Professor Liz Armitage-Chan
Vet MB PhD Dip ACVAA FHEA
Professor of Higher Education
Department: Clinical Science and Services
Campus: Hawkshead
Research Groups: Pedagogy
Liz is Professor of Higher Education and Director of the LIVE Centre, the RVC's Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. She is the Course Director for the MSc, Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Education, with particular interests in supporting students' education to prepare them for the complexities of professional practice. Her main research area is the development of veterinary surgeons' professional identity, and the ways that education can support this.
Liz graduated from Cambridge Vet School in 2001 and then completed an internship and residency at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, gaining the American Diploma in Veterinary Anesthesiology in 2005. She was Lecturer in Veterinary Anaesthesia at the RVC for 4 years, before spending 4 years as an anaesthetist at Davies Veterinary Specialists, and was an RCVS Specialist in Anaesthesia from 2005 to 2013.
Liz returned to the RVC in 2013, joining the LIVE Centre as Lecturer in Veterinary Education, and in 2018 completed a PhD in Higher Education Research in the School of Social Science and Public Policy, King's College London. She initially worked predominantly within the BVetMed curriculum, redeveloping the Professional Studies content, before focusing on faculty development within the postgraduate Veterinary Education courses.
Liz sits on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, and is a member of the International Veterinary Assessment Working Group, the AAVMC Professional Development Committee and the RCVS Subcommittee for the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice.
Liz's main research interest is in veterinary professional identity and narrative research methods. She has published papers on professional identity formation, identity of veterinary curriculum leaders, veterinary practitioner identity and its association with graduate wellbeing and career satisfaction, and cultural variation in identity formation. Liz has received research funding from the Council of International Veterinary Medical Education for the following projects:
- The impact of using creative methods for students’ reflection and identity formation
- Exploring the identity of curriculum leaders within veterinary medical education
- Analysis of emotions associated with learning amongst veterinary students and faculty
Davis, R., Fox, K. and Armitage-Chan, E., 2024. Learning While in Work: Exploring Influences on Engagement and Achievement in Veterinary Professionals Studying Remotely. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, p.e20230169.
Reissner, S. and Armitage-Chan, E., 2024. Manifestations of professional identity work: An integrative review of research in professional identity formation. Studies in Higher Education, pp.1-16.
Armitage-Chan, E., Bell, M., Cake, M., Cobb, K.A., Janicke, H.J., Kelly, S., Read, E. and Warman, S.M., 2024. “Going From Strength to Strength”: Delving into Professional Identity Formation of Veterinary Curriculum Leaders: A Narrative Inquiry. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, p.e20230152.
Warman, S.M., Armitage-Chan, E., Banse, H., Khosa, D.K., Noyes, J.A. and Read, E.K., 2023. Preparing veterinarians to practice across the spectrum of care: an integrated educational approach. Advances in Small Animal Care, 4(1), pp.171-183.
Warman, S.M., Cobb, K.A., Janicke, H.J., Cake, M., Bell, M., Kelly, S., Read, E. and Armitage-Chan, E., 2023. Veterinary curriculum leaders: motivators, barriers, and attributes. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, p.e20220098.
Zaneb, H. and Armitage-Chan, E., 2022. Professional identity of Pakistani veterinary students: conceptualization and negotiation. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 50(6), pp.685-693.
Moffett, J., Armitage-Chan, E., Hammond, J., Kelly, S. and Pawlikowska, T., 2022. “It’s okay to not know…” a qualitative exploration of faculty approaches to working with uncertainty. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), p.135.
Paton, N, Schaefer, A, Armitage-Chan, E, Cooper, H, Buggiotti, L, 2022. Welsh Farm Demographics and Disease Prevention Efforts. Veterinary Record.
Armitage-Chan, E. and Matthew, S.M., 2021. What Other Skills Are Vital to Successful Clinical Practice?. In: Veterinary Clinical Skills, Read, Read & Baille (Ed), p.127-141
Armitage-Chan, E., Reissner, S., Jackson, E., Kedrowicz, A. and Schoenfeld-Tacher, R., 2021. How Do Veterinary Students Engage When Using Creative Methods to Critically Reflect on Experience? A Qualitative Analysis of Assessed Reflective Work. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, p.e20210070.
Chung, G.H. and Armitage-Chan, E., 2021. Student Experience and Ethnic Diversity: The Experiences of Underrepresented Minority Students at a Veterinary University in the United Kingdom. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, p.e20200101.
Armitage-Chan, E., 2020. ‘I wish I was someone else’: complexities in identity formation and professional wellbeing in veterinary surgeons. Veterinary Record, 187(3), pp.113-113.
Armitage-Chan, E. and Reissner, S., 2020. How do veterinary students engage when reflecting on their development towards being veterinary surgeons?. Veterinary Record, 187(9), pp.e77-e77.
Armitage-Chan, E. 2019. Best practice in supporting professional identity formation: use of a professional reasoning framework. Journal of veterinary medical education, 1-12.
Armitage-Chan, E. And May, S. A. 2019. The veterinary identity: a time and context model. Journal of veterinary medical education, 46 (2), 153-162.
Armitage-Chan, E and Maddison J, 2019. The influences of curriculum area and student background on mindset to learning in the veterinary curriculum: a pilot study. Veterinary Medicine and Science.
Armitage-Chan, E. and May, S.A., 2018. Identity, environment and mental wellbeing in the veterinary profession. The Veterinary record 183 (2), 68
Armitage-Chan, E. and May, S.A., 2018. Developing a Professional Studies Curriculum to Support Veterinary Professional Identity Formation. Journal of veterinary medical education, 45 (4), 489-501
Armitage-Chan, E. and Jackson, E., 2018. Improving Student Engagement in Veterinary Business Studies. Journal of veterinary medical education, 45(2), p.204.
Jackson, E.L. and Armitage-Chan, E., The Challenges and Issues of Undergraduate Student Retention and Attainment in UK Veterinary Medical Education. Journal of veterinary medical education, 44(2), p.247.
Castro, S. M., & Armitage-Chan, E. (2016). Career aspiration in UK veterinary students: the influences of gender, self-esteem and year of study.The Veterinary record.
Armitage-Chan, E. (2016). Assessing Professionalism: A Theoretical Framework for Defining Clinical Rotation Assessment Criteria. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 1-8.
Armitage-Chan, E., & Whiting, M. (2016). Teaching Professionalism: Using Role-Play Simulations to Generate Professionalism Learning Outcomes.Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 1-5.
Armitage-Chan, E., Maddison, J., & May, S. A. (2016). What is the veterinary professional identity? Preliminary findings from web-based continuing professional development in veterinary professionalism. The Veterinary record, 178(13), 318-318.
Armitage-Chan EA. Human factors, non-technical skills, professionalism and flight safety: their roles in improving patient outcome. Vet Anaesth Analg. 2014 May;41(3):221-3.
Liz teaches on the Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma and MSc in Veterinary Education, as well as contributing to the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice and the BVetMed Professional Studies teaching. She frequently visits other veterinary schools nationally and internationally to advise on veterinary professional education and delivers various online CPD courses in this area, including supporting students' workplace learning and graduate mentoring. She is currently developing modules in leadership for the MSc in Veterinary Education and delivers CPD in the field of developing one's own leadership in practice.