Fiona McKail on her transition from baker to occupational therapist and ARC West intern

Fiona McKail is an ARC West intern with a background in occupational therapy – and before that she was a professional baker. In this blog she reflects on her time on the internship at the Bath National Pain Centre, and what she has gained from it.

I have always loved finding things out and relished being able to apply that at university and on placements. I applied to the ARC West internship because I wanted to see more of how research related to practice and what a research career might look like. The internship also appealed because it meant I could try another area of practice I hadn’t been able to see during my studies, together with working with patients, clinicians and researchers who were working to improve interventions and services.

Aged 18, I found the transition to university study really difficult and eventually dropped out of a degree in Architecture in my third year. After spending the next 9 years working in professional kitchens and bakeries, I decided to make a career change. I volunteered on a local hospital ward and worked as a rehab support worker which helped me build confidence and gain experience in talking to people in a healthcare setting.

I started studying occupational therapy at the University of West of England (UWE) in September 2020. I was immediately interested in research and heard about the NIHR ARC West internship during my second year. I always had it in the back of mind to apply at the end of my degree.

My internship was hosted by the Bath National Pain Centre, Royal United Hospitals NHS Trust in Bath. This has meant that I’ve been able to see interdisciplinary treatments for chronic pain, from ultrasound and x-ray guided interventions to psychology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy informed group sessions, including pottery, baking, hydrotherapy, and mindful movement. I’ve been able to hear from people living with chronic pain about their experiences and how living with pain can affect so many areas of life. During my internship my supervisor Jenny Lewis, experienced clinicians and I have devised a research question around body perception disturbance in people with chronic pain after breast cancer. I have led this research project and have developed a scoping review protocol to answer the question.

Throughout the internship I’ve been able to speak to clinicians and researchers at different points in their careers. It’s been so useful to speak to people just starting out in research, all the way up to professors. It has reassured me that you don’t need to know exactly what your research interest is straight away, and that a healthcare profession and a research career can be quite flexible around each other. Occupational therapy is quite under-represented in research so meeting other occupational therapists involved in research has been incredibly useful. It’s built my confidence so that I can pursue research further than my undergraduate degree. I’ve also been able to observe other research projects, including seeing how the gait analysis lab is being used to measure the outcomes of Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) Surgery in children with cerebral palsy. As part of the research, I’ve also attended a conference showcasing some of the research that’s happening in the South West and received further training on handling quantitative research data and visualising results through infographics.

I’m due to be starting a Band 5 rotation with University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust in the autumn. I’m hoping to build on my clinical skills as well as getting involved in research at the trust. I’ll also be carrying on the scoping review into body perception disturbance in people with chronic pain after breast cancer, and will hopefully be working towards peer-reviewed publication of this project. Further in the future, I’d like to pursue a masters in research methods and would be very interested in the Research Masters Studentships NIHR INSIGHT scheme which is launching in 2024.

Application for our 2024 ARC West internships will open in the winter.