Ronald M. Harden is the editor of Medical Teacher and General Secretary and Treasurer of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). Trained as an endocrinologist, Professor Harden has devoted his career to developing new approaches to medical education, curriculum planning, and teaching. graduated from the medical school in Glasgow in the United Kingdom. He practiced as an endocrinologist before moving full time to medical education. A graduate of the medical school in Glasgow, he was formerly Professor of Medical Education, Teaching Dean and Director of the Centre for Medical Education at the University of Dundee. Ideas which he has pioneered include the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) which has been universally adopted as a standard approach to assessment of clinical competence. He has published more than 400 papers in leading journals. He is co-editor of the best-selling book ‘A Practical Guide for Medical Teachers’ and the author of ‘Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher’ which received a British Medical Association commendation and the ‘Definite Guide to the OSCE’.
He has been noticed for his contributions to excellence in medical education, including being awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, Surgeons of Canada. He was also recognized with the prestigious Hubbard Award by the National Board of Medical Examiners in the USA and by the Kellogg Foundation for his contributions to medical education in South America. He was awarded by the Queen the OBE for his services to medical education and was presented with the ‘Mentoring, Innovation and Leadership in Education Scholarship’ (MILES) award for ‘outstanding contributions to the advancement of global medical education and academic medicine’ in Singapore in 2006.
That same year, Professor Harden was the winner of the Karolinska Institute Prize for Research in Medical Education. The purpose of the prize is to recognize and stimulate high quality research in medical education in order to promote long-term improvements of educational practices in medical training. In 2009, Professor Harden was awarded the ASME Richard Farrow Gold Medal, in recognition of the contributions he has made to medical education. In 2010 he was the recipient of the AMEE Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to medical education and the work of the Association. In 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine of the University of Tampere, Finland. In November 2013 Professor Harden was awarded the Cura Personalis honor, in the USA, the University of Georgetown’s highest award.