Mrs Kath Donohue

Biography

Lecturer in Physiotherapy and Programme Lead for the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy programme. I have collaborated in the successful re-validation of the BSc programme and the successful development and approval of the Integrated Masters programme (MPhysio (Hons) Physiotherapy). I am responsible for day to day running and delivery of the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy programme, through programme leadership, module leadership and staff development. I therefore ensure that the delivery is undertaken in accordance with the professional requirements of our regulatory body, the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and our professional body, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), alongside the quality assurance and regulatory requirements of the University of Plymouth (UoP).

I work alongside a dedicated and highly professional teaching team, to provide excellent, research informed teaching. We utilize both academic and practical assessments, as well as constructive feedback throughout their academic life, to help our students develop into high quality, autonomous, reflective and resilient graduates as they move into the clinical world.

Additional responsibilities lie within the post-graduate (PG) offer of the UoP. I teach, supervise and assess across a number of PG modules.

I also offer pastoral support to students across both UG and PG programmes.

Qualifications

MSc in Applied Professional Practice (Generic).

Graduate Diploma in Physiotherapy.

Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (MCSP).

I graduated from the Queen Elizabeth School of Physiotherapy, Birmingham, in 1991 and undertook my core Band 5 rotations at Salisbury District General. I extended my rotation on the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Injuries Unit and through this gained a Band 6 role at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. I was lucky enough to be awarded a sabbatical and spent a year in India, through VSO, working for a non-government organisation (Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre (SMRC)) offering care and rehab to patients with SCI along with education to health care professionals in this organisation. On my return to Stanmore, I progressed to a Band 7 role and developed my interest in ventilator dependency in patients with high level spinal cord injury (SCI).

A move North enabled me to utilise my respiratory knowledge and experience in Ashgate Hospice, developing services for breathlessness and lymphoedema management in all life-limiting diseases.

On my return to my native South West I undertook a clinical specialist role with the Plymouth Adult Cystic Fibrosis Service and Outpatient Respiratory Service, before moving more formally across into academia at the UoP.

Professional membership

Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (MCSP), 1991

Registered Physiotherapist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), 1991

Member of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Cystic Fibrosis (ACPCF)

Member of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care (ACPRC) and South West Rep

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. (HEA), 2015

Teaching

Teaching interests

Cardio-respiratory Physiotherapy

Module teacher and module leader on a number of cardio-respiratory modules, both undergraduate and post-graduate. My special interests lie within Cystic Fibrosis and long-term respiratory conditions.

I supervise student research projects at both UG and PG levels.

Research

Research interests

MSc dissertation: Factors influencing engagement with web-based self-management strategies in patients with Cystic Fibrosis: a Systematic Review.

Trained and inputted as an interventionist in a UK multi-centre RCT studying the efficacy of a web-based training programme in enhancing adherence to nebulised treatments in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis.

Respiratory physiotherapy input into a study investigating evidence based practice and a novel home or community based complex intervention for children with Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT).

Research degrees awarded to supervised students

UG projects:

The impact of thoracic kyphosis on lung function in patients with Parkinson's Disease
Exercise prescription and the transition process in UK Cystic Fibrosis services

Publications

Presentations and posters

Poster presentation of "Factors influencing engagement with web-based self-management strategies in patients with Cystic Fibrosis: a Systematic Review" at the European Cystic Fibrosis Society Conference, June 2019.

Personal

Reports & invited lectures

Southwest Rep of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care

Profiles

Lecturer in Physiotherapy (Education)

School of Health Professions (Faculty of Health)