certificate of Clinical Education from across the Faculty.
Recipients
- Eliza Martin (Speech Pathology)
- Lauren Woodhart (Going Rural Health)
- Rosie Nicholson (Going Rural Health)
- Alexandra Walchhuetter (Audiology)
- Andrew Huhtanen (Optometry)
- Jen Bilionis (Nursing)
- Deb Virtue (Physiotherapy)
- Nicole Hill (Social Work)
- Ambiga Theivendradas (MTHC)
- Amy Thompson (Dentistry)
- Amber Stevanov (Oral Health)
- Kate Cooper (Medical School)
- Rosiland Norton (Medical School)
About the Speakers
- Associate Professor Caroline Johnson is the Director of Teaching and Learning in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care, and an educator with over 25 years of experience.
- Dr Wonie Uahwatanasakul is a paediatrician and the Director of Medical Education at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Wonie has a major interest in the mentoring and professional development of clinical educators
- Dr Daniela Ramirez-Duran is a psychologist and has worked with Caroline and Wonie as a researcher on this project as well as several other projects with the Department of General Practice and Primary Care, and the Faculty of Education at The University of Melbourne.
Event Recordings
Melbourne ACE Event Recordings provide access to selected previous online sessions and professional learning activities for clinical educators across the health professions.
Recordings cover a range of contemporary clinical education topics including supervision, learner wellbeing, interprofessional education, feedback, placement experiences and educator development.
Please note, due to privacy and the interactive nature of some sessions, not all events will be recorded or made available online. Please also allow up to one week following an online event for recordings to be uploaded to the website.
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ACE - 2026 June Event Recording
How Mindfulness Can Promote Resilience and Wellbeing in Clinical Education
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ACE - 2026 May Event Recording
How to Bring Cultural Responsivity into Supervision
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ACE - 2026 April Event Recording
Tips from Experience - Helping Build Supervisor Confidence
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ACE - 2026 March Event Recording
Breaking the Silence: Tackling student under-reporting of placement incidents
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ACE - 2026 February Event Recording
Providing Feedback to Students in a Clinical Environment
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ACE - October Event Recording
Clinical Supervision Tips: When Clinical Supervision Gets Tricky
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ACE - September Event Recording
ANZAHPE Revisited at The University of Melbourne.
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ACE - August Event Recording
Remove to Improve - Subtracting to Add Value in Health Professions Systems.
Professor Tina Brock -
ACE - July Event Recording
Optimising the clinical learning environment: Practical Strategies to Support Wellbeing.
Denise Ho, Thomas Connell, Meredith Oldis and Victoria Rayner -
ACE - May Event Recording
Rural Health Clinical Education: Innovative Approaches for Engagement and Impact.
Lauren Woodhart and Tara Case -
ACE - April Event Recording
Students on Student Placement Experiences: Perspectives, concerns and priorities for change.
A/Prof Lisa Cheshire and Will McHenry (Graduate Student Association) -
ACE - March Event Recording
Beyond See One, Do One: Cognitive Apprenticeship and Motivation in Clinical Education.
A/Prof Kayley Lyons and Professor Tina Brock with Sam Corea
Educator Resources
Melbourne ACE provides access to selected clinical education resources from across the University of Melbourne and external organisations to support clinical educators across the health professions.
These resources support clinical supervision, educator development, rural health education and clinical learning environments.
If you are aware of additional resources that may support clinical educators, please contact Melbourne ACE at Melbourne-ACE@unimelb.edu.au
University of Melbourne Resources
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Resources and initiatives supporting rural clinical education and placement experiences.
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Resources and supports available through the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health.
External Clinical Education Resources
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National clinical education resources and support materials for health professional educators.
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Resources to support supervision practice and clinical educator development across allied health professions.