DBE DSc (Keele) FRCGP FRCP M Clin Sci

She is a general practitioner and was active in patient care until she became President of the RCGP in 2000. From 1996-2004 she led the GMC President’s programme to develop and implement the assessment methods for the GMC performance procedures for the medical profession.  She was a member of the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board (PMETB) to November 2006 where she chaired the Statutory Committee on Assessment and its subcommittee on examinations in postgraduate training until January 2006. She is the principal author of the Board’s paper on principles for assessment, now a requirement for all postgraduate assessment programmes in the UK. These principles remain fundamental, following the incorporation of the PMETB into the UK GMC.

She is known internationally and nationally for her work on the assessment of competence and performance of physicians and in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Hubbard award by the US National Board of Medical Examiners for outstanding contribution to assessment of competence and performance of doctors in the international arena. Dame Lesley was elected a Board Member at large at the 2009 NBME annual meeting and now takes an active part in the work of the Board. Her term of office will end at the next annual meeting, but she will remain a member of the International Oversight Committee for another year.

International work includes an active connection with the Medical Academy of St Petersburg where she is a distinguished international professor and support for the Egyptian Board of Medical Specialities in the development of the certifying examinations for family medicine (MRCGP Int)

She was lead for curriculum development in an EU programme to improve the quality of life for people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS in Libya. The work was suspended in February 2011 but her connections within Libya are still active.

Professor Southgate led a project to introduce in-training workplace based assessment for the foundation programme for all UK trainees. This work was the basis for a national programme started in October 2005, in which 5,000 trainee doctors are presently enrolled. Other major responsibilities have included the leadership of the RCGP recertification technical group for British GPs which developed and proposed the shape and content of the recertification for all 35,000 plus UK family doctors on the GMC specialist register.

Dame Lesley was President of ASME until 2009 and was the Co-founder and inaugural Chairman of the Academy of Medical Educators established in 2007 to promote excellence in all aspects of Medical Education and Training. The Academy has elected its second President, and Dame Lesley, one of the first Honorary Fellows, remains a member of the Council. She is a Council member of the Royal Vet College with a particular remit to support clinical education. She is also a trustee of the Thalidomide Trust and plays an active part in policy making to ensure that available funds are used for the health and wellbeing of our beneficiaries.

From January 2012, Dame Lesley has been a visiting professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Rome

Currently Dame Lesley is Past President and Founder member of the European Board of Medical Assessors, (EBMA).  Dame Lesley has published widely but is most proud of a publication on professionalism, her most cited publication.