Autobiography
About Prof. Dr. Mandira Shahi
From a nursing classroom in Nepalgunj to Nepal's Medical Education Commission — my life, in my own words, devoted to how a nation teaches its healers.
Prof. Dr. Mandira Shahi
Medical Educationist · Professor of Nursing
I am Prof. Dr. Mandira Shahi, one of Nepal's foremost medical educationists — a Professor of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, former Executive Director of the National Centre for Health Professions Education (NCHPE), and, since 2026, a member of Nepal's Medical Education Commission, nominated by the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Across a career spanning more than four decades, I have trained the teachers of an entire health system: physicians, nurses, dentists, Ayurveda practitioners and public health professionals across every province of Nepal.
My journey began in 1980 as an Assistant Instructor at the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife Campus in Nepalgunj, preparing frontline midwives for Nepal's western plains. It led through Pokhara Nursing Campus, clinical service at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, and — from 1997 — the National Centre for Health Professions Education in Maharajgunj, where I rose from Lecturer to Associate Professor, Professor and finally Executive Director. Along the way I earned a Master of Health Professions Education from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, an M.Phil, and a PhD for my pioneering work on the application of distance education in Nepal.
My name is woven into the fabric of Nepalese health professions education: sixty-one batches of the celebrated “Helping Students Learn” faculty development training; the national introduction of problem-based learning, simulation-based education and OSCE/OSPE assessment; curriculum development from certificate nursing to MD/MS and Master of Dental Surgery; and communication-skills teaching that has changed how Nepalese clinicians talk with their patients. My published research — spanning medical education, nursing curricula, distance learning and public health — appears in national and international peer-reviewed journals and has been presented in Canada, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India and Finland.
A recipient of Tribhuvan University's Dhirgha Sewa Padak for twenty-five years of continuous service, I have visited seventeen countries, speak four languages, and continue — well past formal retirement — to travel Nepal as a resource person, building the confidence and competence of the next generation of health professions educators.
Career
A Journey Through Five Decades
Scroll through the milestones — from Nepalgunj to the Medical Education Commission.
Member, Medical Education Commission of Nepal
Nominated by the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Balendra Shah
In recognition of nearly five decades of service to Nepalese health professions education, I was nominated to the national Medical Education Commission by the Prime Minister in May 2026. The Commission steers policy, quality assurance and accreditation for all medical, nursing, Ayurveda and allied health education in Nepal — placing me at the centre of the country's decisions about how its future clinicians are trained.
Professor Emerita Years — National Resource Person & Editorial Board Member
Universities, medical colleges and journals across Nepal
Retirement from Tribhuvan University in May 2020 did not slow my work. I serve on the National Editorial Board of the Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences and remain one of Nepal's most requested facilitators, leading faculty development training, OSCE/OSPE assessment workshops, communication-skills courses and curriculum development for Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Madhesh Institute of Health, Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, Janaki Medical College, Gandaki Medical College and many more.
Executive Director
National Centre for Health Professions Education (NCHPE), TU Institute of Medicine
As Executive Director of NCHPE — the national hub for training the trainers of Nepal's doctors, nurses and allied health professionals — I led faculty development policy and delivery for the whole country. Under my direction the Centre ran the flagship “Helping Students Learn” teacher training (61 batches over my career), workshops on problem-based learning, simulation-based education and clinical assessment, and study programmes for WHO fellows from abroad. I had earlier served as Acting Executive Director on multiple occasions.
Member, Academic Council
Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Jumla
Appointed to the Academic Council of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, I helped shape academic standards for one of Nepal's most remote and underserved regions — extending quality health professions education beyond the Kathmandu valley to the mountains of Karnali Province.
Professor of Nursing & Medical Education
Tribhuvan University, Institute of Medicine
Promotion to full Professor crowned three decades of teaching. I taught educational science across the spectrum — B.Sc. Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing Science, Master of Nursing, Bachelor and Master of Public Health, MBBS and MD/MS — and supervised a generation of master's research on topics from occupational health to psychosocial problems of child labourers.
