I grew up near Bournemouth and I wasn't very academic at school. I did a lot of dancing and I became increasingly interested in the human body and how it worked and moved. This led me to study sports science and biology at A level and I was really excited when I found out you could do a degree in anatomy, which is what I did.
I thought about doing medicine but got put off when working as an operating department practitioner. Instead, I was doing lots of teaching in the operating theatres and that’s when I thought, actually, this is what I want to do.
Prior to BSMS, I was at Southampton Medical School. My predecessor contacted me to say he was leaving and asked whether I would be interested in the role. I was immediately interested because I knew BSMS had a really good facility. I knew I'd have the freedom to do what I wanted, and I knew I would be allowed to fly, which I have been, and I would be allowed to develop my own team, which has been fantastic.
Being Head of Anatomy is a really exciting job. I feel incredibly lucky because it is a really mixed role. Some days it's spending all day in the laboratory, overseeing and choosing which donors we accept, meeting funeral directors, helping organise specimens for teaching, and overseeing the amazing work the team are doing within our Human Tissue Authority license. I teach our medical students and physician associate students, as well as higher surgical training courses and I’m an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons. I write and publish research about areas of teaching and education in anatomy and I’m a PhD. supervisor as well as the lead for the digital strategy group for the medical school.
I spend half my time as Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Innovation at the University of Sussex, which is a senior leadership strategic role. It’s all about helping the university deliver on its key strategies around improving the student experience. My focus is particularly on the digital environment and innovations in teaching.
The thing I enjoy the most about my role is definitely working with students, seeing that light bulb moment when you're teaching and they get it and they ask amazing questions. I’m also very lucky to be part of a fantastic team, we’re always there for each other and everyone wants to create the best experience for our students and care for our donors. I also love the variety in my role, no two days are ever the same.
We're currently doing some really exciting work with a particular donor. This is a relatively young donor that died from a really rare cancer, and we've been working through a series of workshops to teach allied health professionals about the journey of cancer. This is being made into a documentary that will be out in the autumn. It has involved us working with regulatory bodies, the Human Tissue Authority, both our partner institutions and the donor's family.
I'm also working on developing a new set of digital principles for the institution and leading on projects such as a new e-assessment and portfolio platform through the Digitally Enhanced Education Group which I Chair. I've just completed a research paper, exploring why donors donate their bodies to science, and this data comes from just under a thousand potential body donors because body donors are in short supply. This research will help us understand more about why people might donate their bodies and how we might be able to access potential groups to inform them more about body donation. I am also presenting at the annual Advance HE conference on a piece of collaboration work on the experience of PG Taught students during the pandemic and how we can develop a hybrid model of supervision for students going forward.
Why did I choose anatomy? Who would not love anatomy and dead bodies and wanting to understand all the intricacies of the human form? I chose anatomy because it really fitted with what I was doing and I wanted to understand my sports areas as well as my own health issues. Then when I got to study anatomy, we studied comparative anatomy, so we studied animals and humans and it was the human aspect that I found really fascinating. Most of us are not like the textbook and I still feel I'm learning, and that's a brilliant and amazing thing to still be doing. Every day is a school day.
I've never had a particular plan. I have just always been really guided by what I have enjoyed doing and where I feel I can make an impact. Any future career plans and goals will be about when something feels right, as a role changes or an opportunity presents itself. I'm very sure it's either still in anatomy, or still in higher education.
My biggest professional achievement is being awarded my National Teaching Fellowship. The second one would be being awarded my professorship because you're judged to be at a certain level. But the National Teaching Fellowship, you're awarded by a panel of your peers following an application where you've built a lot of evidence over time. So, I felt that was a big achievement, particularly because only a small number of National Teaching Fellowships are awarded each year so that was pretty special.
During the early part of my career, I was really inspired by Susan Standring, who is the author of Gray's Anatomy. She was president of the Anatomical Society and was inspirational in being a female in leadership roles. She was incredibly kind and generous with her time and was able to work through some very male-dominated spheres to achieve what she thought was right for the greater good of the discipline.
Being a female and being judged by gender and age has been a challenge that has been a constant throughout my career. That ceiling has always been there and hopefully, I have smashed it very nicely.
Personally, I’ve slipped five discs in my back. I’ve previously had really tough times with overcoming movement and doing simple things like walking. So, I have had to make sure that I continue to look after my body. I lost someone very close to me a few years ago, which was a massive challenge. But this has impacted the way I manage my work/life balance as it has made me appreciate things more. It made me realise the importance of being able to switch off and spend that time with family. I'm really fortunate to have a family that takes the absolute mickey out of me all the time. They’re incredibly supportive and help me to see the funny side of things.
To switch off, I do love swimming. Swimming is the one thing I can do with my back and it doesn’t impact it. Swimming gives me freedom of movement and freedom from pain. I can paddleboard a little and I like just floating along the river, either swimming or paddleboarding without anyone else around.
The best piece of advice I would give my younger self and other women is to be kind to yourself. Also, don't be defined by who people think you are or by any protected characteristic that you might have. It's going to be a battle, but it's always a battle worth fighting. Stay true to yourself.