Midland dietitian chosen as fellowship candidate

17 Oct 2022

Emily is one of four inaugural St John of God Health Care Clinical and Research Fellowship candidates who will be supported to study a Master of Philosophy, part-time, over a three-year period at the University of Notre Dame Australia, while remaining on full pay and receiving necessary leave and support to complete her studies.

Emily, who works in the Critical Care Unit at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals, hopes her research, which is focused on better understanding the nutrition requirements for patients receiving non-invasive ventilation, will help guide dietetics practice in the hospital, particularly in intensive care.

“By the time I finish my studies, I hope we have more answers to questions around how early we should be feeding patients receiving non-invasive ventilation, and if we need to establish alternatives sooner,” Emily said.

“Research on nutrition in patients receiving non-invasive ventilation is quite limited, with only about 13 studies in last 30 years worldwide.

“I’m not only looking forward to bringing my research back to my team and seeing it being used to inform quality improvement projects and so on, I’m excited to contribute to the wider pool of research at St John of God Health Care and globally.

“If my research can change the practices in my unit, even just slightly, to benefit a patient’s nutrition, I’ll be happy.”

Emily said the positive team culture in the Intensive Care Unit motivated her to apply because she knew she would get the support she needed for her studies. 

“With nutrition being recognised as an essential part of patient care in my unit, I applied for the Fellowship because I knew my contribution would be valued,” she said.

“I have a supportive manager that allows me to grow, expand and chase things like this fellowship.

“To be able to work and study part-time, but get paid my full-time salary to essentially get more skills, is awesome.

“I’ve long dreamed of doing research, but haven’t ever had the time, so I’m lucky to be given this opportunity. 

“One of my supervisors, Dr Emma Ridley, is the crème-de-la-crème of supervisors – she is a senior research fellow and very well known in the dietetics world, so I’m thrilled I’ll get the chance to learn from her.”

St John of God Health Care Group Allied Health and Rehabilitation Research Lead Dr Sangeeta Rathi congratulated Emily as one of the well-deserving candidates of the Fellowship.

“I’m really excited about Emily’s research because I can already see her research is going to help inform how we do things in our hospitals and more broadly in health care,” Sangeeta said.

“Emily’s research will help St John of God Health Care achieve its focus on clinical excellence and our strategic intent of becoming the best performing health care provider by 2025.”

St John of God Health Care Group Director Workforce Carla Bonev said the Fellowship was an example of how the organisation was investing in and supporting caregivers to advance their careers.

“The Fellowship is one of the ways we are recognising and rewarding performance excellence, supporting career development and professional growth and helping foster a positive and satisfying work culture,” Carla said.