Our doctoral (PhD) community within the the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at SHU are our engine room – rush the boundaries of our (and the disciplines) research and innovation across a broad array of fields. In this blog we hear from one of our existing PhD students; Thomas Mitchell on their journey thus far.

I’m Thomas Mitchell and am two-and-a-bit-years into my PhD programme delving into the fascinating world of wrist pain, more specifically, non-traumatic wrist disorders in adults within SERG. Today, I want to share my journey so far, from initial questions to published papers and future plans.

My research focuses on the poorly understood aspect of wrist pain: those niggling aches and baffling diagnoses beyond carpal tunnel syndrome. These conditions often leave patients and practitioners unsure of the best way to assess or manage them, a frustration I have experienced first-hand as a practicing physiotherapist. Fuelled by this clinical gap, I started my research by talking to the people who matter most: patients, surgeons, therapists, and commissioners. What did they see as the biggest challenges in managing these elusive wrist woes? Their voices led me to four key areas of where improvements could be made: diagnosis, care pathways, conservative treatments, and outcome measurement.

With these question in mind, I embarked on a multi-pronged research journey:

• Study 1: A literature review to map the existing knowledge landscape, which ultimately highlighted several research gaps, like the lack of readily available guidelines and uncertainty web resources for patients.
• Study 2: A national survey of clinicians to quantify the burden of non-traumatic wrist problems and assess current management practices.
• Study 3: A qualitative study to delve deeper into clinicians’ reasoning and decision-making processes.
• Study 4: Stakeholder recommendations, bringing all the voices back together to co-create solutions for improved future management.

These studies are progressing, however, my PhD journey isn’t a just solo adventure. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, I’ve had the opportunity to blend research with teaching. This has allowed me to set areas for investigation for Master’s students’ dissertations, and to supervise these projects. Through this I’ve been able to:

• Extend my research reach: My students tackled crucial questions like website resources for patients and local treatment guidelines, areas I couldn’t fully explore in my own studies.
• Gain new research skills: Supervised studies forced me to step outside my own research methodology and adopt novel approaches.
• Share knowledge and inspire future researchers: Guiding students through research projects provided valuable teaching experience and hopefully sparked their own research passions.

This collaborative approach has yielded exciting results:

• Publications: My first scoping review is already published in a renowned hand therapy journal, and more are on the way.
• Presentations: My students and I have proudly presented our work at national conferences, sharing our findings with the wider healthcare community.
• Impactful insights: Through our research, we’re uncovering practical solutions to improve patient care and bridge the knowledge gap in non-traumatic wrist disorders.

Looking ahead, the path to my PhD finish line is clear. By the end of March this year, I plan to wrap up data collection, leaving a full year for analysis, writing, and thesis polishing. My goal? To transform my 2 presentations and 4 studies into a robust collection of 5-6 high-quality publications, solidifying my contribution to the field of wrist healthcare toward improving the patient journey.

This PhD journey has been a whirlwind of learning, challenges, and rewarding breakthroughs. The dialogue with patients, clinicians, and with my supervisory team has fuelled my passion and kept my research grounded in real-world needs. I’m excited to see what the future holds, and I look forward to share more insights from the fascinating world of non-traumatic wrist disorders!

For more information about this work, please follow me on Linkedin and Twittter, and check out my recent publication: Mitchell T, Hamilton N, Dean B, Rodgers S, Fowler-Davis S, McLean S. A scoping review to map evidence regarding key domains and questions in the management of non-traumatic wrist disorders. Hand Therapy. 2023 Dec 12;17589983231219595.

To learn more about the work we do in SERG check out our website, our annual review or our MSc Sports Engineering course.