Rate My Professor Lynne Clay

Lynne Clay, PhD, is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Rural Health within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago. She has a robust background in physiotherapy, having qualified from Manchester Royal Infirmary School of Physiotherapy (1986-1989) and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Physiotherapy at the University of Otago (2000-2001). Clay earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Otago in 2014, focusing on human factors in agricultural quad-bike incidents during her time at the Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research. Following her PhD, she undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Saskatchewan's School of Physical Therapy (2014-2015). Throughout her career, she has worked extensively in clinical physiotherapy across inpatient, outpatient, and community settings, as well as in teaching and research in both urban and rural New Zealand.

Her research interests center on rural health and healthcare delivery in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the role of rural hospitals in the health system, rural health provider perspectives on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout with a focus on Māori and Pasifika communities, and factors for stable senior rural hospital medical workforces. Earlier studies addressed chronic low back pain interventions like individualized pedometer-driven walking programs, farmers' risk perceptions and unrealistic optimism in quad-bike incidents, activity tracker accuracy influenced by gait quality in stroke survivors, and Canadian farmers' experiences with chronic low back disorders. Key publications include "What Makes for a Stable Senior Rural Hospital Medical Workforce? A Qualitative Case Study" (2025), "He Aroka Urutā. Rural health provider perspectives of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in rural Aotearoa New Zealand with a focus on Māori and Pasifika communities: a qualitative study" (2024), "A randomized controlled trial investigating effects of an individualized pedometer driven walking program on chronic low back pain" (2021), "Unrealistic optimism, fatalism, and risk-taking in New Zealand farmers’ descriptions of quad-bike incidents: a directed qualitative content analysis" (2015), and "Are agricultural quad bike loss-of-control events driven by unrealistic optimism?" (2014). Clay's work advances knowledge in rural health challenges and rehabilitation. She works remotely from rural New Zealand, supporting research through grant writing, data analysis, and dissemination, and is assistant editor of the Leaning on Fence Posts blog.