Coordinator, Clinical Elective Programme for Foreign Medical & Nursing Students
TU Institute of Medicine, NCHPE
For fifteen years I welcomed international medical and nursing students to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, coordinating their clinical electives end to end. The programme earned formal appreciation from Work the World and produced published research on the elective experiences of foreign students in Nepal.
Associate Professor
Tribhuvan University, Institute of Medicine
As Associate Professor I combined classroom teaching with national curriculum work — coordinating the BNS curriculum review, developing the MHPE course at TU IOM, and facilitating revisions of MD/DM curricula in general practice, emergency medicine, dermatology and gynaecology & obstetrics.
Lecturer, National Centre for Health Professions Education
TU Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj
Joining NCHPE marked my turn from clinical nursing instructor to medical educationist. From 1997 onward I facilitated WHO-supported training courses for health profession trainers, problem-based learning implementation workshops for the MBBS programme, and curriculum development for the new Bachelor of Dental Surgery — the beginning of a lifetime shaping how Nepal teaches medicine.
Faculty & Field Coordinator, Pokhara Nursing Campus
Tribhuvan University, Institute of Medicine
In Pokhara, I taught certificate-level nursing, coordinated community field programmes and served as hostel warden, while holding elected roles as Secretary of the Nursing Association of Nepal (Pokhara) and of the Nepal Teachers' Association. My 1994 study tour on teaching primary health care in the United Kingdom broadened the international foundations of my teaching.
Assistant Instructor to Deputy Instructor
Nepalgunj A.N.M. Campus & T.U. Teaching Hospital
My career began in 1980 at the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife Campus in Nepalgunj, training the frontline midwives of Nepal's Mid- and Far-Western regions. Rising from Assistant Instructor to Deputy Instructor and Field Coordinator — with clinical service at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital — I learned health education where it matters most: in classrooms, hostels, wards and village health posts.
Education
Academic Qualifications
PhD in Education
2021“Application of Distance Education in Nepal” — Singhania University, Rajasthan, India
M.Phil in Education
2010“Distance Education: an Effective Technology for Continuous Nursing Education in the Nepalese Context” — The Global Open University, Nagaland, India
Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE)
2001Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Bachelor's Degree in Community Health Nursing
1988Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Diploma in Public Administration
1985Nepal
Proficiency Certificate in Nursing
1979Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Leadership
Service to the Profession
Committees, councils and associations I have had the privilege to steward.
Chairperson, Subject Committee of Nursing Education, Management & Research
TU Institute of Medicine — two three-year terms (2011 & 2017)
Member, Faculty Board (Bidhyaparishad)
TU Institute of Medicine — two terms (2012 & 2018)
Member Secretary, Curriculum Development & Evaluation Committee
NCHPE, TU Institute of Medicine
National Editorial Board Member
Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences (EJMS), since 2020
President, HASTI Nepal · Vice President, HASTI-AIDS
Three decades of volunteer leadership against STIs and HIV/AIDS
Treasurer, AHPEN & Executive Member, ABAN
Association of Health Professions Educationists of Nepal · Association of British Alumni in Nepal
Expertise
Training & Facilitation
The workshops and disciplines I have designed, delivered and championed across Nepal.
Global Footprint
International Engagement
Seventeen countries visited; research presented and training taken on three continents.
I gave oral and poster presentations at the 2nd International Conference on Diabetes and Diabetic Nurse Education, Montreal, Canada — earning a Certificate of Achievement for a “phenomenal and worthy” presentation on obesity among Nepalese women.
I presented a paper and poster at the 3rd SEARAME Conference of the South East Asian Regional Association for Medical Education, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
I completed the Global Health Course at the University of Tampere & Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Finland (8 ECTS) — and later facilitated the same course in Nepal three times.
I was a delegate and presenter at the SEARAME & Indian National Conference on Health Professions Education, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences, Coimbatore, India.
I presented a paper on nurses' awareness of distance education at the International Conference on Nursing (ICON), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
I served as International Master Trainer for the WHO Essential Newborn Care Course — trained in Dhaka, Bangladesh, then facilitated repeated national trainings in Kathmandu.
Curriculum Vitae
The complete academic CV — education, appointments, research, trainings, awards and professional service.