Mater physiotherapist awarded Winston Churchill Fellowship
- Release Date: 9/08/2011
- For media enquiries please contact 07 3163 1524 or the afterhours on call media officer on 07 3163 8111.
A physiotherapist at Mater has been awarded The Peter Mitchell Winston Churchill Fellowship for 2011 to study innovative care models for incontinent people.
Managing Therapist Ester Barter who works in the Department of Urology and Continence at Mater Health Services found out she had been awarded the prestigious prize after receiving a letter.
“I was absolutely stunned to discover I had been awarded this fellowship. A lot of hard work went into the application and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my Mater colleagues, especially Dr David Winkle and Dr Geof Hirst who nominated me for this Fellowship. Without their support, guidance and references I may not have got through the first round.”
The Churchill Trust was set up in 1965 following the death of Sir Winston Churchill to commemorate and honour his memory. This was achieved by Australia's largest ever public fundraising appeal—more than $4.3 million was collected in a single day across Australia.
Each year fellowships are awarded for Australians to travel overseas to meet leaders in their field, learn new approaches and return to Australia with new ideas.
Ester will use her Fellowship to study innovative care models for incontinent people by visiting Guy’s and St Thomas’, Imperial College London and University College London Hospitals in the United Kingdom and Fredericksburg, Ringhospitalet and Herlev Hospitals in Denmark.
“I plan to use my overseas travel to gain experience of different models of care for the delivery of continence services at international centres of excellence. I also hope to establish professional relationships and networks to enable an ongoing exchange of knowledge and experience between relevant clinicians at an international level,” Ester said.
“Following the fellowship I will develop an innovative model of care specific for our patient population and their needs using my experience of how care is provided internationally.
“By improving our current model of care the Department of Urology and Continence will be able to provide more efficient services to support those in need. Incontinence affects all age groups and recent statistics suggest the nearly four million Australians are affected by incontinence.”
The 2011 Churchill Fellowships have been awarded on projects ranging from investigating coastal erosion to disaster assistance.