DrRobin Farrell

Robin Farrell is the Director of the Veterinary Nursing Programme in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Robin completed her BSc in Animal Science at the University of Delaware and worked as a veterinary technician in the United States and Europe. She developed a passion for teaching veterinary clinical skills using models and simulation while working as a veterinary technician in the Intensive Care Unit at Texas A &M in the United States. Robin went on to attain her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts. After graduating from veterinary school and spending some time in small animal veterinary practice, Robin took a teaching position at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and was appointed Director of the clinical skills laboratory in 2009. During her time as Director of the clinical skills laboratory, Robin worked with a dedicated team of students, faculty, and staff to develop and support a clinical skills curriculum using models. The skills curriculum was expanded and formally integrated into the existing veterinary medicine program. Robin has contributed to the development of several veterinary clinical skills learning resources including models, instructional videos, task sheets, and assessment tools. In 2014 she co-chaired the International Veterinary Simulation in Teaching (InVeST) conference and continues to sit on the advisory board. Robin's research and teaching center around how best to utilize models, simulation, and assessment in competency-based veterinary and veterinary nursing curricula. She joined the faculty at UCD as Programme Director of Veterinary Nursing in 2018 where she contributes to curriculum development, enhancement, and delivery and continues her research in the area of competency-based veterinary and veterinary nursing education. Since joining UCD Robin has grown her research portfolio to include interdisciplinary health professions research in the area of professional skills.

Robin has a keen interest in working with other health professional educators to enhance curriculum delivery using innovative and inclusive educational practices. She achieved a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education and completed the Digital Badge in Universal Design for Teaching and Learning in 2021.