Occupational Therapy MSc (Pre-registration)

Terri Grant

Terri has been an Occupational Therapist since 1996, practising for 14 years as a specialist Occupational Therapist in the field of Stroke Rehabilitation. In her most recent years in practice, she was incredibly proud to be involved in setting up services in Worcestershire to improve the quality of rehabilitation for people following Stroke.

She spent the majority of her clinical practice supporting and developing others, from students to colleagues to support staff, which she has found was an excellent grounding for supporting students during their Occupational Therapy education.

She joined the Occupational Therapy lecturing team full time in 2015, having fallen in love with teaching after dipping her toe in the water one day per week.

In her spare time, when not walking the dog, studying for my PhD or debating with her teenage children, she endeavours to remain healthy in both a physical and mental sense by practicing the Korean sword martial art of Haidong Gumdo. She is not happy unless she is ridiculously busy!

Anneka McGee

I have been a qualified Occupational Therapist since graduating in 2005. I initially worked within in a Physical and Mental Health rotation which gave me a great insight into the various roles of an Occupational Therapist. Following this I have spent 13 years working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. During this time, I have held both clinical and leadership roles within the team, both of which allowed me to utilise my Occupational Therapy reasoning and clinical skills. Whilst working in practice I have completed various qualifications in Play Therapy, Sensory Processing, leadership skills and Coaching and Mentoring which has enabled me to integrate my OT skills and promote the profession in many different environments and within the multidisciplinary team. I am very passionate about Occupational Therapy and the opportunities the profession has to make a difference and encourage dynamic, holistic approaches.

Alongside my professional journey I am also a Mum of two young boys who keep me busy and greatly amused. I enjoy keeping fit and being outdoors with the family and friends.

Alison Double

Alison qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1994 and has worked in all sorts of settings and roles since then; inpatient, community, schools, management and abroad.

Her clinical speciality area is the use of sensory based approaches in assessment and treatment; using Ayres Sensory Integration theory.

Emma Clayton

Emma qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1997 and since then has predominantly worked in the NHS within the area of Neurology. Emma currently works part time leading an NHS neurology Occupational Therapy outpatient service and has also over the years combined her NHS role with other part time roles including disability assessment, working in a 24 hour care private neurological rehabilitation setting and as a principal investigator for 2 research projects. Emma has been a practice educator for many years and particularly enjoys having students on placement and supporting them to link theory and practice.

Emma started as an associate lecturer with University of Worcester in 2014 and has supported a variety of modules over the years before becoming a permanent member of the team in 2022.

Emma was born, grew up and still lives in St Johns, Worcester and spends a lot of time watching her 2 sons and husband playing football.

Annabel Heaslop

Annabel qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2005 after graduating from the University of Queensland, Australia. Since then she has primarily worked in paediatric Occupational Therapy both in Australia and the UK within a range of settings including acute, community and schools. She has worked within clinical and management roles and has been significantly involved in staff development and support. She has a particular interest in working with children within early years Occupational Therapy.

Dr Sophie Knight

Sophie qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1997 and worked in a variety of settings in practice, predominantly in Adult Social Care. In 2009 Sophie made the move to working in higher education and was a lecturer and Placement Education Tutor at Bournemouth University until October 2018 when she moved to the University of Worcester. She is now a Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy and is Admissions Tutor for the degree course. Sophie is working on her PhD part time whilst working full time, the focus of the research is the role and meaning of food for older people. Sophie loves working with students and says that they have taught her a lot over her ten years of university life. Occupational Therapy is one of the most rewarding and exciting professions and being part of the journey for new generations of Occupational Therapists is a privilege.

Mary Archer

Mary has over ten years’ experience working in the NHS. She began her career working in an acute rotational post, which gave her a good foundation for her OT career.

She gained experience of working within stroke rehab, oncology, surgical and general medicine.

In 2014 Mary entered into a specialist Occupational Therapy role, providing assessment and provision of assistive technology for people with severe physical disabilities and/or communication difficulties. 

Qualifications:

First Class BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy

Dr Dez Kyte

I trained as a Physiotherapist at the University of Bradford, graduating in 1996. I went on to work in the NHS for over 10 years, rising to a position as an Extended Scope Practitioner (Trauma & Orthopaedics) at the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. I moved into academia as a Clinical Tutor at the University of Birmingham in 2007. In this role I was involved in the delivery of under- and post-graduate education within the department of nursing and physiotherapy, specialising in anatomy & physiology and musculoskeletal practice. I completed an MSc in Advancing Practice (Specialist Manipulative Physiotherapy) in 2009. In 2011, I successfully applied for a fully funded NIHR doctoral fellowship, completing the PhD alongside my physiotherapy teaching workload and graduating in 2015.

Qualifications:

• 2019 - PGCert Academic Practice, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2015 - PhD, University of Birmingham, UK
• 2009 - MSc, University of Birmingham, UK
• 1996 - BSc (Hons), Physiotherapy, University of Bradford, UK

Anna Billingham

Anna qualified as a Physiotherapist from The University of Manchester in 2005. She has predominantly worked in clinical practice in the NHS, in both inpatient and community settings. Anna is particularly interested in neurorehabilitation and the management of long-term conditions. More recently she has worked in elderly care supporting care homes to enable their residents to have a meaningful quality of life. Anna has been involved in several service development and service re-design projects. This has developed her interest in teamwork, change management and leadership, and she feels strongly about these principles being encouraged from the beginning of a healthcare professionals' career.

Anna has always enjoyed being a clinical educator for students out on placement. This has led her to make the move across to a teaching role at the University of Worcester and she feels excited to join the team in developing and inspiring the next generation of physiotherapists.