Associate Professor Chinthaka Balasooriya

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School :

Sch of Public Health & Com Med

Phone :

9385 1943

Email :

c.balasooriya@unsw.edu.au

University role :

Director of Medical Education Development, SPHCM

Dr Chinthaka Balasooriya is a nationally recognised expert in Medical Education. He currently leads a range of research projects in medical education, based within the UNSW Medicine program and within the General Practice training program. He recently led a research project funded by the National Heart Foundation of Australia, which aims to enhance the development of clinical reasoning skills in GP trainees and enhance the use of clinical guidelines. He also supervises research into contextual influences on clinical-decision making, the development and evaluation of educational strategies to enhance clinicians’ decision-making skills, and the design and evaluation of educational instruments to develop collaborative learning and clinical collaborative competencies. In addition to his research activities, he has made a high quality contribution to the design and implementation of the UNSW Medicine program over the last 15 years.

Dr Balasooriya also has expertise in the area of Students’ Approaches to Learning. Research projects in this area explore ways to optimise the impact of educational innovations, by promoting deeper approaches to learning across students with varying learning preferences. He has a particular interest in developing more effective methods to evaluate the impact of educational innovations.

Dr Balasooriya’s expertise in Medical Education has been recognised by a range of university and national level wards. These include the Faculty of Medicine Teaching Excellence award (2008), a Vice-Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence (2012), and an Australian Learning & Teaching Council Citation (2011).

Broad Research Areas
Medical Education

Specific Research Keywords

Clinical decision making

Clinical reasoning

Guideline Enhancement Tool

Clinical Collaborative competencies

TMEX

Students' Approaches to Learning

Cross-over phenomenon

Collaborative Learning

Curriculum Design

Deep Learning

Current Faculty of Medicine profile available at: http://med.unsw.edu.au/people/dr-chinthaka-balasooriya

View UNSW TV Videos

Qualifications :

MBBS

PhD

Grants :

Balasooriya, C., Harrison, R., Rawstorne, P., Meyer, L., Razee, H. (2017-2018). Designing, piloting and evaluating a process for formative peer-review of teaching ($45,000). UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund
Velan, G., Steel, A., Lim, B., Sherry, C., Thomson, C., Balasooriya, C., . . . McIntyre, S. (2017-2018). Development and implementation of an education portfolio to evaluate excellence of teachers at UNSW ($50,000): UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund.
Torda, A., Damodaran, A., Balasooriya, C., Fenton-Kerr, T., Mobbs, S., & O'Sullivan, P. A. (2018). The CLASSIE project – Clinically applicable student studies in Ethics, for Phase 3 medical students ($ 43,455): UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund.
Balasooriya, C., MacIntyre, R., Travaglia, J. (2015-2016). Adapting and trialling an innovative international approach to address burnout in medical students. University of New South Wales/SJTU-UNSW Collaborative Research Fund - Seed Grant
Balasooriya, C., Canalese, R., Shulruf, B., Zwar, N. (2014). Enhancing the use of Hypertension Guidelines in General Practice ($75,000). National Heart Foundation of Australia – Vanguard Grant (Category 1 - ACGR)
Balasooriya, C., Olupeliyawa, A., O’Sullivan, A., Hughes, C., Rhee, J. Development of a mobile application to facilitate learning and assessment of teamwork skills in clinical settings. ($65,000). UNSW 2014 Allocation of Recurrent HWA Funding
Balasooriya, C., (2012). Clinical decision making in health care settings ($5000). SPHCM Small Grant to Support the development of Category 1 Grant application
Rutherford, A., Thompson, R., Balasooriya, C. (2010/2011). Enhancing the content, delivery and assessment of Graduate Capability 2 in the MBBS program ($6000): University of New South Wales Strategic Learning & Teaching Development Fund.
Balasooriya, C., Taylor, S., & Koritschoner, E. (2010/2011). Assessment and development of Teamwork across all Phases of UNSW Medicine Program ($10,000): University of New South Wales Strategic Learning & Teaching Development Fund.
Balasooriya, C D., Hughes, C. (2009). Assessing teamwork in undergraduate medical education to better prepare students for teamwork requirements of interns($4000): UNSW Seed Funding for ALTC Learning & Teaching Grant Applications.
Harris, P., Bloomfield, L., Hughes, C., Balasooriya, C., Meyer, L. (2007). Evaluation of assessment methods and training related to curricula for postgraduate training in diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

Awards :

1. Australian Learning & Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning 2011

2. UNSW Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence 2012

3. Award for Teaching Excellence 2008 - UNSW Medicine

4. Award for all round achievement in Teaching and Research 2013 – SPHCM, UNSW

5. Award for excellence in postgraduate supervision 2015 – UNSW Postgraduate ARC

Research

Research Activity Links :

