Dr Michael
Ambassador
- Hourly rate £75
- Response Time 5h
- Number of students 50+
Book a class
Tutoring in Medicine/Biomedical science/UCAS applications/SJT exam prep/Thesis writing (GCSE to undergraduate level)
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- London
- at their home
- at your home
- By webcam
Ambassador
We host the best tutors. Quality of their profile, experience in their field. Dr Michael will be happy to arrange your first Medicine lesson.
About the lesson
Hi there, my name is Dr Michael Grant and I'm a medical doctor who has completed the highly competitive NHS Academic Foundation Program in London in 2019. Following further clinical academic positions, I am now the Associate Medical Director of Achilles Therapeutics (a phase I biotech spun out from CRUK and the Crick, developing novel cell therapies for cancer) but still work part-time as clinical research fellow in oncology at St Bart's and The Royal Free hospitals.
Alongside my medical degree (MB BCh BAO) I also hold a Bachelors of Science (First class honours) in Molecular Medicine. I have also recently received a distinction in my PGCert in Teaching in Higher Education alongside fellow status at the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Later this year I am due to start a Masters in Experimental Therapeutics at Oxford University.
I have an interest in tutoring those from GCSE to undergraduate level in biology, biomedical science, physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, biostatistics and medicine. I am passionate about these subjects and have multiple degrees that have required me to understand the theory and practical aspects surrounding them.
I am also happy to help those preparing to apply to medical school or to the NHS foundation program (SJT and AFP interviews), and those currently writing their thesis.
subjects
- Medicine
- Health and social care
languages
- English
levels
- Primary
- Secondary
- GCSE
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+3
AS Level
A Level
Undergraduate
About Dr Michael
Through my 6 years of university studies and multiple national summer studentships in world-class laboratories around the UK, I have had considerable experience teaching younger students and developing teaching materials that have been endorsed by Russell Group universities.
I currently lead a student-selected module for final year medical students at Bart's and the London and am a Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Bart's Cancer Institute. I have recently completed a PGCert (with distinction) in Learning and Teaching for Higher Education at Queen Mary University of London. This qualification comes with Fellowship status of the Higher Education Academy.
I usually like to teach using a combination of powerpoint presentations, detailed notes and one-to-one tutorials. However, everyone learns differently and I'm happy to adapt to any tutee's needs.
Review
All of our reviews are collected by us and are 100% reliable. They correspond to a real experience lived by the students of Dr Michael.
4.9 (10 reviews)
Perfect! Great help! excellent at explaining comments i was unsure about. Thanks again
Dr Michael's response
- Dr Michael's response : Suzan had a very defined idea of what she wanted from the sessions. She was prompt in responding and was keen to explore the subject matter.
Perfect! Fantastic teaching skills very likeable and clever
Dr Michael's response
- Dr Michael's response : Annie has very realistic goals that she wants to achieve from her lessons and is keen to engage. She shows initiative and is keen to prepare coursework/dissertation well in advance. This proactive mentality will serve her well in future study/employment.
Aleixo
Excellent! Dr Michael is an excellent tutor and he is able to help in a postgraduate level. He identified and clarified some problems that I was having with my biostatistics assignment. Thanks.
Aleixo
Dr Michael's response
- Dr Michael's response : Aleixo knew what he wanted to achieve with his session and was great to work with!
Alexandra
Perfect! Michael helped me prepare for my physiology exam. He has a great knowledge about the subject and makes difficult concepts easy to understand. He's organised, patient and very friendly. Overall I think he's an excellent tutor can't recommend him enough! Thank you Dr. Michael! :)
Alexandra
Perfect! Michael was an excellent teacher, taking the time to clearly explain each problem we went through and laying out a strategy so I could continue learning in my own time. He came very well prepared and I highly recommend him as a teacher.
Perfect! Michael is really enthusiastic and great at making concepts easier to understand. He has an excellent
knowledge of everything he is teaching and makes the lessons enjoyable too. Thanks for your help!Dr Michael's response
- Dr Michael's response : Blathnaid is keen to learn and an enthusiastic student. I've enjoyed our sessions so far and look forward to future session and securing her the mark she deserves in her coming exam.
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Recommendations
Recommendations come from relatives, friends and acquaintances of the teacher
4
Doctor Michael was very helpful for preparing for exams
I have worked alongside Michael as a junior doctor. He is very diligent, knowledgeable and very involved with the teaching of more junior medical peers and medical students. I thoroughly recommend him!
Michael has been a great help with my coursework and exam prep. He's always happy to help and is easy to get in contact with over skype or help with work remotely over email. I really appreciate the notes and feedback he gives. Thanks again, Dr Michael.
Dr Michael has been a big help with my SJT revision and preparation for my medical finals. He is a easy-to-talk to and has an amazing baseline of knowledge. I would 100% recommend!
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Rates
packages
- 5h: £375
- 10h: £750
Travel
- + ££10
webcam
- £75/h
Find out more about Dr Michael
01
When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?
