New MD Research Project Students

Meet our new MD Year 4 Research Project Students

Laura Cashman
Laura’s project is about creative bibliotherapy (the therapeutic use of literature, specifically fiction), for the treatment of depression in general practice. Her supervisors are Prof Jane Gunn and Dr Victoria Palmer. She will be working with data from the 2014 Reading for Depression survey to assess the question of what books are best suited to creative bibliotherapy and why.

Chloe Greenfield
Chloe will be using data collected from the Diamond (Diagnosis, Management and Outcomes of Depression in Primary Care) study to analyse the effects of yoga practice on depressive symptoms. Her supervisor is Prof Jane Gunn, and co-supervisor Dr Sandra Davidson. They will also be investigating the demographics of this population, to see who could benefit from this novel therapy.

Jesse Hunter
Jesse’s MD research project is a branch of the SHAPE project, looking at what types of digital interventions could be used for facilitating discussions of sexual health in older Australians. His supervisors are Prof. Meredith Temple-Smith, Prof. Jane Hocking and Dr. Sue Malta from the School of Population and Global Health.

Kirsten Jensen
Kirsten’s project is around the provision of miscarriage support by healthcare professionals. With supervisors, Dr. Jade Bilardi (MSHC) and Prof. Meredith Temple-Smith, Kirsten will be interviewing doctors, nurses, midwives and more about their views and practices in regards to caring for women experiencing miscarriage.

Sam Johnson
Sam’s project is on evaluating the change in healthcare usage following insulin initiation in people with type 2 diabetes in Victorian general practices. This will be achieved by a secondary quantitative analysis of MBS patient data from the Stepping Up trial, which looked at the transition to insulin in primary care. His supervisors are Dr. John Furler and Dr. Jo-Anne Manski-Nankervis.

Shyam Kumar
Supervised by Dr Phyllis Lau, Shyam’s project is investigating the efficacy of a patient-delivered reminder system for preventive activities in diabetes care.  It is building on a pilot study done in 2014 and they are contributing to the evidence base around this promising, patient-empowering approach.

Jenni Lyne
Jenni’s project is a branch of the Sexual Health & Ageing, Perspectives and Education (SHAPE) project, with her main supervisor being Professor Meredith Temple-Smith. The branch of the SHAPE project that she is working on is looking at the knowledge, attitudes and practices of GPs in regards to sexual health in over 60 year-olds.

Declan McGavin
Declan is working with Prof Meredith Temple-Smith and Dr Sue Malta from the Department of Public Health to investigate the role of Practice Nurses and Practice Managers in improving sexual health discussions with older Australians in Primary Care. It is part of the SHAPE Project (Sexual Health & Ageing, Perspectives, and Education).

Jesse Minshall
Jesse’s project is concerned with novel and established methods of communication of the benefits and harms of risk reduction medication for breast cancer with women aged 49 – 74 in a primary care setting. Her supervisors are Professor Jon Emery, Dr Jenny Walker and Sibel Saya.

Lauren Rogers
Lauren’s MD project for this semester is ‘Exploring healthcare for pregnant and parenting young adults who have ever lived in out of home care’, supervised by Dr Susan Webster. They will be interviewing young people (aged 18-26 who have previously lived in OOHC) about their utilisation and experiences of health care system, particularly in regards to pregnancy and parenting.

Dudi Spicer
Dudi’s project this semester involves re-orienting General Practice toward quality youth focused care, using a systems intervention. His supervisor is A/Prof Lena Sanci. He’ll be analysing data from a Randomised Control Trial to determine systematic changes are effective in making General Practice more youth friendly.

Joyce Toh
We will be interviewing GPs regarding their knowledge and practices in the management of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV). This project will build on previous research done on women's perspective and experiences in the primary care management of BV. We hope that this project will help identify more resources/tools to enhance support care of women with BV. Joyce will be working with Prof Meredith Temple-Smith and Dr. Jade Bilardi from the MSHC.

Suzannah Williames
Suzannah’s research aims to understand the past and current training experiences of Victorian GP registrars in paediatrics, and how this influences their confidence to manage children and adolescents in general practice. This research will also highlight areas in which registrars feel they require further training and aim to contribute to optimising the preparation of future GPs to work with children, adolescents and their families. Her supervisors are A/Prof Lena Sanci and Prof Meredith Temple-Smith.