A day in the life of a Podiatry student: Clinical placement
Hi everyone, I’m Anjilee and I am a final year Podiatry student at Cardiff Metropolitan University. I will be sharing a day in the life of a Podiatry student on a clinical placement and what to expect. Hope you enjoy!
I get up at 6:30 am after snoozing my alarm a couple of times and start my day. After changing into my clinical uniform and eating breakfast, I am ready to leave at 8 am and catch the train to the hospital.
Clinical placements take place for two weeks in three blocks throughout the academic year. Each block differs in terms of placement location, which is exciting as you get to experience Podiatry in a variety of settings.
When I arrive at the hospital, I meet my supervisor in the Podiatry department, and they brief me through all the patients that will be arriving throughout the day.
The first patient usually arrives at 9:00 am. The podiatrist and I greet the patient and invite them into the consulting room to start the consultation. Depending on the situation, the podiatrist allows me to take over with the assessments and diagnosis. On my first day performing the assessments and treatments, I was extremely nervous as I didn’t want to get anything wrong but with more practice, I was able to build my confidence and skills. Each patient case varies, some more exciting than others but I believe going on placement is a great way to enhance communication, knowledge and skills within Podiatry.
After a busy morning and some interesting patient cases, its time for a well-deserved lunch break. Sometimes I meet up with my course mates who are on the same placement, and we go for a coffee, or I stay in the office and mingle with the Podiatrists. Lunch goes by very quickly and patients start to arrive for the afternoon clinic.
After lunch, I meet my supervisor and we organise the patients and clinical area for the afternoon. When the patients arrive, I greet them, and we start the consultation.
At 4 pm, it’s time to go home and I feel exhausted but pleased to have made a positive difference in the lives of the patients.
I finally arrive home and relax. After watching my favourite shows on Netflix or on YouTube with some snacks, I make my dinner and eat. I prepare my bag and lunch for the next day.
Before bed, I work on my assignment or revise for a few hours and slowly wind down, ready for the next day.
Each day, I am placed in different areas of Podiatry, whether it is general core podiatry, MSK, nail surgery, wounds or podopeads. I enjoy attending all clinics, however I particularly enjoy MSK and wound placements, as the patient cases are very intriguing and unpredictable.
