I qualified as a physiotherapist in Scotland in 2003 and have spent the majority of my clinical career specialising in palliative care and care of the older person. I completed my MSc in Supportive and Palliative Care at the University of Kent in 2010, winning the prize for best dissertation. My dissertation focused on rehabilitation for people with brain tumors, and the findings were published in Palliative Medicine in 2011. Following this, I undertook an NIHR Internship and continued to work on my research portfolio alongside my clinical career.
I later moved into a new role specialising in frailty in primary care, and I completed my PG Diploma in Advanced Clinical Practice at Canterbury Christ Church University. In 2023, I took on a part-time role as Lecturer in Advanced Practice at CCCU, where I currently teach across the MSc program, particularly focusing on the Advanced Practice Skills and Clinical Reasoning module, the Non-Medical Prescribing module, and I serve as the ACP lead for the Negotiated Learning Module.
In 2023, I also completed the 12-month NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, exploring physical activity for agitation in people with dementia in care homes, with my findings published in Ageing and Mental Health in 2024. I am planning to start my PhD in the next 12 months and continue to work clinically part-time as an advanced practitioner in frailty.