Mrs Dipa Kamdar

About

I am currently a Teaching Fellow in Pharmacy Practice at Kingston University.  I graduated with a first class honours degree from The School of Pharmacy, University of London. I have previously worked in a variety of sectors including industry, hospital, community and other academic institutions such as UCL.  As a registered pharmacist, I teach professional practice to undergraduate MPharm students, foundation degree students and previously postgraduate overseas pharmacists. The main areas with which I am involved are Law & Ethics, Clinical Pharmacy and Responding to Symptoms. Additionally, I supervise final year MPharm research project students and am also an academic personal tutor.  I aim to be a holistic, inclusive and sustainable practitioner and teacher and am involved in a diverse range of inclusivity initiatives across the faculty.

Academic responsibilities

Teaching Fellow

Qualifications

  • MPharm (Hons) First Class
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Teaching and learning

I use my professional expertise as well as pedagogy to inform my teaching, thus enhancing the students' experience of pharmacy practice.  I teach a variety of subject areas including responding to symptoms, public health, health inequalities, clinical pharmacy and law and ethics, which range across modules from first to fourth year of MPharm in addition to Foundation Degree level.

To engage students, I use blended approaches to teaching such as flipped classroom and using core technologies for learning.  To show authenticity in their teachers, I bring real-life experience to clinical case studies and scenarios for  simulation based learning.

My other responsibilities are as a personal tutor, giving academic and pastoral support to students; MPharm research project supervisor, engaging final year students with research skills and collaborating on research to be presented, with a focus on inclusivity and pharmacy education; and MPharm Course Director, leading the pharmacy course with a focus on levels 4 and 5.

Qualifications and expertise

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Merit)
  • Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Undergraduate courses taught

Research

My research interests include inclusivity and pharmacy education, teaching approaches in pharmacy education, and responding to symptoms/public health, specifically education about breastfeeding.

HENCL Primary Care Educator Conference "Building a Bright Future" poster presentation 24 March 2015: Teaching Innovation at UCL School of Pharmacy & Green Light Pharmacy

Publications

Number of items: 5.

Conference or Workshop Item

Kamdar, Dipa, El Kout Oustah, Yusra and Elbashir, Mariam (2023) Breast is best : a small scale study exploring knowledge, attitudes, and training amongst community pharmacists about breastfeeding. In: Royal Pharmaceutical Society Annual Conference 2023; 10 Nov 2023, London, U.K.. (In Press)

Kamdar, Dipa (2023) Breast is best? How much do MPharm students know about breastfeeding? In: Pharmacy Education Conference 2023; 11 Sep 2023, Manchester, U.K.. (In Press)

Kamdar, Dipa, May, Leanne and Wells, Joshua (2023) Evaluating the impact of an inclusivity workshop on pharmacy students’ perceptions and knowledge of health inequalities. In: Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) Conference 2023 : Addressing Equity in Higher Education Through Institutional Research; 07-08 Sep 2023, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (In Press)

Kamdar, Dipa, Kayyali, Reem and Alquraishi, Raniah (2023) Inclusivity amongst pharmacy staff and students. In: Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) Conference 2023 : Addressing Equity in Higher Education Through Institutional Research; 07-08 Sep 2023, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (In Press)

Kamdar, Dipa, May, Leanne and Wells, Joshua (2023) Empowering pharmacy students to address health inequalities to shape holistic and sustainable practice. In: Festival of Learning 2023; 22 Jun 2023, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

This list was generated on Wed Sep 13 07:22:43 2023 BST.

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

In recognition of my Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) work, I am a core member of the faculty HSSCE EDI Action Group and co-chair of LSPC Athena Swan self-assessment team. I have designed and coordinated events for International Women's Day (IWD) such as the top 10 women to watch in HSSCE and ECE and organised a joint faculty discussion and networking event.  I organise Cafe Swan sessions and recruit speakers from across the university to present and lead discussions on various topics linked to gender equity, such as neurodiversity and LGBTQ+.  I lead subgroups in the EDI Action Group, e.g., to create a cultural competency Canvas online module for students to complete during induction, and to set up a school Parents & Carers staff network at KU.  I champion colleagues to wear pronoun badges and send monthly emails to staff and students to raise awareness of important cultural dates and health and wellbeing campaigns.  

In the pharmacy department, I have designed a series of inclusivity workshops about health inequalities, professionalism and using your voice, mentoring and collaborating with alumni to design these sessions.  I collaborated with an EDI partner to deliver a bespoke introductory EDI workshop to departmental colleagues, focusing on LGBTQ+, anti-racism, allyship and microaggressions.

I was invited onto a radio show to discuss pharmacy, the award gap, and the importance of raising awareness of Black History Month in universities. I wrote a blog for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to inspire inclusive practice in future pharmacists based on initiatives I have led at KU. Due to the EDI initiatives, KU was shortlisted as a finalist for the Diversity and Inclusion Award by Chemist & Druggist 2022 and won the award in 2023, gaining national recognition as a leading university for an inclusive curriculum and pharmacy department. 

Qualifications and expertise

  • TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Equality and Diversity

Professional and scholarly affiliations

  • General Pharmaceutical Council - registered since 2007
  • Royal Pharmaceutical Society - registered since 2007
  • Advance HE - senior fellow (SFHEA)

Leadership and management

  • MPharm Course Director (Levels 4 and 5)
  • Inclusivity Lead for Pharmacy
  • Co-Chair LSPC Athena Swan
  • Core member of HSSCE Faculty EDI Action Group
  • Level 4 OSCE assessment lead
  • Advance HE Aurora Leadership Programme mentee