Evaluating the Guideline Enhancement Tool (GET): an innovative clinical training tool to enhance the use of Hypertension Guidelines in General Practice

Socio-economic Objective (SEO) tags :

Education and Training

Learner and Learning Processes

Assessment and Evaluation of Curriculum

Field of Research (FOR) Tag :

Medicine, Nursing and Health Curriculum and Pedagogy

Primary Health Care

Curriculum and Pedagogy

Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators

Higher Education

Learning Sciences

Teaching & Supervision

I am available to supervise :

Yes

Areas of supervision :

1. Developing collaborative learning skills in medical students

2. Developing clinical reasoning skills in medical students

3. Curricular development and evaluation

4. Students' approaches to learning

Currently supervising :

1. Primary supervisor: PhD in Medical Education – Asela Olupeliyawa (Identification of collaborative competencies for internship and the development of an assessment strategy that facilitates learning – completed 2012 - Outstanding student performance as evidenced by the ANZAHPE PG Award (National Level), UNSW Medicine Innovation Award, Four peer reviewed Publications including two in top tier MedEd journals, Six conference publications

2. Primary supervisor: PhD in Medical Education – Dr Maha Iqbal (Design and evaluation of an educational instrument to promote collaborative learning competencies)

3. Primary supervisor: PhD in Medical Education – A/Prof Shahid Shamim (Development and evaluation of an Innovative learning strategy for Ethics in Medical Education)

4. Joint-primary supervisor: Professional Doctorate - Michael Wang (Prevention of burnout in postgraduate medical students)

5. Primary Supervisor: PhD in Medical Education - Farhan Vakani (Developing a Continuing Medical Education Program for Pakistan)

6. Co-supervisor: MD in Medical Education, PGIM, Sri Lanka – Dr Sisira Dharmaratne (Developing and evaluating a vignette-based educational module to improve clinical decision making of medical officers in rural primary care settings)

Supervision keywords :

medical education

learning

curriculum design

Teaching :

1. Co-convenor, Phase 2, UNSW Medicine Program

2. Scenario group facilitator - Phase 1 Medicine

3. Convenor, Executive Education program in Medical Education

Publications related to this Person

Book Chapters

Balasooriya C; Asante A; Jayasinha R; Razee H, 2014, 'Academic mobility & migration: Reflections of International Academics in Australia.', in Academic Mobility. International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 117 - 135, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3628_2014_11

Balasooriya CD, 2013, 'Why is my design not working? The role of student factors', in Evans C; Kozhevnikova M (ed.), Styles of Practice in Higher Education, Routledge

Macdougall C; Ritchie JE; Rotem A; Balasooriya CD, 2003, 'Educational Options to Develop Population Health Skills in the Primary Health Care Workforce', in Thinking Populations: Population Health and the Primary Health Care Workforce, edn. 1st, Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, Adelaide, pp. 69 - 87

Journal articles

Iqbal M; Velan GM; O'Sullivan AJ; Balasooriya C, 2018, 'Prioritising the key behaviours that enhance the quality of collaborative learning by medical students: A modified Delphi study', FOCUS ON HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION-A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, vol. 19, pp. 23 - 40, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000445088900004&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a

Ashraf M; Harrison R; Hinchcliff R; Agaliotis M; Balasooriya C; Meyer L; Heslop D, 2018, 'Optimising the use of Technology Enhanced Learning And Teaching (TELT) in Health Services Management Education', Education for Health, vol. 31

Chunming WM; Harrison R; MacIntyre R; Travaglia J; Balasooriya C, 2017, 'Burnout in medical students: A systematic review of experiences in Chinese medical schools', BMC Medical Education, vol. 17, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1064-3

Balasooriya C; Olupeliyawa A; Iqbal MP, 2016, 'Innovative Assessment That Combines Collaborative and Self-Directed Learning With Integration and Application of Knowledge: Teamwork Group Projects.', MedEdPORTAL, vol. 12, pp. 10452, http://dx.doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10452

Iqbal M; Velan GM; O'Sullivan AJ; Balasooriya C, 2016, 'Differential impact of student behaviours on group interaction and collaborative learning: Medical students' and tutors' perspectives', BMC Medical Education, vol. 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0730-1

Balasooriya C; Rhee J; Shulruf B; Canalese R; Zwar N, 2015, 'Evaluating the Guideline Enhancement Tool (GET): An innovative clinical training tool to enhance the use of hypertension guidelines in general practice', BMC Medical Education, vol. 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-014-0273-2

Olupeliyawa A; Balasooriya C, 2015, 'The impact of programmatic assessment on student learning: What can the students tell us?', Medical Education, vol. 49, pp. 453 - 456, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/medu.12730

