Professor Andrew Elder
BSc MBChB FRCP FRCPEd FRCPSG
Andrew Elder is a Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine for Older People in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK and an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, where he himself graduated as BSc in 1979 and MBChB in 1982.
He has held a number of positions relating to undergraduate and postgraduate medical teaching and assessment at local and national levels, and is currently Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Assessment Committee (AAC) and the Medical Director of MRCP (UK).
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges coordinates the work of all Colleges and Faculties in the UK and therefore represents the full spectrum of medical specialties. Its assessment committee is responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of assessment programs for all UK doctors in training.
MRCP (UK) provides examinations in internal medicine and its specialties to around 25,000 candidates per annum globally and the Medical Director is responsible for the development and delivery of 15 different examinations around the world. Prior to his appointment as Medical Director, he was Chair of the MRCP (UK) Clinical Examining Board from 2008-2013, and responsible for the PACES examination - the largest international postgraduate clinical skills assessment in the world - and he has personally taught or assessed bedside clinical skills in around 20 different countries.
Professor Elder has published widely on aspects of cardiovascular disease in older people and medical education and has a particular interest in bedside clinical skills in modern medical environments. He has lectured internationally on topics relating to medical education, the care of older people and bedside clinical skills.
Internationally, aside from his MRCP (UK) related responsibilities, he is a Visiting Professor at Stanford University in California, USA, where he works with Professor Abraham Verghese in the pioneering “Stanford 25” Program in Bedside Medicine, which seeks to improve the bedside clinical skills of physicians in training in the USA.
