Clark, Carol

Prior to joining Bournemouth University (BU) in 2005 as a Physiotherapy lecturer I worked clinically for > 20 years in government, private, and voluntary sectors in the UK, Middle East and Africa. I gained a PhD (2012), Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2016), Head of Department (2015) and Professor (2019). My pragmatic approaches to research and education have been driven by my experiences in practice where I observed clinical needs that were not being optimally addressed. I am the Allied Health education subject lead for the UK Teaching Excellence Framework at BU, which was gold star rated (2019). I collaborate with the National Health Service (NHS) in workforce planning and recently developed a Career Framework which is linked to the emerging roles of Physiotherapists in the UK and postgraduate education (i.e. MSc Advanced Clinical Practice, First Contact Practitioner and MRes). I currently supervise six PhDs and have recently received NIHR funding to support a physiotherapist to complete a clinical academic doctorate. My research focuses on recognising, understanding and managing pain across the lifespan, including chronic pain, Joint hypermobility syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and pain during and after childbirth. This has led to more than 40 peer reviewed publications.