Pervaz Iqbal M; O'Sullivan AJ; Velan GM; Balasooriya C, 2014, 'Are we seeing the full picture of peer-assessment in medical education?', Medical Teacher, vol. 36, pp. 1 - 1, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2014.940880

Olupeliyawa A; Balasooriya C; Hughes C; O'Sullivan A, 2014, 'Educational impact of an assessment of medical students' collaboration in health care teams', Medical Education, vol. 48, pp. 146 - 156, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/medu.12318

Olupeliyawa AM; O'Sullivan AJ; Hughes C; Balasooriya CD, 2014, 'The Teamwork Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (T-MEX): A workplace-based assessment focusing on collaborative competencies in health care', Academic Medicine, vol. 89, pp. 359 - 365, http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000115

Balasooriya C; Olupeliyawa A; Iqbal M; Lawley C; Cohn A; Ma D; Luu Q, 2013, 'A student-led process to enhance the learning and teaching of teamwork skills in medicine.', Education for health (Abingdon, England), vol. 26, pp. 78 - 84

Olupeliyawa A; Balasooriya CD; Hughes C; O Sullivan AJ, 2013, 'Transition to Clinical Practice as a Medical Graduate;What Collaborative Competencies and Behaviours are Critical?', Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal, vol. 14, pp. 57 - 70, http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=344097636240055;res=IELAPA

Balasooriya C; Olupeliyawa A; Pervaz Iqbal M; Lawley C; Cohn A; Ma D; Luu Q, 2013, 'A student-led process to enhance the learning and teaching of teamwork skills in medicine', Education for Health: Change in Learning and Practice, vol. 26, pp. 78 - 84, http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/1357-6283.120698

O Sullivan AJ; Harris P; Hughes CS; Toohey SM; Balasooriya CD; Velan GM; Kumar RK; McNeil HP, 2012, 'Linking assessment to undergraduate student capabilities through portfolio examination', Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 37, pp. 379 - 391, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.534766

Almeidaa PA; Teixeira-Dias JJ; Martinho M; Balasooriya CD, 2011, 'The interplay between students' perceptions of context and approaches to learning', Research Papers In Education, vol. 26, pp. 149 - 169, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2011.561975

Balasooriya CD; Tetik C; Harris P, 2011, 'Why is my design not working? The role of student factors', Research Papers In Education, vol. 26, pp. 191 - 206, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2011.561978

Balasooriya CD; Di CSK; Hawkins NJ, 2010, 'The facilitation of collaborative learning; what works?', Higher Education Management and Policy, vol. 22, pp. 1 - 14

Albergaria-Almeida P; Teixeira-Dias J; Martinho M; Balasooriya CD, 2010, 'Kolb`s learning styles and approaches to learning: The case of chemistry undergraduates with better grades', International Journal of Knowledge Society Research, vol. 1, pp. 1 - 16, http://www.igi-global.com/bookstore/article.aspx?TitleId=46643

Olupeliyawa A; Hughes CS; Balasooriya CD, 2009, 'A review of the literature on teamwork competencies in healthcare practice and training: implications for undergraduate medical education', Asian Biomedicine, vol. 3, pp. 61 - 72, http://www.md.chula.ac.th/jmet/index.html

Balasooriya CD; Toohey SM; Hughes CS, 2009, 'The cross-over phenomenon: unexpected patterns of change in students' approaches to learning', Studies in Higher Education, vol. 34, pp. 781 - 794, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070802699188

Balasooriya CD; Hughes CS; Toohey SM, 2009, 'Impact of a new integrated medicine program on students` approaches to learning', Higher Education Research and Development, vol. 28, pp. 289 - 302, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360902839891

Koritschoner EE; Balasooriya CD; Bloomfield L, 2009, 'Clinical skills centres do not have to cost an arm and a leg', Medical Teacher, vol. 31, pp. 873 - 874, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01421590903287729

Balasooriya CD; Toohey SM; Hughes CS, 2005, 'What do deep and surface approaches to learning mean for medical students and medical education?', Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal, vol. 6, pp. 29 - 42

Senanayake MP; Ranasinghe A; Balasuriya C, 1998, 'Street children--a preliminary study.', The Ceylon medical journal, vol. 43, pp. 191 - 193

Conference Papers

Pervaz Iqbal M; Balasooriya ; O'Sullivan, Anthony ; Velan, Gary M, 2018, 'The Collaborative Learning Development Exercise (CLeD-EX) tool: A Preliminary Investigation', in The Collaborative Learning Development Exercise (CLeD-EX) tool: A Preliminary Investigation, An International Association for Medical Education (AMEE), Glasgow, Scotland, presented at An International Association for Medical Education (AMEE), Glasgow, Scotland, 05 September 2018 - 09 September 2015

