Biography

Dr Christina Liew Siaw Cheok graduated from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom with a MBChB degree in 2006 and completed her training at the National Health Service (NHS), United Kingdom. Dr Liew obtained a MSc in Medical Sciences by research (Molecular Medicine) from the International Medical University, Malaysia in 2012. Her PhD thesis with Universiti Malaya, Malaysia is in the field of medical education, focusing on the development of an entrustable professional activity (EPA) based training curriculum in virtual consultation (telemedicine) for undergraduate medical students.

Dr Liew is a medical simulationist and educator with a 15-year of teaching experience in simulation-based education to undergraduate medical students, focusing on clinical and communication skills. She has taken many appointments as the chief examiner for undergraduate medical clinical skills assessment utilising the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Dr Liew received her training in medical simulation and patient safety from the University of Galway, Ireland and received PGDip in this field in 2023. She previously served as the Academic Lead of clinical competencies for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in collaboration with Perdana University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2016-2023. She also served as the clinical coordinator of the medical simulation centre of the university, managing the operations of the simulation unit from 2021-2023. In 2022, Dr Liew was the fourth Malaysian to receive a fully funded scholarship to pursue training in health professions education from the International FAIMER Fellowship programme which is based in Philadelphia, USA since its inception in 2001.

In the delivery and assessment of simulation-based education, Dr Liew believes in the philosophy raised by experts in this field that emphasises the notion of “Not all learners learn at the same pace” and “No students should be left behind”. She is passionate about improving students’ academic progress in clinical skills acquirement and in the past has innovated remediation programmes for clinical and communication skills for medical students and has helped many struggling students to catch up academically with the rest of their peers. She is passionate about research in the areas of peer and near-peer teaching, simulated patients training, OSCE and innovations in medical education.

Research Interests

• Simulation based medical education; medical education
• OSCE
• Telemedicine
• Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphism

Selected publications

Liew SC*, Aung T. Sleep deprivation and its association with diseases- A Review.  Sleep Medicine. 2021; 77: 192- 204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.07.048.

Liew SC*. Folic acid and diseases – supplement it or not? Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira 2016; 62: 90-100.

Liew SC*, Das-Gupta E. Methylenetetrahtdrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism: Epidemiology, metabolism and the associated disease. European Journal of Medical Genetics 2015; 58:1-10.

Liew SC*, Das-Gupta E, Wong SF, Lee N, Safdar N, Jamil A. Association of methylentetraydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677 C > T gene polymorphism and homocysteine levels in psoriasis vulgaris patients from Malaysia: a case-control study. Nutrition Journal 2012; 11:1.

Liew SC*, Das-Gupta E, Chakravarthi S, Wong SF, Lee N, Safdar N, Jamil A. Differential expression of the angiogenesis growth factors in psoriasis vulgaris. BMC Research Notes 2012; 5:201.

Liew SC*, Fadil Azim D. In someone else’s shoes, are all wearers the same?: Empathy in multi-ethnic Asian medical students. Journal of Taibah University of Medical Sciences. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtumed.2021.11.007.

Liew SC*, Naik V, Fadil Azim D. Anonymous Audience Response Technology in Image-Based Quiz (IBQ) Neuropathology Lecture for Undergraduate Pre-clinical Medical Students: a Comparison with Traditional Lectures. Medical Science Educator. 2021; 31(6):1889-1894. doi: 10.1007/s40670-021-01433-5.

Liew SC*, Sidhu J, Barua A. No More live lectures – Quixotism or Realism-?  Association between learning Preferences and Attendances at live lectures. British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research 2017; 20(12): 1-10.

Liew SC*, Sidhu JK, Barua A. The relationship between learning preferences (styles and approaches) and learning outcomes among pre-clinical undergraduate medical students. BMC Medical Education 2015; 15:44.

Liew SC, Sow CF, Sidhu JK, Nadarajah VD*. The peer tutoring programme: Embracing the “Doctors- to teach” philosophy- a comparison of the effects of participation between the senior and junior peer tutors. Medical Education Online 2015; 20: 27959.

Liew SC*, Dutta S, Sidhu JK, De-Alwis R, Chen N, Sow CF, Barua A. Assessors for communication skills: SPs or healthcare professionals? Medical Teacher 2014; 36: 626-31.

Education

MB ChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery), University of Liverpool, UK, 2006

MSc (Molecular Medicine), International Medical University, Malaysia, 2012

PG Dip (Medical Simulation and Patient Safety), University of Galway, Ireland, 2023

Ph.D (Medical Education), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, 2021-present

Fellowship, International FAIMER Institute, Philadelphia, USA, 2022-present