Parveen Kumar

Education

Born in Lahore, Kumar moved to the United Kingdom and studied medicine at Barts, then training as a gastroenterologist under Sir Anthony Dawson and Michael Clark.

Career

Outside of the British Medical Association and RSM, she has written Clinical Medicine, a standard medical textbook, held roles with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and the Medicines Commission United Kingdom. She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2000. After qualifying, Kumar worked at Barts, Homerton University Hospital and the Royal London Hospital as a gastroenterologist. Interested in education, Kumar became academic sub-dean at Barts, then accepting the job of Director of Post-Graduate Medical Education.

She co-founded and co-edited the textbook Clinical Medicine with Clark.

Clinical Medicine is now a standard work, and is used worldwide: the 8th edition was released in 2012. In 1999, Kumar was appointed a non-executive director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, resigning in 2002 following her appointment as Chairman of the Medicines Commission United Kingdom. In 2006 she became President of the British Medical Association, and in 2010 was appointed President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

She has also served as Vice-President of the Royal College of Physicians, and as a trustee of Barts Medical College. In 1999, she became the first recipient of the Asian Woman of the Year (Professional) award, and in 2000 was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her services to medicine.

Achievements

• She was also a recipient of the British Medical Association"s Gold Medal for "services to Medicine and Education".

Membership

Specialising in small bowel diseases, such as coeliac disease, she was an elected member of the British Society of Gastroenterology"s Council, and started the first gastroenterology Master of Science course in the United Kingdom.