Lo WW; Rhee J; Challinor K; Zwar N; Balasooriya C; Damadoran A; Bhalla S; Thompson R; Vuong K, 2015, 'Don’t BLAST your medical students! Teaching clinical supervisors how to support students experiencing difficulties', in Don’t BLAST your medical students! Teaching clinical supervisors how to support students experiencing difficulties, Australasian Doctors Health Conference, Melbourne, presented at Australasian Doctors Health Conference, Melbourne, 22 October 2015 - 25 October 2015, http://www.adhc2015.org.au/Winston%20Lo%20-%20Don't%20Blast%20your%20Medical%20Students.pdf

Pervaz Iqbal M; Balasooriya C; O'Sullivan AJ; Velan GM, 2014, 'Identifying the critical and important collaborative competencies that relate to effective collaborative learning environments in medicine', in ANZAHPE 2014 CONFERENCE - CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS AND PROGRAMME. Gold Coast, Australia: ANZAHPE, ANZAHPE, Griffith University, pp. 275 - 275, presented at ANZAHPE 2014, Griffith University, 07 July 2014 - 10 July 2014, http://media.wix.com/ugd/363deb_f855cffe2d5243bb9012cf92abef7c7d.pdf

Albergaria-Almeida P; Teixeira-Dias J; Martinho M; Balasooriya CD, 2010, 'Approaches to learning and Kolb`s learning styles of undergraduates with better grades', in Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society, Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 316 - 321, presented at Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E-Learning, and Sustainability Research, Corfu, Greece, 22 September 2010 - 24 September 2010, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16318-0_35

Balasooriya CD; Tetik C; Harris PG, 2010, 'New insights into the context-dependent nature of learning', in Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the European Learning Styles Information Network, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal, pp. 50 - 58, presented at Exploring styles to enhance learning and teaching in diverse contexts, Portugal, 28 June 2010 - 30 June 2010, http://www.elsin2010.com/

Conference Posters

Torda AJ; balasooriya ; shamim , 2016, 'Ethics in Undergraduate Medical Education: a scoping review', in Ethics in Undergraduate Medical Education: a scoping review, Annual meeting of the Association for Medical Education, Barcelona, presented at Annual meeting of the Association for Medical Education, Barcelona, 27 August 2016 - 31 August 2016, https://amee.org/getattachment/Conferences/AMEE-Past-Conferences/AMEE-2016/1-AMEE-2016-Abstract-Book-FULL-BOOK-UPDATED-Online-POST-CONFERENCE.pdf

Balasooriya C; Rhee J; Olupeliyawa A; Zwar N; Shulruf B; Canalese R; Jabbour V, 2016, 'The experience of using the Scrip Concordance Test in educational research.', in Ottawa 2016/ANZAHPE 2016 Conference Abstracts, ANZAHPE - OTTAWA 2016 Joint Conference, Perth, Australia, presented at ANZAHPE - OTTAWA 2016 Joint Conference, Perth, Australia, 19 March 2016 - 23 March 2016, https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/363deb_3fc11e0e465046a0a2339f92f7a78993.pdf

Conference Presentations

Meyer L; Balasooriya C; Harrison R; Rawstorne P; Razee H, 2021, 'Piloting formative peer review of teaching: strengthening academic professional development', Brisbane, presented at HERDSA 2021 Conference, Brisbane, 30 June 2021 - 03 July 2021

Olupeliyawa A; Balasooriya CD; Hughes CS, 2010, 'Developing teamwork as an outcome in an outcome-based medical education program', in Developing teamwork as an outcome in an outcome-based medical education program, 7th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference, Singapore, presented at 7th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference, Singapore, 04 February 2010 - 08 February 2010

Olupeliyawa A; Balasooriya CD; Hughes CS, 2010, 'Teamwork competencies in healthcare for undergraduate medical education: understanding the context', in Teamwork competencies in healthcare for undergraduate medical education: understanding the context, 7th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference, Singapore, presented at 7th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference, Singapore, 04 February 2010 - 08 February 2010

Balasooriya CD; Di Corpo SK; Hawlins N, 2009, 'Facilitation of small group learning: What works?', in Facilitation of small group learning: What works?, OECD Quality of Teaching in Higher Education Conference, Istanbul, presented at OECD Quality of Teaching in Higher Education Conference, Istanbul

Conference Abstracts

Ashraf MM; Hinchcliff R; Agaliotis M; Narasimhan P; Pardosi J; Asante A; Harrison R; Heslop D; Meyer L; Balasooriya C, 2016, 'The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Health Management education: a global perspective', in The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Health Management education: a global perspective, 10th annual Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Global Health Program Workshop, Sydney, presented at 10th annual Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Global Health Program Workshop, Sydney, 28 October 2016 - 01 October 2016

School of Population Health

Associate Professor Chinthaka Balasooriya

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