Councillor Trustee
Professor Namita Kumar is a postgraduate dean, consultant physician and rheumatologist.
After qualifying as a doctor from Liverpool University, Namita moved to the north-east of England after completing her house officer year. She completed her medical training there, becoming a consultant rheumatologist in 2006.
Namita’s involvement in medical education started in 1997 with activities including the RCP Trainees Committee, Education, Training and Standards Board, and as a written examiner for the MRCP (UK) standard setting group. In 2003 she was appointed as a board member of the Postgraduate Medical and Education Training Board (PMETB) by the secretary of state for health and asked to complete two further terms. After the merger of PMETB with the GMC in 2010, she was appointed as foundation school director for the Northern Deanery. In 2013 she was appointed to the post of postgraduate dean for Health Education North East.
She was made an honorary clinical professor by Durham University in 2014, and both Newcastle University and the University of Central Lancashire in 2017. She has been a council member of the Academy of Medical Educators since 2014, and was elected to the RCP Council in 2017.
She was elected as an RCP councillor trustee in 2019. Namita is also an assessor for the World Federation of Medical Education. She does a general rheumatology clinic every Monday morning at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust.