Dr Andrew Hitchings is a Reader in Clinical Pharmacology at St George’s, University of London, and a Consultant in Neurointensive Care at St George’s Hospital. In his educational practice, he draws on his experience of clinical practice and national guidelines production to equip students to deal with the complexities, uncertainties and practical demands of real-world healthcare. Clinically, he practices as a Consultant in Neurointensive Care, caring for critically-ill patients with severe brain injuries, neurological diseases and other critical illnesses. As a Clinical Pharmacologist, he contributes to population-level decisions on the use of medicines as Chair of the South West London Joint Formulary Committee and a member of technology appraisal and clinical guidelines committees for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Dr Hitchings graduated in Medicine at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine in 2004, with distinctions in medicine, surgery and clinical pharmacology, and a first-class honours degree in Experimental Pathology. He was awarded his PhD from St George’s, University of London in 2015, having completed a multicentre, investigator-led clinical trial in acutely-ill patients with exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, jointly funded by the Medical Research Council and British Lung Foundation. He is now a Reader in Clinical Pharmacology and Chief Examiner for Medical Finals, and leads clinical pharmacology and prescribing teaching for the St George’s Medicine (MBBS) programme. He is a member of the assessment and executive boards for the UK Prescribing Safety Assessment; a question writer and group chair for the MRCP(UK) written examinations; and a member of the editorial board for the international CPD journal Medicine. He has co-authored three textbooks of clinical pharmacology, including The Top 100 Drugs, which is now in its third edition, available in three languages, and a consistent best-seller in medical and pharmacology textbook charts. He is a member of a NICE technology appraisal committee and a clinical guideline committee, and chairs the South West London Joint Formulary Committee. Clinically, he practices as a Consultant in Neurointensive Care at St George's Hospital, a busy regional unit caring for critically-ill patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury and neurological diseases, and patients recovering from neurosurgery.
In 2022, Dr Hitchings was awarded a prestigious and highly-competitive National Teaching Fellowship by AdvanceHE (formerly the Higher Education Academy), following nomination by St George’s, University of London. He has also received an Education Excellence Award for assessment innovation and enhancement at St George's (2020) and the Rang Prize for exceptional contribution to the teaching of clinical pharmacology from the British Pharmacological Society (2014). He is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS), the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FFICM), the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE, FHEA) and the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP).
Dr Hitchings draws on experiences from clinical practice and guideline production to maximise the authenticity of the learning and assessment provisions for students. He seeks to equip them to deal with the complexities, uncertainties and practical demands of real-world healthcare when they emerge as newly-qualified doctors and pharmacists.
His main educational roles are in the Centres for Clinical Education and Clinical Pharmacology at St George's, University of London, where he is Chief Examiner for Medical Finals and Sub-theme Lead for Clinical Pharmacology in the MBBS Medicine degree. He also contributes to the St George’s/Kingston University Pharmacy programme, embedding practical prescribing into teaching, and advising on assessment and professionalism issues. He holds several external roles in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, notably including with the UK Prescribing Safety Assessment. He is co-author of successful textbooks that model his pedagogical approach, including ‘The Top 100 Drugs’, which has also been translated into Portuguese and German.