Alumni Stories
GRADS 2025: TAYNE RYALL AND JACQUI COULDRICK
Gowned up and ready to mark the end of close to a decade of study, Jacqui Couldrick and Tayne Ryall were all smiles as they reached the cherry-on-top moment for completing their PhD’s.
The pair both juggled teaching in the Discipline of Physiotherapy, while studying in their separate areas, and are now ready to soak it all in and watch their research change the way things are done – as well as continue their work in the classroom.
For Jacqui, the University of Canberra is so much more than just a workplace – it’s a space in which she has grown up, and a campus she has spent decades exploring and learning in.
“My Dad was a librarian lecturer back when UC use to be the Canberra College of Advanced Education, so I remember that as a child, I would go into one of the buildings here on campus and spend time in his office. I think I could still find his office today in one of the older buildings,” Jacqui says.
“He was always very academic, he’s written books and things like that—so I was always encouraged to get a higher education –that’s what started it all, and now I’m just a lifelong learner.”
That lifelong learning journey led Jacqui to the graduation stage last month, where she received her testamur for a PhD.
“I’m always a happier person when I’m studying.”
Her research focused on the ways physiotherapy can help with chronic diseases – in particular, knee osteoarthritis.
“I wanted to investigate whether exercise therapy could be a useful non-surgical intervention to try and prevent people from needing knee replacements,” Jacqui explains.
“People can spend months on a waiting list for a joint replacement surgery, so that time is valuable to get people exercising and educating them on how to manage their osteoarthritis, which could help alleviate their need for surgery.”
Despite the labour of love that goes into completing a PhD, Jacqui is still fired up to continue studying at UC, determined to shine a light on issues that have in the past been under-represented in academic fields.
“I’d like to do some more research on menopause and knee osteoarthritis because it’s the sort of thing you’ll hear lots about, but there’s little research there to help the women who are living in pain,” Jacqui says.
An active teen, Tayne received a couple of sports injuries when she was 14 – and that ultimately led her down the path of wanting to study physiotherapy after high school.
“I wanted to be a physio for an AFL team or something. I thought it would be such a cool job,” she says.
However, she quickly realised that wasn’t for her. Tayne instead found herself working in an acute hospital setting after graduation and began mentoring students as she gained more experience in the clinical field.
Eventually, this led her back down the path of study herself and into a role as a lecturer at UC.
“I always enjoyed teaching, even when I worked in the hospital I took physio students under my wing. So, it felt natural when I went on to do a Graduate Certificate in Training and Assessment, and then a Master in Health Professional Education,” Tayne said.
Now she has completed her PhD, her research focused on how simulation training can be used more in the education of future physiotherapists.
Her study investigated the various ways that more realistic training scenarios could be created in the classroom, to prepare students before they went out and saw real patients.
“It’s about creating a safe learning environment, so students can make mistakes without real adverse events, and we can stop whenever we need to when learning opportunities arrive,” Tayne said.
Fourth year Bachelor of Physiotherapy students even helped take part when it came to exams and practical elements for the lower year levels.
“They mimicked having a spinal injury or multiple sclerosis – even recovering from having a stroke,” she said.
“We heard from the students that it was really helpful – it made them think and speak like physios, and step into the role better than just having a peer with them in exams. It encouraged them to act in a more natural way.”
Those changes in the way students thought and acted had a ripple effect on their professional identities, and how they viewed themselves before entering the workforce.
“Feeling empathy for future patients made them realise they had come a long way in their studies, and helped make them feel more like physios – getting to play that role in a classroom helped them develop their professional identities.”
Words by Georgie Burgess, photos by Tyler Cherry.
This September, we celebrate the graduating class of 2025.
Our graduates are from many different places, at various stages of life, with diverse skills and perspectives. In their time at UC, each one has contributed to the fabric of the University community. While their journey here may be complete for now, their actions will leave an indelible imprint on generations to come.
We congratulate the graduating class of 2025; we can’t wait to see where you will go next.