Rate My Professor Heidi Welch

Heidi Welch is a Lecturer in the Curtin School of Allied Health within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, located on the Curtin Perth campus under the Office of the Provost portfolio. She holds the post-nominal M.Phty, denoting a Master of Physiotherapy. In her academic role, she serves as the Year 4 Placement Coordinator for Physiotherapy Clinics 2 (PHTY4004), supporting clinical education in physiotherapy. Her office availability is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on site, with Thursdays via email, and she can be reached at telephone 08 9266 1218.

Heidi Welch contributes to research focused on health professional education and osteoarthritis management. She is an author on the 2019 publication 'Health professionals and students encounter multi-level barriers to implementing high-value osteoarthritis care: a multi-national study,' published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. This cross-sectional study surveyed clinicians including physiotherapists, primary care nurses, general practitioners, and GP registrars, as well as final-year physiotherapy and medical students across Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The survey measured barriers aligned to implementation science domains. Her contributions included analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, critical revision for intellectual content, final approval, data analysis expertise, administrative and technical or logistic support, and collection and assembly of data. Key findings highlighted health system and patient-related factors as primary barriers for clinicians (25-42% and 20-36% applicability), and knowledge/skills gaps and patient factors for students (16-24% and 19-28%). Qualitative analysis revealed skills gaps in tailoring exercise, nutritional management, behavior change support, assessment, case complexity management, and knowledge translation. Additional barriers encompassed infrastructure limitations, patient beliefs and compliance, workforce inconsistencies, financing, and time pressures. She also contributed as university staff to the related 2019 study 'Confidence and Attitudes Toward Osteoarthritis Care Among the Current and Emerging Health Workforce: A Multinational Interprofessional Study' in ACR Open Rheumatology, examining confidence in OA care delivery.