Professor Sabena Jameel-Choudhury

Sabena Jameel-Choudhury is an Affiliate Faculty Member at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. Sabena is a practising family medicine doctor (General Practitioner) working in inner city Birmingham. She obtained her primary Medical degree from the University of Nottingham (1996) where she also intercalated with a BMedSci in Immunology (1993). Sabena went on to complete GP training and continues to enjoy the longitudinal therapeutic relationships with patients and the community. This is exactly where “flourishing” needs to be evident.  In 2012 she was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners (FRCGP). Sabena currently sits on the National Royal College of General Practitioner Ethics Committee. Sabena was involved in GP speciality training as a regional Training Programme Director, then as an Associate Dean for Health Education England (2006-2019). To support her work as a medical educator Sabena obtained a Masters Degree in Medical Education from the University of Warwick (2009). 

In 2013 Sabena discovered the Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtues. After a fruitful and inspiring discussion with Professor Kristjan Kristjansson, Sabena commenced a PhD which empirically derived the dispositions of wise doctors. Her thesis was entitled “Enacted Phronesis in General Practitioners Study” and was supervised by Professor Kristjansson and Dr June Jones. Rooted in Neo-Aristotelian Virtue Ethics this work used a virtue literacy lens to identify the shortcomings of current educational and ethical frameworks that underpin the practice of Medicine. This work as been universally transformative when presented to medical and non medical audiences, resonating with many professions. Sabena’s is Principle Investigator for an international research collaborative looking at love (agape) as a foundational ethic for the practice of Medicine (Medicine’s Broken Heart 2026-2030). 

In 2020 Sabena accepted a position as Medical Professionalism Lead at the University of Birmingham Medical School. Tasked with introducing innovative professionalism education to medical students, Sabena used the opportunity to present professionalism as not simply the mandatory rules/law compliance, but an opportunity to teach character, professional virtues and an aspiration to medical wisdom. In 2025 Sabena was awarded the prestigious university-wide Joseph Chamberlain award for Educational Advancement for her Radial Holistic Professionalism conceptualisation that can be mapped to the Jubilee Centre’s character education framework. In 2025 Sabena became a tenure-track Professor of Medical Professionalism.

Sabena has delivered keynote talks nationally and internationally, she has published widely. She is founder of the Practical Wisdom Network, a founding trustee of the Della Fish Foundation and an advisor to numerous professional scrutiny and values-based organisations. Sabena has been nominated for numerous awards and decorations, but is committed to the internal motivation that evidence-based research and teaching related to character and virtues is the most meaningful and purposeful work one could pursue.