Rate My Professor Charleen Silcock

Charleen Silcock serves as Associate Dean (Pacific), Professional Practice Fellow, and Research Fellow in the School of Physiotherapy within the Faculty of Health Professional Programmes at the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences. A graduate of the University of Otago School of Physiotherapy, she holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPhty) and a Master of Physiotherapy (MPhty) endorsed in Sports Physiotherapy. Her professional career encompasses clinical practice as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist in Dunedin four days a week, following positions in private practice in Wellington, with the National Health Service (NHS) in London, and five years in Auckland. Silcock spent seven years working with sports teams from the Cook Islands and maintains active involvement in sports physiotherapy within Pacific contexts. She is a member of Physiotherapy New Zealand and currently holds the position of Co-Secretary for the Pasifika Physiotherapy Association in 2024.

Silcock's research centers on Pacific health outcomes and physiotherapy, exemplified by her master's project exploring Pasifika rugby and physiotherapy across Moananui, published as 'Pasifika rugby and physiotherapy: An exploration of physiotherapy and sport and exercise across Moananui' with S. J. Sullivan in the New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine (2020). She co-authored 'Holistic health for Pacific seniors from a weekly group gathering run by a Pacific health provider' with C. Higgs and others in the Journal of Primary Health Care (2023). In her leadership role, she supports Pasifika students' pastoral and academic well-being, facilitates connections to professional networks for workforce entry, and advocates for increasing the number of Pacific physiotherapists to enhance culturally safe services and address health system inequities. Born and raised in Wellington with ancestral ties to the Cook Islands, Niue, Aotearoa, Tahiti, and Scotland, Silcock emphasizes the role of cultural identity in her clinical and academic practice, including strengths passed down from her father, and describes herself as ongoing in her cultural journey. She recently presented her research at Galulue mo le lumana'i: A celebration of Pasifika Physiotherapy research and contributes to Pacific student support initiatives within the School of Physiotherapy.