Meet the team
OUR PRESIDENT
Professor Karen Middleton CBE
Karen graduated in physiotherapy in London in the mid-1980s and initially specialised in MSK. She has since worked in a wide variety of clinical and managerial roles.
She was made a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) for advancing the physiotherapy profession, developing leadership capacity and promoting professionalism through her role as Chief Allied Health Profession Office at NHS England, before joining the CSP as Chief Executive in February 2014.
Karen is no stranger to SOMM. She became a Fellow of the then Society of Orthopaedic Medicine in the 1990s, and has taught physiotherapists and GPs on a national and international basis. She is a visiting professor at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Karen is the CSP’s first woman chief executive, and also the first to be a member of the physiotherapy profession.
OUR CHAIR
Dr Elaine Atkins MBE
Elaine trained as a physiotherapist at St Thomas’ Hospital, where Dr Cyriax’s seminal approach to the assessment, diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal conditions was founded.
She joined the then Society of Orthopaedic Medicine in 1981, becoming a Fellow in 1990, and has taught the approach widely since. She has collaborated with different brilliant author teams towards the publication of the fifth edition of the textbook to accompany the courses – Monica Kesson, Jill Kerr, Emily Goodlad and Sharon Chan-Braddock.
Elaine developed the first MSc Musculoskeletal Medicine in 2000, with Middlesex University, and remained as its Programme Leader until the programme moved to Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in 2018. She has completed a doctorate in professional studies and was made a Fellow of the Charted Society of Physiotherapy in 2014, for services to physiotherapy education. She was subsequently awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to physiotherapy.
Our Team
Darren Collin
Module Coordinator
Darren is a physiotherapist based in the north west working in the NHS as a First Contact Practitioner. He has been a SOMM fellow since 2018 and teaches on the foundation courses.
Dr Duncan Reid
Course Tutor
Duncan qualified in Medicine 1987 at Edinburgh University and has worked as a GP in Colinton SW Edinburgh since 1991. A passionate football fan he became club Dr to Hibernian FC in 1998.
Emily Goodlad
Module Coordinator
Emily is the Module Coordinator for the Foundation in Musculoskeletal Medicine module and Programme Leader for the MSc Musculoskeletal Medicine at Queen Margaret University (QMU). Emily is an Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner with specialist interests in shoulders, spines and clinical reasoning.
Graeme Searle
Module Coordinator
Graeme Searle is a physiotherapist based in the NHS in North Hampshire. He has worked in a variety of settings within the NHS, private practice and local sports.
Jack Dixon
COURSE TUTOR
Jack is a physiotherapist working in private practice, based in Greater Manchester. Alongside his clinic work, he is active in elite sport and charity sports events.
Johnny Smith
Module Coordinator
Johnny has been part of the SOMM teaching team since 2007 and did his MSc with SOMM in 2008. Now running his own private practice, he used to work as an Extended Scope Practitioner and specialised in hips, knees and hands.
José Marcelino
Course Tutor
José became a Fellow of SOMM in 1992 and remains an active tutor. His particular area of interest is the effectiveness of clinical reasoning.
Nick Worth
Course Tutor
Nick currently works as a Consultant Physiotherapist and as an ESP Physiotherapist in a variety of locations around the North West, and teaches extensively both in the UK and abroad.
Paul Hattam
Module Coordinator
Paul is a physiotherapist based in private practice in Sheffield, UK. He has many years of clinical experience having also worked in the NHS in an advanced practitioner role. He has co-written 2 books – ‘Special Tests – an evidence-based guide for clinicians’ (Elsevier) and ‘ABC of common soft tissue disorders’ (Wiley). Paul retains a keen interest in advanced practice and is also course principal for the Society of Musculoskeletal Medicine’s injection therapy programme. He sat on the Medicines Management Advisory Group at the CSP which played a major role in achieving independent prescribing rights for physiotherapists. In recent years Paul has integrated both USS guidance and prescribing into his practice.
Ruth Bradley
COURSE TUTOR
Ruth is a private practice physiotherapist based in Edinburgh. Ruth has worked in a number of clinic and rehab settings alongside sports and in particular rugby. Ruth’s treats a variety of Musculoskeletal conditions.
Dr Sharon Chan-Braddock
Module Coordinator
Sharon works as an Advanced Practice Practitioner and First Contact Practitioner Physiotherapist in the interface MSK service and Primary Care in Central Manchester. She is also an independent prescriber, guest lecturer for Universities and National Trainer for the supervision and verification training of the HEE MSK FCP Roadmap. Her clinical interests are spinal disorders, persistent pain management and injection therapy. She has been teaching for SOMM for over 10 years, and currently module co-ordinator of Injection Therapy and Developing Professional Practice module.
Dr Stephen Miller
Course Tutor
Stephen is a GP with a specialist interest in Musculoskeletal Medicine and a Sports & Exercise Medicine Physician, working across a number of roles in the NHS, Armed Forces and private practice.
Yvonne Hughes
Society Manager
Yvonne is our Society Manager and is based in our Liverpool HQ. Yvonne is dedicated to ensuring SOMM operates as effectively, efficiently & professionally as possible.