Views from campus... Craig Betton

Published on: 17/04/2026

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Fusehill Street
By Joanne Lusher
A head and shoulders selfie image of a man wearing a yellow waterproof jacket standing with a mountain landscape behind him

Craig Betton, Subject Lead Clinical Skills and Simulation Pears Cumbria School of Medicine

Craig has worked for Pears Cumbria School of Medicine (PCSM) for the last two years.  Prior to that he has worked on and off for the University of Cumbria since 2008 at the Carlisle Fusehill Street campus across both pre and post registration programmes in nursing and paramedic science. Craig is dual qualified as both a paramedic and a registered adult nurse and has worked in a number of prehospital and critical care posts including intensive care, theatres, ambulance service and Cumbria Constabulary.  

Craig lives in Carlisle with his husband, and they have been together for 23 years. 

Where did it all start?  

My career began in nursing with a Dip HE Adult Nursing Studies. My first post as a qualified nurse was on intensive care but I had always wanted to train as a paramedic so in 1999 I left nursing and joined the ambulance service.  Over the years I have worked in posts spanning both professions. 

How did you get to your current position? 

I began working for PCSM as a curriculum development fellow on secondment from the University of Cumbria before applying for a permanent post with Imperial College London, working for the new medical school in Cumbria. 

What do you love about your subject?  

I love how applied and relevant my subject area is to the role which it is preparing students for.  It deals with the real, applied, hands-on clinical skills the students will need to work as a doctor. 

What was your lightbulb moment when you knew you wanted to teach others? 

Teaching is something I have enjoyed from the outset.  Had I not gone into healthcare I would most likely have gone into education.  Even as a student nurse I used to enjoy doing teaching sessions of the things I had been learning on my course to the members of the St John Ambulance Brigade where I was a voluntary member. 

What is your favourite part of campus? 

I love the skills lab in Calva building.  This space was created for the new medical school and it is a lovely room to work in.  It's so adaptable and I was able to have some input into it at design stage, so it makes me very proud. 

What is the biggest change you have seen since you started working at the university? 

Unfortunately, the biggest change I have seen has been the decline in student numbers on healthcare courses and with that the decline in staffing. So many wonderful colleagues have now left the organisation and it is a real shame. 

If a graduate walked into your lecture theatre today, what’s one new thing they would be surprised to learn about? 

I think the biggest surprise would be the sheer range and depth of information needed to graduate as a doctor. 

What’s your proudest achievement in your role? 

The course I am teaching on is still so new having received its first cohort in August.  Everything is being done for the first time, so I guess my proudest achievement is being part of a team who have taken something which didn’t even exist and creating from scratch a functioning medical school. 

What is your course area currently working on? 

Supporting our first group of graduate-entry students through their four-year programme 

What are you currently obsessed with?  

I am currently obsessed with watching reruns of Happy Valley, it’s my ironing telly and every time I watch all three series I simply go back to the start and watch it again!!  Also love the Traitors when it's on! 

What’s your idea of a great weekend? 

Love going for a walk in the lakes with my hubby, it’s my happy place! 

Give us your Cumbria top tips... 

Get into the Lakes, anywhere in the Lakes, it's food for the soul. 

 

Enjoyed reading about Craig? Want to hear from YOUR lecturer next, drop us a suggestion... alumni@cumbria.ac.uk