Dr Rebecca Hansen

Rebecca completed a BSc(Hons) in Anatomical Science at the University of Bristol in 2007 before pursuing her vocational ambition to qualify in Veterinary Medicine at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in 2013. After a year working as a small-animal veterinary surgeon in a rural practice in Essex, she returned to the RVC as an Anatomy Demonstrator, having discovered that teaching was a particularly rewarding part of her experience in practice.

At the RVC, Rebecca taught and demonstrated to students from first year through to postgraduate level, with a particular focus on musculoskeletal anatomy, physiology and animal handling. She contributed to dissection, directed learning and integrated structure-and-function teaching. During her time as Anatomy Demonstrator she completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Education and later became an Assistant Lecturer in Comparative Biomedical Sciences for two further years.

Rebecca subsequently commenced an MRes/PhD studentship funded by Arthritis Research UK (now Arthritis UK). Her research focused on characterising bone marrow lesions in a mouse model of spontaneous osteoarthritis, using micro-computed tomography and histological analysis. Following a reassessment of her career goals and ethical conflicts relating to in vivo pain research, Rebecca decided to leave the PhD and take a career break to focus on her family.

Alongside her teaching and research work, Rebecca continued to practice as a small-animal GP in West Ealing between 2016 and 2023. She also held voluntary education leadership roles with the Institute of Anatomical Sciences, serving as Deputy Education Officer from 2017 to 2022 and Education Officer from 2022 to 2023. In these roles, she led educational programmes, coordinated assessments and examinations, supported work-based qualifications and helped develop resources and opportunities for students and professionals. 

This combination of clinical, educational and cross-disciplinary experience has shaped her student-centred and practice-informed approach to teaching. At the University of Surrey Rebecca's main areas of teaching are in anatomy, physiology (particularly reproductive and endocrine), clinical skills and animal handling. She leads a first year module, focusing on anatomy and physiology, and is Problem Based Learning Coordinator in the Veterinary Medicine and Science programme. She is particularly interested in helping students develop confidence in anatomical and physiological knowledge and understanding the real-world application of these to clinical practice.

Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her daughter, husband, two cats, rescue dog and eight koi carp. She also enjoys drawing, painting, theatre and opera, horse riding, cooking, foraging, spending time in nature and by the sea, and is learning to play the saxophone.