Mrs Kath Donohue

Associate Head of School for Student Experience and Inclusivity, Programme Lead for the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy programme and lecturer in Physiotherapy. 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 lead on the student experience agenda to ensure that all of our students have an enjoyable, inclusive and successful time at our University. I have been 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.

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.

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
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE), 2023

Clinical advisor for Wren Music project, Singing for Wellness. This project aims to establish choirs for people living with long term respiratory conditions and to add to the body of evidence that exists in supporting the physical, psychological and social benefits of singing for this population. Development of a tool kit and evaluation tools is underway to offer ongoing support for similar initiatives, nationally and globally.

Founding member of Physio Susnet, now merged with AHP Susnet, a network linked through the Centre for Sustainable Health.  Through this network, we aim to share good practice from our areas to support clinicians and educators in progressing along a sustainable healthcare provision pathway.

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.

I serve as External Examiner for the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy programme at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.

Southwest Rep of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care