Michelle Evans

I enjoy creating a vibrant learning environment that enables students and health & social care professionals realise the value of data and benefits the health and wellbeing of citizens

Data science is a catalyst for innovation in health and social care. The current pace of technological change has highlighted the lack of digital skills among health and social care professionals. Our aim is to reduce this skills gap by providing training to professionals, bringing about a significant positive impact in the form of better health and social care outcomes for citizens.

My role is in developing the DDI Health and Social Care (HSC) Talent programme in line with City Region Deal aspirations. This includes building data science expertise across the learning spectrum from new students to in-career professionals and lifelong learners. Our learning arc includes engagement with further education and modern apprenticeships, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral training, and vocational and continued professional development (CPD).

With more than 20 years’ experience designing, implementing and managing education initiatives, I have witnessed significant changes in the delivery of education in the health and higher education sectors. The requirement to reach a diverse range of students and hard to reach audiences on a global scale has resulted in innovations in online teaching methods and student centred approaches. Engagement with industry to develop certified and accredited training programmes, responding to market uncertainty and dealing with unforeseen global events such as the Covid-19 pandemic require an imaginative and agile approach to developing strategies for introducing new content via new methodologies to new audiences. My passion lies in facing these challenges and designing quality education and training in a variety of teaching modes that is relevant to society, diverse, inclusive and accessible to all.

Our Talent programme will meet the DDI programme’s ambitions through the delivery of bespoke training courses to develop skills in the use of data and digital technologies. This includes;  Continuing Professional Development courses, Postgraduate Professional Development courses and Masters degrees in Data Science for HSC and Epidemiology.   We will use open-source technologies to widen participation, improve accessibility and reduce learning inequalities. In alignment with the regional and national skills and COVID recovery agenda, we are committed to developing a data-literate health and social care workforce, which in turn will benefit the health and wellbeing of our citizens.