My Masters Journey

Vicky Bassett, Deputy Lead Physio.

For the last 2.5 years I have been working towards a Masters degree in Clinical
Research with the University of Brighton. The course is aimed at facilitating the
skills for clinicians to explore opportunities to conduct research. About 4 years
ago I completed a course of study, supported by the Samson Centre and the MS
Trust, to learn more about living with MS. From this stemmed my interest in
exploring opportunities for people living with more advanced disability to be able
to engage in physical activity. My first project was the seated HIIT (High
intensity, interval training) class, initially run face to face at the Centre and then
transferred very successfully to Zoom over the last 2 years. I was interested to
understand more, and so my Masters journey began and evolved into a study
exploring the lived experience of physical exertion for persons living with
advanced MS. My aim was to understand physical exertion from the perspective
of those experiencing it.

I didn’t set out to find theory or fact but the study has enabled me to see a
different perspective. It has been a thought provoking, soul searching, heavy
thinking 2 years, compounded by social restrictions of Covid and home
schooling. The research process has made me reflect on, and change elements
of my own practice as a physiotherapist and I hope that sharing my findings with
other health care professionals will illuminate an alternative perspective towards
physical exertion that they may not have previously considered. I have handed
in my thesis (20,000 words of it) and my final challenge is my oral exam in the
next couple of months. I presented my research via a poster at the recent MS
Trust Conference and hope in the future to have it published. I would like to
share my enormous gratitude to all that have helped me during my research
journey, I’ll keep you posted with how I get on!