Molly Smith

(Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow (University of Southampton)

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I graduated with a BSc in Podiatry from NUI Galway in 2013 and I am so glad I did - it opened many doors for me. When I graduated I was undecided as to whether I wanted to work in a public health care setting or in private practice. I was fortunate enough to do a summer research internship in St James's Hospital and to later secure a part time role under an excellent mentor in the Adelaide, Meath and National Children's Hospital. I learned a lot in particular from that role about acute diabetic foot care. I also did some locum work, set up a private practice and presented my undergraduate thesis orally in Rome to the World Congress of Podiatry Conference.

 Just over a year later, a role became available in Wexford General Hospital, which was nearer to my private practice. The role involved setting up a HSE diabetic foot care service and I decided to go for it! It was challenging in the beginning but overall rewarding. I was also becoming more and more interested in research at this time, which I enjoyed during my undergraduate degree. I decided to undertake an audit on the impact the new service had on the length of in-patient stays for patients with diabetic foot complications and I later presented this at a fantastic international conference on the diabetic foot in the Netherlands.

 The conference left a lasting impression on me and when an exciting joint clinical academic role was advertised by the University of Southampton in conjunction with the local NHS trust, I jumped at the opportunity. I was very lucky to secure this role, which combines two days of high-risk clinical diabetic foot clinics with three days of academia. I am currently working towards a postgraduate qualification, which is both tough and inspiring. After this I am hoping to do some well-earned travelling and maybe even some podiatry work abroad. I haven't ruled out private practice in the future either.

Overall, I can definitely recommend a career in podiatry. I am very thankful for my podiatry degree, which has been an amazing platform for a flexible and rewarding career.