Introducing Dr Tom Mace: our new academic director for the Parkinson’s Foundation MasterClass
News
Our recent Parkinson’s Foundation MasterClass 47 was the most highly booked course of its kind and marked a new chapter for the Academy. This MasterClass was the first under the guidance of our new academic director of the Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass, Dr Tom Mace, consultant geriatrician at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Tom’s journey with Parkinson’s Academy began as a delegate, where he graduated from both the Foundation and Advanced MasterClasses. During his time as a registrar, he developed an innovative, multidisciplinary Parkinson’s Hub as his intermodule project, designed to improve care for patients with a service flow in three parts: referral, assessment in two parts, and follow-up. His project won the class project award in 2019, and with support from the Academy, it was later published in the ACNR journal in 2020.
Reflecting on his MasterClass experience, Tom shared,
"I've loved my time as part of the MasterClass community. The foundation class was recommended to me as a junior registrar, which was pitched perfectly to give me a strong grounding for clinics. As a senior registrar, I attended the Advanced MasterClass. It was truly inspirational."
Now a consultant geriatrician, Tom Mace is the clinical lead for his unique Parkinson’s service, which supports patients living with Parkinson’s and frailty or complex symptoms. This pioneering service won the Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network Award for Innovation in Practice and Overall Excellence in 2021. He has taken on leadership roles, as previous co-chair for Yorkshire’s Parkinson’s Excellence Network Branch and is part of the steering group for multidisciplinary care at the Parkinson’s Excellence Network.
In 2022, Tom took on the role as a speaker for Parkinson's Academy and became part of the core faculty, and we’re now excited to announce that he is stepping up as the academic director of the Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass. Congratulations to Tom on this remarkable achievement!
“I'm so excited to take on this role for the Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass and a huge thanks to Peter and all the team. I remember feeling quite overwhelmed at the beginning of my Parkinson's education and the Parkinson's Academy gave me a brilliant grounding for my inpatient and outpatient work.
My ethos is simple: to make the course feel like a classroom not a conference. We want to help delegates get to grips with complex concepts and go away feeling more confident caring for people with Parkinson's.
I'm proud to work with an incredibly experienced faculty that are not only experts in Parkinson's but all have a passion for teaching too. They'll be sharing practical everyday knowledge that you definitely do not get from the textbooks! We will introduce topics with fundamental knowledge, run through scenarios and invite lots of discussion. We certainly believe there is no such thing as a stupid question at the MasterClass.”
Dr Tom Mace, academic director of the Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass
Dr Tom Mace with Dr Peter Fletcher at Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass 47 in Sheffield, September 2024
Tom will be working alongside Dr Peter Fletcher, academic director for the Advanced MasterClass.
Dr Peter Fletcher noted,
“So 7 years on from Tom Mace's first participation in a Parkinson’s MasterClass, Tom is now the Foundation MasterClass academic director. How good is that!
His achievements are well described above and below but I want to briefly focus on his educational skills. Very much in keeping with the ethos of the Parkinson’s Academy, it is these that have underpinned the fantastic evaluations Tom has received as a speaker and now as academic director.
Participants absolutely love Tom's easy conversational style. In particular his 2/3-speaker sessions work brilliantly. They're almost like a fireside chat with friends who have been there and done it, but with another 100 colleagues in the room and on-line! Making topics clear and relevant for Foundation participants is educationally complex - there can be no assumptions. To my eye Tom has absolutely cracked it.
With the Parkinson’s Academy now in its 3rd decade it is more than timely for the Foundation MasterClass to move to the next level. I have no doubt that Tom is the person with the vision to do just that. Congratulations Tom and the very best of luck to you and the brilliant team you now lead.”
Peter was one of the founding faculty members who started Parkinson's Academy back in 2002 and we would also like to take this opportunity to thank Peter for shaping the Academy and MasterClasses for the past 22 years. He has been instrumental in not only developing Parkinson’s Academy but also providing the structure that has allowed other Academies to flourish. Having coined the Academy's catchphrase 'the things you can't get from books', Peter's vision for interactive, peer-led and practically applicable education has created the template for every piece of education to come from Neurology Academy ever since.
Daiga Heisters, our head of Parkinson’s Academy says,
“We are delighted that Tom has joined the Neurology Academy family as the academic director of the Parkinson's Foundation MasterClass.
An alumni of both the Foundation and Advanced MasterClasses as well as number of years as a speaker on these under his belt, Tom brings his passion for education and his knowledge of managing Parkinson's to good use by working with the team here at the Neurology Academy and the Parkinson's professional community to further develop the learning offered to the early years Parkinson's clinicians.”
The recent Parkinson’s Foundation MasterClass 47 with Tom in his new role was a fantastic success, bringing together both in-person and virtual attendees in Sheffield. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:
“A fantastic speaker who provided a good cheat sheet, I will continue to use this thank you! Tom made complex drugs sound easy!”
“I'm really grateful for the cheat sheet. Medications now make so much more sense, and I feel like I have an idea of what I'd do in various scenarios. The use of Slido was great for those of us attending online.”
“Thank you for an amazing two days, this course has improved my practice and ensured better care for my patients.”
We’re proud to continue building a community of healthcare professionals passionate about improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s and excited for the future of the Foundation MasterClass under Tom’s leadership. Next year’s Foundation MasterClass 49 is now open for registration! To secure your place for 2025, follow the link below:
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'The things you can't get from the books'
Parkinson's Academy, our original and longest running Academy, houses 22 years of inspirational projects, resources, and evidence for improving outcomes for people with Parkinson's. Led by co-founder and educational director Dr Peter Fletcher, the Academy has a truly collegiate feel and prides itself on delivering 'the things you can't get from books' - a practical learning model which inspires all Neurology Academy courses.