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Mx Ash O'Brien

Mx Ash O'Brien (Bsc (Hons), MSc, FHEA, PGCert)

Assistant Professor in Anatomy
E: D.O'Brien@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Room 3.07c, Medical School Teaching Building, University of Sussex,Brighton, BN1 9PX

Area of expertise: Human Anatomy

Research areas: Anatomy Pedagogy, Student Experience, xR Resources

Preferred gender pronouns: She/they

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Biography

Ash was awarded an undergraduate degree in Clinical Sciences from the University of Bradford, where they began their anatomy education and teaching. They then went on to complete a master’s degree in Clinical Anatomy from Hull York Medical School, gaining research experience as well as beginning their study of comparative and evolutionary anatomy.

From their master’s, Dominic then went on to become a Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham Medical School, before moving to their lectureship at BSMS in 2021.

Research

Ash’s research interests include medical education and the use of emerging technologies within education.

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Teaching

At BSMS, Ash primarily delivers teaching to first and second-year medical students, contributing to anatomy teaching across most modules, and leads the anatomy teaching for module 202 (Neuroscience and Behaviour).

Ash also contributes to teaching on a number of external courses, including the Physician Associate Programme and Archaeology at the University of Brighton, Sports Therapy at the University of Chichester, and Cardiology at the University of Sussex.

Selected publications

O’Brien, D. (2025). Turning Up: The Effect of Mandatory and Assessed Attendance on Educational Experiences and Student Wellbeing. In: Door, R. (eds) Accessibility, Inclusivity and Diversity in Education and Beyond. Biomedical Visualization, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81795-3_1

Stone, D., Longhurst, G.J., Dulohery, K., Campbell, T., Richards, A., O’Brien, D., Franchi, T., Hall, S & Border, S. 2022. A Multicentre Analysis of Approaches to Learning and Student Experiences of Learning Anatomy Online. Medical Sciences Educator. 32(9), 1117–1130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01633-7

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