Rate My Professor David Powis

David Powis is Emeritus Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Emeritus Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy with a focus on Human Physiology, and Conjoint Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Newcastle, within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. Holding a BSc and PhD from the University of London, he is a professional physiologist who has been involved in physiology education, research, and medical education since 1972. He joined the University of Newcastle's new medical school in 1978, the year the first students were admitted. Powis served as Chair of the Admissions Committee of the former Faculty of Medicine, working extensively to establish fair principles and appropriate strategies for medical student selection. Between 2002 and 2006, he was Director of the Teaching and Learning Unit of the Faculty of Health and Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning. His research includes bench work in cardiovascular physiology and neuroscience, covering topics such as intracellular Ca2+ stores, capacitative Ca2+ entry, catecholamine secretion, sodium-calcium exchange in cellular calcium homeostasis, modulation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, and effects of electromagnetic fields on neurotransmitter release from adrenal chromaffin cells.

In semi-retirement, Powis focuses on evidence-based selection procedures for medical students, collaborating with psychologists Miles Bore and Don Munro to develop and evaluate the Personal Qualities Assessment, a psychometric test battery. His publications in this domain have been instrumental in changing medical student selection processes in Australia and overseas. Key contributions include the chapter 'Assessment for Selection for the Health Care Professions and Specialty Training' (2022, with Prideaux et al.), 'Predicting Empathy in Medical Students and Doctors' (2014, with Munro and Bore), 'Personality determinants of success in medical school & beyond: Steady, sane and nice' (2008, with Munro and Bore), 'Selecting medical students' (2003, Medical Education), 'Graduate entry to medicine: widening psychological diversity' (2009, BMC Medical Education), and 'Can personal qualities of medical students predict in-course examination success and professional behaviour?' (2012, Medical Teacher). He has delivered numerous conference presentations on personality traits, resilience, self-control, moral orientation, and predictors of academic and professional outcomes in medicine.