Poonyawee Jirarattanawan

Poonyawee Jirarattanawan is currently a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, where she explores educational theories and practices and advances her professional skills, particularly in health professions education. With more than seven years of experience in higher education, she is committed to creating supportive learning environments that foster both academic success and personal growth.

After beginning her academic journey in physical therapy, Poonyawee discovered her passion for teaching and pursued a Master’s degree in anatomy and a career in higher education. At Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand, she taught anatomy to students in medicine, dentistry, nursing, physical therapy, and traditional medicine, developing expertise in learner-centred teaching, course coordination, and curriculum delivery for diverse learners. In her classes, she integrated active learning strategies and self-reflection to enhance student engagement and foster learner autonomy. Alongside her teaching responsibilities, she contributed to student growth and well-being through counselling, mental health support, and soft skill development workshops.

Since 2023, Poonyawee has served as a Resilience Training Facilitator, designing and delivering interactive workshops for medical and dental students, residents, and medical educators across Thailand. She also serves as an International Wellness Leader at Queen’s University International Centre, where she facilitates wellness activities, provides peer support, and connects students to campus resources.

Drawing on her teaching experience and resilience facilitation, Poonyawee’s doctoral research examines how resilience and well-being initiatives can move beyond individual interventions to create meaningful, sustainable change within health professions education. She is particularly interested in understanding how resilience interventions can be embedded in medical education and how educational systems can be designed to support and promote well-being for everyone within them. Through her research, she aims to generate evidence that informs educational policy and practice while contributing to healthier, more compassionate learning environments for future healthcare professionals. She has also developed her research and evaluation skills through an internship in a strengths-based coaching initiative at Queen’s University’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, where she assisted with data collection and analysis, as well as document preparation.

In her role as an Educational Development Associate with the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Poonyawee brings expertise in anatomy education, student support, and facilitation of resilience training to support graduate students, Teaching Assistants, and Teaching Fellows through active listening and reliable resources. Her goal is to help these educators create learning environments that support student achievements and foster well-being for both teachers and learners.