Professor David Gordon is President-elect of the World Federation for Medical Education, and visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen. He has been a member of the academic staff of the World Federation for Medical Education since 2007.
He is President of the Association of Medical Schools in Europe, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Manchester, formerly at Queen Mary, University of London and currently visiting professor in Chişinău, Moldova. He was dean of the medical faculty in Manchester for seven years, and chair of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools in the UK.
After qualifying from the University of Cambridge, he held research, academic and clinical appointments in Leicester, Cambridge and London, working and publishing on renal and cardiovascular physiology, pathophysiology and epidemiology. He then joined the Wellcome Trust during the period of its expansion to become the world’s largest endowed foundation, and the world’s largest non-governmental funder of biomedical research.
During his time at the Wellcome he was concerned with the formulation of policy for the funding and development of research across the entire range of basic and clinical biomedical research, with a particular interest in research training and career development of basic and clinical biomedical scientists, and fellowships and grants for this purpose.
The medical faculty in Manchester includes schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and psychology, and Professor Gordon was particularly interested in the development of appropriate academic links in research and teaching between these disciplines. He was also vice-president of the University of Manchester with a wide range of responsibilities outwith medicine, including the University’s distinguished library, museum and art gallery.
During his time as chair of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools he was particularly concerned with UK national policy for medical education and for medical schools, and the interaction of medical schools with their parent universities.
Main current activities
The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) is the umbrella organisation for the six world-wide Regional Associations for Medical, Education, and is the global organisation concerned with medical education that is in formal relationship with WHO. Professor Gordon is President-elect at WFME (his main appointment), and works closely with the current President of WFME, Stefan Lindgren.
The Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE) creates a forum for European Medical Faculties to share experiences in the fields of education, research and management. AMSE seeks to stimulate co-operation between Medical Schools in Europe and to initiate and sustain relations with other professional, governmental and non-governmental organisations in education, research and health care. It is an Association that is growing steadily, working mainly through an Annual Conference, held in Barcelona in 2008, Zagreb in 2009, in Berlin in 2010, and in Ljubljana in 2011, and to be held in Berlin in 2014. Professor Gordon has been President of AMSE since 2004 and steps down in January 2014.
Professor Gordon also undertakes extensive lecturing, consultancy, and similar activities. In recent years he has given, each year, more than 20 invited lectures and seminars, on subjects in medical education.