A University of Aberdeen student is bound for America this summer after securing a scholarship that will fund her PhD.
Carrie Stewart has been awarded a Siddall Scholarship which, as well as funding her studies, gives its annual recipient the chance to carry out research at top class North American university.
Twenty-seven-year-old Carrie, who lives in Ellon, will spend three months at the University of Massachusetts in Boston studying how chronic pain in older people is managed.
The information Carrie gathers will be used when she returns to Aberdeen to do her PhD under the supervision of Dr Pat Schofield at the University’s Centre of Academic Primary Care, which is internationally renowned for its chronic pain research including work on pain in older people.
Carrie, who is currently in her final year of a BSc degree in Health Sciences, said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been selected for the Siddall Scholarship which is a tremendous opportunity.
“I am hoping to learn a lot more about chronic pain when I am in Boston where I will be analysing datasets that have been gathered from their research cohort.
“I was under the impression that America was more advanced at how they manage chronic pain than we are but from what I have found so far I think we are actually ahead.
“I look forward to hearing how the condition is managed in the States and then sharing the knowledge I have gained when I return to Aberdeen.”
Dr Pat Schofield, Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Nursing which is part of the University’s Centre of Academic Primary Care, added: “It is a tremendous opportunity for Carrie who will gain a lot from the experience.
“It will also allow the University of Aberdeen to further build on its links with researchers at the University of Massachusetts.”