Queen Mary has set out in the 2030 Strategy the aim of ensuring that:
The distinctive Queen Mary Graduate Attributes are embedded in all our programmes, so that our students develop the knowledge, skills, adaptability and resilience to succeed in an ever-changing global job market and become active global citizens.
Graduate attributes are core competencies that complement the professional requirements of programmes such as those in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. These attributes help students adapt to diverse clinical and medical contexts.
The Queen Mary Graduate Attributes
The Queen Mary Graduate Attributes have been updated in summer 2024 to incorporate AI literacy. The updated attribute, ‘be AI and digitally literate’ means that all Queen Mary graduates should be supported to attain key AI literacy skills during their programme of study.
This will entail developing awareness of generative AI tools and their use to improve efficiencies, but also critical evaluation of the outputs from such tools and awareness of the threats they may pose to inclusivity, sustainability and social justice and careers.
In clinical contexts, for example, AI tools are already being used as part of medical imaging, diagnosis, patient monitoring and treatment recommendations. It is crucial that AI literacy be embedded within the medical and dental curricula so that students have an understanding of AI technologies as well as their limitations. Students should be engaged in critical debate around the ethical use of AI as well as the implications for patient care.
Closely embedded within disciplinary knowledge, graduate attributes are a set of core competencies that students should develop as an integral element of their degree. Alongside professional medical or dental skills development, graduate attributes including communicate, collaborate, be resilient and flexible are clearly crucial for clinical practice.
The development of graduate attributes forms a core underpinning for clinical skills as well as academic knowledge. In a comprehensive review of international evidence around graduate attributes in HE, Hill et al (2018) contend that ‘attributes […] are necessary to apply disciplinary knowledge to unfamiliar contexts [and] essential to support the creation of new knowledge’ (p. 156).
But graduate attributes are about much more than employability skills, extending also to inclusivity, citizenship, ethical practice and sustainability. Through aligning with the university values, the graduate attributes speak to what Queen Mary sees as its role within society and the impact that we as an institution want our graduates to make as they go out into the world. For clinical skills development this means supporting students to develop these skills in an inclusive way with an understanding of social justice, ethics and good citizenship including within the context of AI and new digital technologies.
It is useful to consider the synergies and differences between the institutional graduate attributes framework and professional or accrediting body requirements. For example, the General Medical Council’s Outcomes for Graduates defines the required outcomes (values and behaviours, skills, knowledge) for students to successfully complete a medical degree in the UK:
‘Structure of the Outcomes’ from Outcomes for Graduates (General Medical Council, 2018, p. 1)
The connections between the two frameworks are clear to see. Areas of synergy include:
GMC
Graduate Attributes
Professional and ethical responsibilities
Act honestly, fairly and ethically, including in academic conduct (Act ethically)
Leadership and team working
Participate effectively and inclusively in different roles as part of a team, including as a leader (Work in a team)
Dealing with complexity and uncertainty
Apply a resilient and flexible approach to your life (Be resilient and flexible)
Communication and interpersonal skills
Communicate effectively in a range of formats for different purposes with a diverse range of people (Communicate effectively)
However, there are also a wide range of Queen Mary Graduate Attributes that reach beyond the GMC outcomes, including:
In line with Queen Mary’s values, these are vital attributes to develop in our graduates alongside their academic knowledge and professional skills, and will help give our students the best possible grounding for whatever the future of their profession will look like.
You can view the graduate attributes on the QMA website, as well as a range of resources to support you in identifying, embedding and developing the graduate attributes within your modules and programmes. Recommended activities to develop graduate attributes as well as more guidance on curriculum mapping will also be published as part of the forthcoming Queen Mary Employability Framework.
Hill, J., Walkington, H., & France, D. (2016). Graduate attributes: implications for higher education practice and policy: Introduction. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 40(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2016.1154932
Institute of Student Employers (2023). Student recruitment survey: trends, benchmarks and insights. London: Institute of Student Employers. Available at: https://ise.org.uk/page/ISE_Recruitment_Survey_2023
General Medical Council (2018). Outcomes for Graduates. Available at: https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/outcomes-for-graduates-2020_pdf-84622587.pdf
Queen Mary University of London (2022). Queen Mary Graduate Attributes. Available at: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/queenmaryacademy/educators/resources/graduate-attributes/
Queen Mary University of London (2019). Strategy 2030. Available at: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/strategy/docs/QMUL-Strategy2030.pdf