Maurice Hall

After graduating from QUB with degree in Pharmacy, Maurice registered as a pharmacist before returning to complete a PhD in drug delivery using nanoparticulate systems. In 2003, he took up the post of part-time Lecturer (education) followed by a full-time position in 2004. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer (education) in 2017 and Reader (Education) in 2020. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.

Maurice has taught across the MPharm degree and has used technology to develop multiple processes and systems which are widely used in the delivery of education within the School. Since 2004 he has coordinated two core pharmacy practice modules and teaches students in all levels of the course in topics ranging from the use of Excel to the treatment of common ailments and diseases. In 2014 he became Examination Liaison Officer for the School of Pharmacy and has led the development of automated examination processes within the School, which assure the quality and transparency of examination results. He also was responsible for all aspects of examination delivery, development and reporting during the exceptional pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

Since becoming Director of Education for the BSc Pharmaceutical Sciences and BSc Pharmaceutical Biotechnology programmes in 2017, he has successfully brought three new programmes to Programme Evaluation Meetings, including the current MSc Industrial Pharmaceutics. In 2020 the two BSc programmes at China Queen’s College were added to his portfolio as Director of Education; he has subsequently restructured the final year of the degree programmes and led educational initiatives to improve assessment and teaching practices in China. He is very interested in evidence-based pedagogical approaches to improve student performance and experience and has developed new models of delivery which are currently used on the MSc Industrial Pharmaceutics programme.

He has also published pedagogical work in internationally recognised journals on various topics including: assessment and feedback, student use of social media, goal orientations, empathy, professionalism, the transition from secondary to tertiary education, blended education, resilience, and factors affecting career choice of pharmacy. He has disseminated educational initiatives via national and international conferences. He has co-authored an award-winning app (OTC Consult) which is widely used across the world to help pharmacists and counter assistants deal effectively with over-the-counter consultations.