By bringing together students from differing fields of study and allowing them to share, compare and contrast their work and their experience, this series highlights the wide variety of important, interesting research and study taking place at Queen’s University. Here, Ann Harkin talks with David Burke. Their conversation has been edited for clarity.

Part Two of Ann and David's conversation. Read part one here.

Ann: Hi David. You mentioned how you like the challenge of complex intervention research, which is good to hear, because there is one thing for certain: everyone doing a PhD must like challenges.

Every aspect of doing a PhD is challenging from the moment we walk through the doors. It is about problem solving and essentially a fine balance between trying to work it out on your own, although luckily there is a great sense of camaraderie in the SBS building.

I had to (metaphorically) leave my husband and children in Galway to be here. They’re only down the road, but it feels like a long way. I work twelve days straight then every second weekend I go home to work in my clinic and get some family time in. Thanks to technology I can read stories to my kids at night and get the daily low down from my lads.

Without a doubt the most challenging aspect for me will be obtaining microbiological laboratory skills. I had researched microbiology for my dissertation however, now, when I enter the lab, it is like watching the pages of a journal come to life. Luckily again I have the best team around me and the desire to master these skills. Like anything difficult, I will walk before I can run. I happen to be very good at doing things methodically and as a mother, aseptic skills come naturally.

I know for myself, life is now what I describe as time critical. I fill the coffee pot before I go to bed; I know what I will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the night before. My priorities are my project and what I call sustenance, good food, adequate exercise (this is difficult) and restorative sleep …and occasional shin dig. Is there a working routine that you find works best for you?

David: There’s no doubt that the first few months in, it has definitely been a learning curve, but I've found I work best in the morning, so my week is now taking up a fairly regular shape. I do an early morning group exercise class in the gym (I need to practice what I preach!), have a morning coffee, and then spend the first three hours of the day reading and taking notes (I ban myself from looking at emails until 12pm!)

The afternoon is for admin and creating. During the week this may involve meetings with collaborators and supervisors, a lot of email admin, and working on my systematic review, study documents, and other side research projects (although I am trying to limit work that is not relevant to my PhD - there is definitely enough work here).

During the week, I've joined a lab meeting at the Patrick Johnston Cancer centre and I try to work in the centre most days of the week to get away from the house. I try to take evenings and weekends off to recover, spend time with my dog, partner, and friends, and for other interests like spirituality, singing, creative writing, and dungeons and dragons (don't judge me on that one!)

It's almost impossible to pin down what the greatest challenges are because this is all so new. My background is in medicine and not in basic science or qualitative research, so learning qualitative research and other basic academic techniques is a challenge. And time is a massive challenge. To fit a clinical study into a PhD with a co-design process beforehand means very tight deadlines right from the word go.

Anne: You sound very disciplined! I can take a few tips from you. Glad you have a dog and partner to share with. Pets make us happy. My circadian rhythm is set at the opposite. I am retraining it now.  As a mother, I completed the work for my three undergraduate degrees and my Masters between 10-4am. As a herbalist I have 100 tonics on my shelf that tonify my adrenal glands and help me burn the midnight oil. I must mind the fact however that I have a big birthday this year.

Everything is very new, and with many of the challenges, there’s no doubt conversations like this help, and I find that so too do workshops and events. The most valuable meeting I have had is with SBS librarian Patrick Elliot who has been extraordinarily helpful, and our sessions were the most productive. I want to best avoid sloppy or questionable research practice and know how to manage risk.

Regarding the Training and Development at the Graduate School, Abbie is lovely and Fabiana is a fantastic new addition to the team. I would describe these courses as pieces of a jig saw which fit together to make the penny drop and help you realise: “Great, I know that”. I found the Transition skills: Preparing for differentiation and APR most valuable.

Obviously, all training is designed to help us become better researchers, presenters etc, however I am finding the courses surrounding protecting intellectual property and commercialisation quite fascinating. A PhD could stand for a People who Have Dreams.

Are there any in particular workshops you’ve attended or forms of support you’ve received that have helped you?

David: Support from my supervisors, Prof Vicky Coyle and Dr Gillian Prue, has definitely been the most invaluable. Also, I've had a lot of help from generous colleagues such as exercise oncology researcher Dr Mal Brown at the school of nursing and cancer researcher Dr Tim O'Brien at the PGJCCR. Some courses have been great including the point of care foundation course in co-design methodology. Prof Mike Clarke's systematic review two day course is great, and if you are planning a systematic review, I highly recommend it. Really fun and thought provoking. I did it two years ago when considering a PhD. I am also planning on a course on qualitative research in April and going to an online conference for Integrative Oncology next weekend. (You might find that aspect of my research interesting - the conference is about how to research and integrate "complimentary medicine" into oncology practice).

Anne: It certainly sounds like you are surrounded by a valuable support network. I have a fantastic co supervisor now, Professor Seamus Fanning, and with Dr Situ, I am in the Dream Team. My colleague and group member, Tesleem Ibrahim is an absolute gentleman.

David: It’s great to have support around us, and from a medical background, I know well the value for the "multidisciplinary" approach. Each profession has a different set of skills and a different lens that they use to help people. Physiotherapists focus on improving function, occupational therapists help people adapt their environment to help them with their roles in life, palliative care focus on spiritual wellbeing, and oncologists have a focus on counselling people about the risks and benefits of treatment strategies and on translating new scientific evidence into clinical practice. Each of these specialties on their own would help someone but not hold the full picture. Working together (ideally) with a person in control at the centre, the most wholistic help can be achieved. As I work with scientists and patient advocates for research, I'm learning the same is definitely true for academia too. We work better together!

It's been great to hear about your research, Ann. Firstly, it’s fascinating; secondly, it’s very helpful to hear a different perspective. I come from a medical training background that puts a lot of weight into western medicine, particularly drug therapy and surgery. And CAM was treated with suspicion in my training. We had only one day on CAM in medical school.

If I'm honest, I still have an instinctual ingrained scepticism about some CAM therapies. However, I also feel the lack of wholistic care in western drug and surgery based medicine as well. It is lovely to chat to someone who is working to bridge the divide between traditional and western medicine through research.

As an academic, it is so important to remember to challenge my preconceived ideas. And from this conversation I feel very encouraged to keep striving ahead with my work. I'm not the only one learning and developing new skills!

Anne: It’s been great to have this conversation with you, David. What I always learn from speaking to people from different disciplines is that is that I have so much to learn and, thankfully, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Our projects are at opposite ends of the scale. David, your qualitative research will require a lot of man power, while at quite the opposite end of the scale my project will have me working alone in lab with my microorganisms and plants for the next few years.  After in-vitro, I hope to move onto in-vivo, the dream is ex vivo lung perfusion, a novel model to study human lung diseases. We are driven by the same goals, to help people.

I was taught in my MPH that my practice was pseudoscience and quackery.  Scepticism is healthy however there is no excuse for stereotyping. The training varies considerably with more degrees coming online and companies in the UK investing in a vibrant programme of herbal research. These herbal scientists are very interested in our group's research at SBS and I am working hard on collaboration. Whilst many people condemn CAM because of a lack of clinical evidence, and an urgent need exists for complementary therapies to be underwritten by rigorous scientific investigation, the problem is there is no incentive for the big companies that fund scientific research (as of yet anyway).

It's been great to talk to you, David, and lovely to speak to a doctor so enthusiastic about patient care. You are an inspiration! Good luck with your research, and as we say in Ireland (and I love this expression), mind yourself!