Despite my parents' quiet assumptions that I would go into the video game development field, I had always been interested in the sciences. I enjoyed learning about scientific principles in general, but was particularly interested in biology as the macroscopic manifestation of the physics and chemistry that underlies all things. I was always fascinated about the inner workings of the body and how much there was left unknown - even in regard to some very fundamental processes. At medical school I continued to lean towards the basic science aspects of the course and completed quite a lot of laboratory benchwork throughout my studies. It wasn't until I had written up my notes in digital format in my final years - and found them subsequently going viral (albeit within the niche of UK medical students) - that I found I enjoyed breaking down complex topics into more straightforward analogies. Following this, I got more and more involved with peer-to-peer teaching and later went on to complete a PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.
02
Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).
I teach a broad range of topics, as medicine and biomedical science encompasses a broad selection of subjects, ranging from communications skills to molecular interactions. In my medical career, I am hoping to specialise in Pharmaceutical Medicine; This is a speciality focused on how drugs interact with the body and testing new medical products in clinical trials. Unsurprisingly, the topics I most enjoy teaching are related to this: pharmacology, pathology, physiology. All the big P's. Topics that I'm not as keen on (however, still happy to advise on) are the more subjective ends of medicine, e.g. communication skills. Communication skills are extremely important for all students, however - for medical students in particular - I believe it is so important to interact with patients/colleagues and find your own style of communication. It's important not to feel like you're doing an impersonation of what you think is the 'correct' manner of communicating, as this is unique to everyone. It's a cliché for a reason: "just be yourself".
03
Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?
Not to name any names and cause embarrassment, but there was one particular lecturer that I had at medical school who I found to have a very easy-going and effective teaching style. It's only multiple universities, degrees and academic positions later that I can truly appreciate what an impact this particular tutor's style had on me and my interests. If I can have half of that kind of an impact on one student, I'll consider my tutoring career as success.
04
What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?
Patience, patience, patience. Everyone learns in different ways and at different rates. It is the job of a good tutor to dwell in the academic darkness (internally screaming the answer within one's head) for as long as it takes for a student to have that 'light-bulb' moment. Not making things too easy, avoiding spoon-feeding and facilitating rather than lecturing are the things I believe are most important. Rote learning might get you through the exam but only true understanding of a topic will allow you to retain knowledge in the longterm and apply it to the future challenges you encounter.
05
Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.
Good learning opportunities can come out of the most unexpected of situations. I recall at medical school, after a very long day of placement on the wards, being approached by one of the junior doctors who was very keen to teach us on a subject that he was currently doing some research on. The time he arranged for a few peers and myself to come to this session was 6:30pm. I was hungry and tired (a dangerous combination), but - somewhat begrudgingly - attended the session. To my surprise, he had put a lot of effort into the session: interactive portions, before-and-after questions to ensure active learning, additional reading for those interested. These were all techniques that I would go on to learn about in my PGCert years later, but to experience them as a jaded medical student and be reinvigorated by them is a memory I always reflect on prior to a teaching session. Would these materials engage my hungry, tired and grumpy past self? If not… I should probably revise my teaching plan.
06
What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?
Maintaining a productive environment when studying or working on a project is a challenge that never fully goes away. Especially in today's world of near-infinite streaming services, social media and video games, focusing for long periods and meeting deadlines can be difficult. Achieving this is different for everyone and may even change for an individual over time. I've found varying my environment, topic or modality of learning (e.g. note-taking, practice questions) every so often can keep me engaged for longer. Thankfully, with a subject like biology or medicine, there are a multitude of diverse topics to learn; As they say, "variety is the spice of life".
07
Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?
Translational medicine is definitely where my passion lies. I think there's something incredibly exciting about bringing a concept to life and seeing it end up in the clinic for the benefit of patients. I like diversity in my job and translational medicine requires the interaction of people from all walks of life, with different skill sets; Be they doctors, nurses, patients, scientists, technicians, logistic specialists, or investors, everyone has something different to contribute and a unique point of view that you can learn from and use to see something in a different light. Operating at the limit of human knowledge and exploring the unknown of biology and medicine is something I can't imagine ever being bored by. I think this genuine enthusiasm for my own learning is why I enjoy facilitating it in others. Moreover, teaching is a mutually beneficial process; Things that you once knew like the back of your hand (the anatomy of the hand being an ironically good example), fade over time. Teaching someone who may have never learned about a given topic before, can also act as revision for yourself and a good excuse to blow the cobwebs off recesses of your mind that you may not have visited in a while.
08
What makes you a Superprof (besides answering this interview questions :-P)?
I don't know if I can call myself a true Superprof just yet, but maybe I can speak as an aspirational Superprof or a Superprof-in-training? I would like to think that one of the things that students most appreciate about my teaching style is the use of everyday analogies to demystify complex concepts. Rather than trying to tackle a difficult concept as a whole in its abstract, scientific form, relate it to something everyday that you already understand. Understanding pulmonary pressures is difficult to imagine, but have you used a bicycle pump before? Ventricular ejection might not be something you've thought about before, but I bet you've used a water pistol when you were young!
