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Dr Nicole Hilburn

Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy & Research Supervisor

School of Allied and Public Health Professions

Nicole is a Senior Lecturer and Course Director for the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course.

I qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2002 from the University of Cape Town, and throughout my career, I have worked clinically and academically. I have eighteen years of experience in teaching in Physiotherapy. I took up a lecturing role at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2005, teaching on both Undergraduate and Postgraduate Physiotherapy courses, as well as teaching students from other disciplines including Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Psychology and Speech Therapy. During this time, I obtained an MSc in Paediatric Neurology as well as a PhD and have successfully supervised both MSc and PhD students to completion.

I have spent the twenty years in which I have been qualified as a Physiotherapist immersed in the
analysis of human movement in both clinical and research arenas. Every working day and
postgraduate course has given me deeper insight into normal and abnormal human movement,
from preterm general movements onwards, understanding components of movement, comparing
the clinical picture to imaging results, and looking at how movement translates into function, and
how to structure treatment in order to improve function. I have walked many journeys with patients
and families, sometimes decades long, and have a deep appreciation for what it means to live with a
long-term condition, and how this can be improved through rehabilitation. I ran my own paediatric practice for 15 years in Johannesburg. I have also worked in the NHS as a Band 8a Advanced Clinical practitioner in the field of paediatrics.

I currently hold a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Association.

I have taught for the past 18 years, at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. This has mainly been in the field of paediatrics and research modules. I have supervised both Undergraduate and Postgraduate research students to completion. I currently teach at all levels on the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course at CCCU. 

Research interests & Supervison

Do you want to do a research degree? Are you interested in Paediatrics and Rehabilitation and HIV/Aids and Prematurity or related topics? Then I would be pleased to hear from you.

The research I have spent many years doing has involved examining and understanding movement difficulties in children with Human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and I developed a screening tool based on this analysis, to detect HIV encephalopathy for my PhD. I am passionate about research, and since 2005 I have been involved in my own research, as well as supervising and assisting others in their endeavours. I have been successful in being awarded research funding on a number of occasions. I have published the results of my own research in international journals, and have presented these results at international conferences. My current research interest lies in the field of paediatric hip dysplasia.

I am an external examiner for another University's MSc Pre reg course. I belong to the WCPT paediatric special interest group and have been invited to collaborate on policy development in my areas of expertise.