Enhance your research skills. Expand your network. Advance your career.

Are you an early-career researcher in healthcare communication looking to refine your research project and connect with like-minded peers and leading experts? The rEACH Summer School 2025 offers a unique, supportive environment to help you develop your ideas, gain valuable feedback, and build lasting professional relationships.

Why Join the rEACH Summer School?

For over a decade, the rEACH Summer School has been successfully supporting junior researchers in healthcare communication. This intensive three-day program is designed to:

• Strengthen your research skills through interactive discussions and expert guidance.
• Enhance your project development with tailored feedback from senior academics and peers.
• Expand your professional network by connecting with a global community of researchers.
• Foster leadership in healthcare communication research by bridging early-career and senior experts.

Program Format and Setting

ال 2025 rEACH Summer School will be held online in mid-September, making it accessible to participants worldwide. The structure includes:

• Group discussions & one-on-one mentoring: Share your research ideas, receive in-depth feedback, and engage in collaborative learning.
• Facilitated sessions: Two senior and two junior facilitators will guide discussions, ensuring both high-quality mentorship and connection to the Early Career EACH network.
• Interactive and supportive learning environment: A combination of large-group discussions, small-group collaboration, individual work time, and personal reflection.
• Social and networking activities: Strengthen connections with fellow participants and facilitators beyond research discussions.

Facilitator Biographies

كبار الميسرين

Assoc. Prof Panayiota Andreou

Panayiota Andreou is an Associate Professor of Communication Skills at the University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus. She holds a BSc in Psychology (Honours) from Royal Holloway University, University of London (UK), an MSc in Health Psychology from the University of Bath (UK) and a PhD in Health Psychology from the University of Southampton (UK).

She is involved in developing, implementing and assessing healthcare communication skills curriculum both at undergraduate and graduate level, and coordinating teams of simulated patients and tutors in delivering learning material.

Her research interests include areas such as online teaching and assessment of clinical communication skills, cultural competence and diversity in medical education, use of AI in healthcare communication skills training, and rationing or missed care in clinical settings. Panayiota has expertise in a range of methodological tools, quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods.

ملف شخصي على الانترنت: https://www.unic.ac.cy/med/staff-members/panayiota-andreou/  

الدكتورة أنيتا ليدلو

Anita is a Reader in the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition (SMMSN), University of Aberdeen where she is Director of the Centre for Healthcare Education Research and Innovation and leads the SMMSN Higher Education Research group.

Her research spans two overlapping domains. The first investigates the wellbeing of students, healthcare professionals, and academic staff, broadly defined to include its relationship with programme retention, workforce sustainability, and career development. The second focuses on clinical communication practice and training, with particular emphasis on weight management communication and strategies to enhance clinical empathy – both in patient interactions and interprofessional contexts.

Adopting a pragmatic approach, she selects theoretical frameworks and methods suited to each research question. Her work employs a range of data collection techniques, including educational data, surveys, video analysis, focus groups, and interviews, with analysis methods spanning qualitative, quantitative, and secondary data approaches.

ملف شخصي على الانترنت: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/anita.laidlaw

الميسرين المبتدئين

 الدكتورة جوليا مينيشيتي

Julia is a Senior Researcher at the Healthcare Services Research Unit (HØKH) of Akershus University Hospital, Norway. She is an italian clinical psychologist with a BA in Neuropsychology, MSc in Clinical Psychology and a PhD in Organizational Psychology. She has been awarded the Jozien Bensing Research Award from ICCH in 2024.

Julia is interested in how medical knowledge is built and secured during medical interactions. For example, she has been studying how doctors frame and share medical information with patients , how they build patient health literacy, or how they make and discuss adherence plans with patients. Generally, she studies videos of clinical interactions and uses practice-rooted findings to co-develop training for students and doctors. 

Julia is trained as a qualitative researcher and has used a range of qualitative methods: from microanalysis of clinical interactions to in-depth interviews, focus groups and participants observations. She has also conducted several literature reviews (scoping reviews, meta analyses, scoping reviews). She loves to combine and triangulate different methods and approaches, e.g. videos of interactions with interviews and/or questionnaires and/or observations.

ملف شخصي على الانترنت: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Julia_Menichetti

الدكتورة ريبيكا جولدينج

Rebecca is a Research Associate from the Faculty for Biology, Medicine and Health, at The University of Manchester, UK. She has a BSc in Psychology, an MPhil in Community-Based Medicine and a PhD in Health Psychology.

Through her PhD, Rebecca explored how older people with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) communicate with primary care staff (including reception staff, nurses and doctors), and developed an intervention to empower older people with MLTC to improve communication and reduce risks to patient safety.

In her current project, Rebecca is investigating patients’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on outpatient clinic letters being written directly to patients with a copy sent to their primary care doctor (rather than written directly to their primary care doctor with a copy sent to the patients). She is working with patients and healthcare professionals to co-produce guidance and other resources to encourage and support writing outpatient clinic letters directly to patients in a way that is understandable and acceptable.

Rebecca is a predominantly qualitative researcher. She has experience conducting systematic reviews, meta-ethnographies, surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations and cognitive interviews; including as part of standalone, mixed and multiple methods studies.

ملف شخصي على الانترنت: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/rebecca.goulding   

Sessions will typically run from 10:00 to 16:00 CET over the three days.

Learn More

To gain insights into past experiences and the impact of the Summer School, we recommend reading:

• Fragmented world, connected community: Success factors of the first online EACH Summer School for early-career researchers” (Wieringa, Pinker et al., 2022)
• “Creating a rewarding research experience in the early-career stages: Challenges and insights from the rEACH Summer School participants” (de Lange, Kearns et al., 2024)

Limited Spots – Apply now!

Who Should Apply

We welcome applications from:

• Students planning to pursue a PhD;
• Current PhD candidates;
• Researchers who have completed their PhD within the past two years.

If you applied previously but were not selected, we warmly encourage you to apply again.

Note: EACH (International Association for Communication in Healthcare) membership is required for participation but not for applying. Learn more here: https://each.international/membership/

 How to Apply

Please submit the following materials:

• Cover Letter (max. 1 page)
  • A brief overview of your current research in healthcare communication
  • Your motivation for attending, including what you hope to gain and improve
• Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 A4 pages)
• Letter of Support from your supervisor, including confirmation of your English proficiency

Send your complete application to:
Dr Carlos Campos: c.campos@auckland.ac.nz

Deadline: 11 July 2025, midnight GMT

 Eligibility Criteria

To be considered, applicants must:

• Be actively engaged in research related to healthcare communication;
• Be at an early stage of their research career;
• Not have attended a previous rEACH Summer School.

 Selection Criteria

Applications will be assessed based on:

• Motivation and alignment with the goals of the Summer School;
• Quality and relevance of the current research;
• Strength of supervisor’s support letter;
• Career stage (priority to PhD students and recent graduates);
• Balance across disciplines, countries, institutions, and research topics.

Practical Details

💻 Format: Online
🕘 Daily Schedule: 09:00–15:00 (UK time) | 10:00–16:00 (Central European Time)
💷 Fee: £300 (excludes EACH membership)

التواريخ الرئيسية

• Applications Open: Now
• Deadline to Apply: 11 July 2025 (midnight GMT)
• Notification of Acceptance: End of July 2025

Take this opportunity to strengthen your research, build international collaborations, and contribute to the future of healthcare communication.

We look forward to receiving your application!

For any questions please email Carlos Campos: c.campos@auckland.ac.nz