Nina Mackenzie
I am a psychiatry registrar in the West of Scotland region, and a member of the 3rd cohort of fellows on the multimorbidity PhD programme for health professionals, working under the supervision of researchers at the University of St Andrews. I graduated from the University of Edinburgh, obtaining an MBChB with honours in 2010, having previously worked in the NHS as a physiotherapist. I have worked part time throughout my foundation and core psychiatry training in the south east region of Scotland, whilst I balanced medical training with raising my four children.
During medical training I developed an interest in research when conducting my undergraduate thesis, quality improvement projects and completing a research post in my 3rd core training year. During this post I led a research project evaluating four-year outcomes after admission to a substance use rehabilitation programme. I reviewed the literature, analysed and interpreted study data, used electronic health records and National Records of Scotland data to track patient outcomes, and am first author in the paper disseminating the results in a peer-reviewed journal. After completing core psychiatry training, I secured a one-year Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship with Scottish Government and NHS Education Scotland, working on several projects related to medical workforce planning and postgraduate medical training quality management. These projects have given me a comprehensive understanding of workforce challenges and the potential solutions, and insight into the structure and governance of the wider organisations involved in health services and healthcare education and training, and the interactions between politicians, civil servants, NES and the health boards. On entering general adult psychiatry higher training in 2023 I continued as co-chair of a Scottish Government working group on recruitment and retention of the psychiatry medical workforce. These experiences stimulated my interest in, and a desire to pursue, further dedicated research training. Throughout medical training I have observed the common co-occurrence of chronic physical and mental health conditions, which can have a profound impact on patients’ quality of life. I am interested in whether, and what, causal factors are shared between clusters of co-occurring conditions, specifically in relation to harmful alcohol use and mental and physical ill health.
I am thrilled to be joining this multimorbidity PhD programme, and will benefit from a wealth of opportunities for professional, personal and career support and training. This fellowship will propel my long-term plan for a career as a clinical academic in the field of multimorbidity, specifically in relation to mental health, substance use, socioeconomic deprivation, and their relationship with physical ill health.
Project: Addressing specific gaps in knowledge in how to manage multimorbidity among people who have been admitted to hospital with alcohol related problems. A multi-method systems approach
Primary Supervisor: Professor Alexander Baldacchino
Secondary Supervisor: Professor Frances Quirk and Professor Peter Donnelly
