Dr Richard Darnton
Director of Studies in General Practice, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge
Richard is a clinical leader and academic GP. He is head of undergraduate general practice at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this he was an Associate Dean at Health Education England, overseeing GP training in Bedfordshire. He has also been an appraisal lead, and pioneered workforce initiatives to attract future GP leaders to under-doctored areas. Richard’s current role requires a deep understanding of the rich variety of GP practice environments and their potential for learning and development. At Cambridge, he has led a major expansion in primary care placements, requiring a whole new set of arrangements for working at scale. Nationally, he has been instrumental in designing the new funding arrangements for undergraduate primary care placements in England. Within this space, Richard’s research has helped answer some of the questions that educators and workforce planners are asking. It has also changed teaching practice nationally.