Rate My Professor Susan Heaney

Dr. Susan Heaney is the Academic Team Leader for the Mid North Coast at the University of Newcastle's Department of Rural Health, within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, based at the Port Macquarie Campus. She is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian with extensive clinical and academic experience. Susan earned her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2012, where her doctoral research focused on developing a screening instrument to identify nutrition risk in athletes. She also holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) from the University of Newcastle. Previously, she served as the Nutrition and Dietetics Placement Coordinator at the University of Newcastle for seven years, which sparked her keen interest in student placements and interprofessional education. Dr. Heaney has substantial experience supervising higher degree research students, mentoring research and clinical academic staff, and providing clinical supervision to dietitians across the Hunter New England and Mid North Coast regions. She is committed to supporting professional growth and excellence in clinical practice, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

Dr. Heaney's research interests include multi-disciplinary clinical practice, rural health and workforce development, the scholarship of teaching and learning in interprofessional education, and training health professionals to work collaboratively for improved patient care. Her future research aims to enhance rural healthcare and researcher workforce capabilities and to develop innovative educational programs for health professionals. Key publications encompass journal articles such as 'Nurturing dietetic students in a rural year-long immersion program to influence return to practice' (Brown L, Heaney S, Crowley E, Squires K, Urquhart L, Burrows J, Nutrition & Dietetics, 2022), 'Simulated learning experiences incorporated into professional placements: a scoping review' (Squires K, Brown L, Heaney S, MacDonald-Wicks L, Johnston C, 2021), 'Launching dietetic careers over 30 years: Mapping the location of graduates from a dietetics program' (Heaney S, Brown L, MacDonald-Wicks L, 2024), and 'Evaluation of General Nutrition Knowledge in Elite Australian Athletes' (Spendlove J, Heaney S, Gifford J, Prvan T, Denyer G, O'Connor H, 2011). She has authored or co-authored 53 journal articles and 35 conference outputs. Additionally, Dr. Heaney is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE in Nutrition and Dietetics and contributes to projects improving health outcomes in rural communities.