What motivated you to become a clinician researcher?
I have been an occupational therapist (OT) for 27 years, 12 years with the rural stroke service at Port Macquarie Base Hospital. I was asked to do some lecturing at Charles Sturt University when they introduced the OT program in Port Macquarie and some of the mature aged students really inspired me. As I was finishing my PhD I had a fabulous colleague and mentor who encouraged me to apply for a position as a clinical teaching and research academic with the University of Newcastle’s Department of Rural Health.
What do you find most fulfilling about your job?
I love that I can combine my clinical role with my academic appointment. I will always be an OT no matter what other paths I take but my research role offers an alternative. In my day-to-day clinical role, I don’t get to do the public health work, which is such a big part of OT, but because of my research role I have been able to work with the Dunghutti stroke survivors’ group. This group is driving a fabulous project to increase awareness of the warning signs of stroke for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Did you always want to be an OT?
No, I grew up in a small town in central Queensland, miles from anywhere. I’d never even heard of an OT. My mother had motor neurone disease and when I was about nine, we had a lady come to the house to help with all the modifications and equipment she’d need. She provided a wheelchair so we could wheel mum outside in the sun. Such a tiny thing but it made a big difference for Mum – and I still have memories of her sitting in the sun in that chair. It was only later when I’d started uni that I realised she must have been an OT. It’s a great example of why I love what I do.
Do you have any suggestions for other rural clinicians who may be interested in research?
Do it! Part of my role is to build research capacity and I’m passionate about this. We want rural researchers – people who live here and know what it’s like. A lot of people don’t understand what research is, or can be. The research I’m doing is all about community impact and I love that I can help people who are driven to do something to improve care, to be a part of that change and see the end results.
Outside of work, what are your hobbies or interests?
I’m a mum to two teenage boys. One is a talented soccer player and the other is into robotics so I’m largely a taxi driver, but I love my couple of hours a week at the gym where I think about nothing other than the weights I’m trying to lift.
What’s an interesting or unexpected fact that others might not know about you?
I represented both Queensland and NSW in schoolgirl soccer and many of my teammates went on to play with the Matildas.
