Dr Sarah Hillman

Using the power of women’s voices to improve health outcomes in primary care

Becoming a 125th Anniversary Fellow has allowed Dr Sarah Hillman to grow her research area, improving women’s health across the life course through research embedded in primary care. 

In celebration of our 125th anniversary year, the University of Birmingham has committed to appointing 125 new Anniversary Fellows and Chairs. This significant investment will build on our heritage of research excellence, welcoming academic talent from a range of backgrounds.

Dr Sarah Hillman, Clinical Associate Professor in Women’s Health and Primary Care, has joined the University as one of the early appointments through our 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs scheme. Sarah’s research contributes to advancing health outcomes for women across the life course and listening to women’s voices, both of which are pillars of the governments women’s health strategy.

At present, there is a limited number of academic GPs doing research into women’s health. Women’s health research embedded in primary care is needed to answer priority questions pertinent to patients, their families, and their primary care clinicians. The 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs initiative provided the opportunity for Sarah to transition from an early-to-mid-career researcher to an established mid-career researcher, broadening her methodological expertise and accelerating her ability to develop, and eventually lead clinical trials, as well as other studies related to women’s health in primary care.

As a graduate of Birmingham, Sarah describes feeling “incredibly privileged” to return to Birmingham as a 125th Anniversary Fellow. Sarah’s work at her previous institution, the University of Warwick, already saw her collaborating with researchers at the University of Birmingham. When the scheme was launched, these connections, along with the University’s global reputation in women’s health, methodological strengths and the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit’s expertise in women’s health meant that “it was just a natural fit”.

Sarah’s research to date has focused on listening to women’s own stories and understanding their experiences of getting help and care for women’s health problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome or incontinence following childbirth and menopause. There are many factors influencing how women from varied backgrounds obtain information and access support, and listening to their stories and experiences helps researchers understand how services should be shaped to ultimately ensure better equity of care to all women.

The recently published Menopause Gap study, which involved talking to women from diverse backgrounds about their experiences of accessing menopause care in the NHS, was able to find themes in the responses from the women and the clinicians interviewed. The findings uncovered contemporary challenges, such as heavy workloads, cultural differences, mistrust of medical institutions, lack of representation, emotionally charged appointments and concerns about stereotyping. Sarah hopes that better understanding of these challenges and barriers to accessing care will help to shape menopause services of the future.

Next up for Sarah is an NIHR Advanced Fellowship which will enable her to look at women who decide to stop hormone replacement therapy (HRT) gradually over time, which makes it less likely that menopause symptoms will return. This return of symptoms is currently quite common when women stop HRT. 

When asked about her first impressions of the University, Sarah explains “how wonderfully friendly and inclusive people have been” and how welcome she has been made to feel. She also described the “infectious buzz” around the University and being surrounded by people with a similar mindset of “let’s go for it, we can do it!”