PACES Champions
Nominations can be made by anyone who is involved in PACES – although self-nominations will not be accepted. Examples of individuals who can be nominated include centre support staff, medical professionals or volunteers who do not receive direct payment for their involvement.
This year will be focused on recognising individuals who have gone 'above and beyond' in delivering PACES during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nomination form includes a section to provide examples of the nominee’s contribution. This statement, and the supporting statement provided by a senior college examiner, senior college administrator or the International Medical Director (IMD), will provide the basis for the judging panel’s decision.
College contact details
- Senior Examiner/Administrator - London: examinerservices@rcplondon.ac.uk
- Examinations Manager - Edinburgh: edinburghExaminers@rcpe.ac.uk
- Senior Examiner/Administrator - Glasgow: pacesexaminers@rcpsg.ac.uk
- IMD/Senior Administrator - International: international.examiners@mrcpuk.org
Nominations for 2021 are now closed.
PACES plaques
The inaugural plaques were awarded in 2011 to mark the ten year anniversary of PACES. The aim is to recognise those organisations who have been most involved in the exam, hosting a high number of candidates or cycles, and provide an aspirational target to new centres.
Plaques are awarded every three years and are sent with a letter of recognition to the Medical Director, CEO and Host Examiner at each centre, from the MRCP(UK) Medical Director of Assessment, Clinical Examining Board Chair, and the International Medical Director.
In order to be eligible, our UK centres must have, in the previous three years, assessed more than 90 candidates or hosted the exam for seven days or more. International centres receive a plaque if they have hosted an exam in the last three years, in recognition of their hard work and dedication.
PACES Champions Award Winners 2021
Here’s an insight into the PACES Champion Award winners for 2021
Last year’s award was focused on recognising individuals who went ‘above and beyond’ in delivering PACES during COVID-19. There were 6 winners, of these, 2 were UK based and 4 were based internationally.
- Dr Abdul-Majeed Salmasi
Dr Abdul-Majeed Salmasi received a PACES Champion award from the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians in recognition of his work as a PACES host at Central Middlesex Hospital, London, during the pandemic. He successfully nominated Pauline Laud, Lead PACES Administrator at the Central Middlesex Hospital to also receive the award.
Dr Salmasi is a Consultant Cardiologist at London Northwest Healthcare NHS Trust and the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS trust and a clinical senior lecturer for the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London.
He has been a fellow of the Royal College Physicians since 2013 and has been involved with the MRCP(UK) Part 2 clinical examination (PACES) since 2015 when he was first appointed as an examiner. Dr Salmasi regularly chairs and examines both in the UK and internationally.
- Prof. Aamir Ghafoor Khan
Prof. Aamir Ghafoor Khan MSc(G), DGM RCP & S(G), FRCP(Lond), FRCP(G)
FRCP(Ed), FRCPI(Ire), FEBG(Eu), FRSM(UK)
FACP(USA), FACG(USA), AGAF(USA)
Prof. Aamir is the President of Pakistan Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Society and one of the leading Gastroenterologist and Physicians of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After having trained in the United Kingdom for nearly 24 years, he chose to return to serve his country, Pakistan.
He established the first Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit in Lady Reading Hospital in 2011. Lady reading is one of the country's largest tertiary care hospitals, which has dealt with major terrorist attack victims including the APS School disaster.
A dedicated Hepatitis Outpatient Clinic has been established by Prof Aamir, which deals exclusively with Hepatitis and its related complications five days a week. It provides free medicine to poor patients and provides free consultation to poor patients from the neighbouring country, Afghanistan. Nearly 30,000 patients are seen yearly in the clinic.
During the pandemic in 2020, Prof Aamir has been leading from the front and was instrumental in setting up First Live Telemedical ward rounds of coronavirus ICU patients, in collaboration with USA based physicians (APPNA).
Prof Aamir has been able to start MRCP (UK) Clinical Exam (PACES) in Pakistan, which is a major achievement in postgraduate examination in the world. UK doctors are now coming to Pakistan to conduct exams, with the first exams having been administered in January 2020 in Rawalpindi.
Prof. Aamir is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and is the examiner for MRCP(UK) and FCPS exams. He is currently the International Adviser (IA) to the Royal College of Physicians of London and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Prof Aamir Ghafoor Khan has a sound academic background with presence on editorial boards and as reviewer for various journals like Arab Journal of Gastroenterology, Hepatitis Journal of Iran, and Pakistan Journal of Gastroenterology. He is a core committee member of World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) Guidelines Committee.
Prof. Aamir is a frequent speaker at various International GI & Hepatology meetings and his unit is actively engaged in clinical research in the field of Gastroenterology, with nearly 40 publications to his credit. Besides his academic & professional commitments, he is a keen squash and cricket player and a keen hunter.
- Steve Wilkinson
Steve Wilkinson was trained in Newcastle, Sunderland, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdee and became a consultant in Geriatric Medicine in 1991. Following this he worked in general geriatrics at Woodend Hospital with an interest in stroke and community, before shifting focus to stroke in 2001.
Steve was involved in medical management at both Woodend Hospital and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and started hosting MRCP clinical examinations in the late 1990s, prior to PACES, and has been involved as a trainer, examiner, host, and international examiner over the past 25 years.
In 2016, he retired from the NHS and moved to Singapore, where he was appointed Senior Consultant in Geriatric Medicine at Changi General Hospital. Here, he’s involved in medical education and training and has continued to prepare candidates for PACES and to examine in the UK and internationally.
During the pandemic, Singapore has managed to host PACES, with precautions, on five occasions. Steve and his colleagues who were previously UK based examiners, were able to support this, in the presence of travel restrictions.
- Professor Milly Mathew
- Assistant Professor of Medicine at Sri Ramachandra
- Medical College & Research Institute, Chennai, (2000 -2005)
- Professor at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Science, (2005-2019)
- Madiham Khattab, M.D., FRCP
Dr Khattab is currently a professor of internal medicine and the chairman of Afripharma, a pan- African company targeting healthcare and pharmaceutical industry development for Africa.
In 2000, Dr. Khattab became the first woman Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University as well as the chairperson of the Board of the 5,200 bed University hospital. Dr. Khattab was also the first woman director of the 1,200 bed New Kasr Alainy Teaching Hospital.
A Professor of Internal Medicine at Cairo University, Dr Khattab has been a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh since 2004 and is the first Egyptian Federation lead of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom. A health-policy expert who chaired the health committees of the National Council of Women and the Parliament, Dr Khattab delivered numerous policy papers on health development and national health insurance. She co-authored the health chapter of Egypt’s second National Communication for Climate Change (2010) and the Third African Outlook for Environmental Changes (2012). She was the initiator of liver transplantation at kasr al Aini Medical Hospital and is the Chairperson of the Liver Transplant Center. Dr Khattab is also a founding member of the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt.
She sits on and continues to sit on the boards of key health-related institutions including Arab company for pharmaceutical industries and medical appliances, National Council for Women, Al Gouna Institute of Nursing, Holding Company of Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals, SouadKafafy University Hospital, and Misr University for Science and Technology.