PhD Project: Closing the Pain Education Gap in Chiropractic and Osteopathy Education
Applications for this PhD project are now open. The deadline for applications is 6 April 2026.
Pain is the most common reason people seek healthcare, yet professional pain education remains inconsistent, variably implemented, and often poorly linked to measurable improvements in clinical behaviour or patient outcomes. Manual therapy professions such as chiropractic and osteopathy manage a substantial proportion of musculoskeletal pain in the UK, but pain education within these fields has historically relied on historical explanatory models and unclear assumptions about effectiveness. This PhD addresses a critical and timely challenge attempting to close the gap between pain education, clinician competence, and real-world patient benefit.
Project Contact:
Professor David Newell
Email: david.newell@hsu.ac.uk
Details
This project will investigate the “pain education validation gap” by developing and testing a competency-based framework for contemporary pain management in chiropractic and osteopathic care.
It will ask whether clearly defined, evidence-informed pain competencies can be reliably taught, whether they lead to sustained changes in clinician reasoning and behaviour. We will also explore the possibility of a feasibility trial to identify whether higher levels of clinician competence are associated with improved patient experiences and outcomes in routine musculoskeletal care.
The PhD will use a rigorous, mixed-methods design across three linked studies. The first will develop and validate a pain competency framework using evidence synthesis, expert consensus, and patient input followed by an evaluation a competency-based education intervention for chiropractic and osteopathic students, examining changes in beliefs, clinical reasoning and communication concerning pain.
Depending on progression of the initial studies a third will be a a feasibility study for a cluster based pragmatic trial at Health Sciences University teaching clinics, testing in student clinicians whether the developed pain education leads to measurable improvements in patient outcomes such as enablement, therapeutic alliance, empathy, pain, and disability.
Based at Health Sciences University in the UK and aligned with the Centre for PAIn Research, this PhD offers advanced training in mixed-methods research, education evaluation and potentially, trial design.
It is well suited to applicants from health sciences, psychology, rehabilitation, or related disciplines who are motivated to improve pain care through education, evidence, and clinical relevance. UK and international applicants are welcome, with UK presence required for later stages of the project.
Funding 
HSU is offering up to three fee waivers for UK home applicants starting in October 2026. All eligible UK home applicants will automatically be considered for fee waiver support, which is awarded competitively based on the excellence of the candidate.
International applicants are unfortunately not eligible for fee waivers.
All applicants are expected to have financial plans in place to cover their studies and should not rely on a fee waiver.
Self-funded students are also welcome to apply for this project. Self-funded students can be UK home students or international students.
Availability
Available to both UK and International students
Potential Supervisors
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