Biography
Dr Darnton is an academic GP specialising in medical education. After MRCGP he undertook further academic training at the universities of Leeds and Sheffield as well as teaching for these medical schools. He was the Yorkshire Deanery lead for the RCGP curriculum and worked for the East of England GP School as their consultation skills lead. Dr Darnton has also worked as an Associate Dean for Health Education England.
Research
Dr Darnton undertakes research and evaluation related to medical education using quantitative and qualitative methods. His field of interest includes teaching and learning medicine in primary care, the consultation and remote consulting, development of adult learning skills in medical education, problem based learning, medical workforce planning and the commissioning, funding & quality assurance of medical education.
Publications
Full list of publications is available here.
Teaching and Supervisions
As director of the GP Education Group (GPEG) Dr Darnton is responsible for the entire GP component of the Cambridge MB BChir programme, which has an annual intake of over 300 students per year. The GP component comprises around a fifth of clinical placements within the Cambridge medical course (see our video about GP placements). He leads a team of doctors and administrators to deliver the curriculum through in-house seminars and through a large network of GP practices who are recruited, supported, quality assured and financed by GPEG.
Since starting in post in 2017, Dr Darnton has overseen a major increase in GPEG’s teaching and placement activity. He has also piloted horizontally integrated teaching for first and second year students, championed the medical humanities, drafted national funding guidance, and initiated a programme of multi-centre education research – work which is already transforming practice and influencing policy. He represents Cambridge on the Medical Schools Council’s virtual and remote clinical education working group, advises nationally on undergraduate primary care quality & finance, and is also an advisor to UK and overseas medical schools on curriculum and assessment. He is senior examiner for the University of Cambridge Master’s degree in Medical Education.
