Patrick Owen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within Deakin University’s Musculoskeletal Pain Research Group and Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition. His research focuses on musculoskeletal health, particularly in back pain and biostatistics. Next, he is also a Statistical Consultant at Brigham Young University (USA) and Associate Editor at BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. In that latter capacity, I have had the honours to work with Patrick and pick his brain on occasions; lucky me. In our talk, we went into the value of having a mentor. Further, Patrick talks about his view on rejections in academic science, and he shares with us his thought on how to develop yourself. 

But first, to break the ice and get to know Patrick better, I asked him what would be his first song on the mixtape of his life. A favourite for many, a hated song by equally many … Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. 

Talking with Patrick is always a joy. I have occasional meet-ups with him, and we talk about anything our minds get to at that moment. He always seems to ask the questions I need at that time, and I hope this episode did so for you as well. I might say - sticking to the mentorship topic - Patrick is a mentor for me. I don’t think mentors always have to be more experienced than you are. Then again, Patrick may be so in areas I am not, which makes our relationship valuable to me. 

In the next episode, I will introduce you to Blair Hamilton. She is the lead investigator of the Tavistock Transgender Athlete Study at the University of Brighton and is an established soccer goalie.