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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

PST spotlight:
Joanna Harrison

BSMS > About BSMS > Working here > Inclusivity > PST spotlights > Staff spotlight: Joanna Harrison

Staff spotlight: Joanna Harrison

A head and shoulders image of Joanna Harrison

Name: Joanna Harrison
Job title: Clinical Assessment Manager 
Department: Professional Services
Year started at BSMS: 2019

Tell us a bit about your background

I first moved to Brighton for university in 2011. After graduating I started my career in events. I managed international investment conferences in the renewables sector. My role allowed me to travel the world and connect start-ups in agriculture, food and water-tech with investors and large corporations. I joined BSMS in 2019 as the Assessment Team Manager to support the delivery of OSCEs to BMBS and PA students. In 2024, I became the Clinical Assessment Manager. 

What’s your role like day-to-day?

My role gives me the opportunity to collaborate with a lot of great colleagues. The focus of my role is to ensure we are delivering robust and fair assessments to students. Delivering these large in-person exams takes a considerable amount of negotiation, forward planning and organisation. I’m fortunate to work with a great team of coordinators who love to write lists as much as I do.  

What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?

I really enjoy processing exam results and data – I’m a sucker for statistics and excel!

Who are some of your biggest inspirations within your personal or professional life?

My parents are a huge inspiration to me. In the 80s, they moved to the UK from Sri Lanka to escape the civil war. They used to be university lecturers but found that their qualifications didn’t hold the same weight in the UK. They worked incredibly hard to build a new life in an unknown country, having experienced so much trauma in their childhoods and early 20s. I’m inspired by their determination and bravery. 

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know about you.

I have, twice, found myself in a crowd of riot police in Hong Kong and Paris. To clarify, I wasn’t rioting but simply a case of really wrong place at the wrong time!

What are your other interests / hobbies? 

I don’t have too much time for my own hobbies as I’m a mum to two little boys (aged three and one years old) so I spend a lot of my time hanging out at various soft plays, farms and parks (I secretly really enjoy all of these activities myself!)