Selena Goodchild

Biography

Selena Goodchild Subject Lead for Occupational Therapy and Director of Interprofessional Learning within the School of Health and Social Care I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2003 from Brunel University. Since qualifying, my clinical experiences have been within the NHS in the South East of England and East Anglia, in a variety of settings, including inpatient orthopaedics, intermediate care, A&E and Hand Therapy. My clinical interests remain in hand therapy and Accident and Emergency, and the importance of working holistically within such predominantly medically oriented areas of practice. In 2009 I joined the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy. Since 2014 I have been the BSc admissions tutor, in September 2017 I became the BSc (Hons) Full time Occupational Therapy Programme Lead, in September 2020 I became the Subject Lead for the Occupational Therapy Programme and in Novemebr 2025 I took on the Director of Interprofessional Learning role for the School of Health and Social Care. Within this educational role my focus is on activity/occupational analysis, Occupational Science and Public Health. I completed my Masters in Public Health in 2015, focusing on the link between the occupations people engage in and their long term health outcomes and in particular the education and employment opportunities available to offenders. In education and research I have interests in social determinants of health, and, the impact of the choices people make and the occupations they engage in on their life course and health outcomes as well as interprofessional learning and the impact this can have on interprofessional working in practice settings. Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy Brunel University London, (2003)

• Post-graduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice University of Essex,

• Masters in Public Health University of Essex,

Appointments

University of Essex

• Subject Lead for Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex (1/9/2020 - present)

• Director of Interprofessional Learning, School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex (3/11/2025 - present)

Other academic

• Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex (2/2/2009 - present)

• Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex (1/10/2021 - present)