ÎÞÂëȺ½»

My journey as a Podiatrist began 2006-2010 when I undertook and completed my BSc (Hons) degree in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). I soon worked as a Generalist Podiatrist in NHS GG&C. From there I moved to my first specialist post as a Musculoskeletal (MSK) Specialist Podiatrist in NHS Shetland.

Whilst working I was also fortunate enough to be accepted onto the MSc Theory of Podiatric Surgery programme, ran collaboratively between GCU and ÎÞÂëȺ½». I completed this MSc in 2014/2015, and at this stage, I was then working in NHS Ayrshire and Arran as an Advanced Rheumatology Podiatrist.

Within my role in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, I developed an interest in supporting staff/colleagues within the workplace, and this led me to explore clinical supervision. I began embarking on work to develop the understanding/enactment of supportive supervision in the Podiatry arena.

This led me to enrol on the Professional Doctorate Programme here at ÎÞÂëȺ½», as I wanted to pursue my interest in supervision both within the work place, and as an academic endeavor too. In the early stages of my Doctoral studies, I moved to a new post in NHS Lothian as the Podiatry Lead for MSK/Orthopaedics.

I continued to develop my clinical interests/specialty (in MSK Podiatry and related practices), and I continued my work around staff support/supervision where, along with colleagues, I began developing and evaluating supervision models within the context of my own profession. In 2018, I moved into the higher education sector, into my current role here at ÎÞÂëȺ½».

Within this role, I teach across all of our Podiatry programs, in many different areas, and I teach across the division on multi-professional modules too. I was previously Clinical Lead for all of our programmes, and I am now Programme Lead for our MSc Pre-reg in Podiatry. I completed my doctoral studies this year, however my work on supervision and support within the workplace will continue.

I work closely with local Podiatry colleagues to ensure we continually evaluate and review our approach to supervision/support within the workplace. Moreover, I am a keen advocate for Podiatrists and AHPs generally, to reflect on, and improve upon, how we support each other in the modern day workplace: from undergraduate, through to postgraduate level practice.