Interview with QMU graduate, Aimie Patience, BSc (Hons) Podiatry
Aimie Patience, 21, is from Inverness and graduated with a BSc (Hons) Podiatry from QMU in 2016.
Aimie knew she wanted to work within the medical profession and originally thought about physiotherapy. Aimie’s aunt, who is a nurse, encouraged her to consider podiatry. Aimie believes it was the best decision she could have made.
Aimie won two top podiatry awards in her final year at QMU - the prestigious Canonbury Award for Academic Excellence (Top student of the year) and the Algeos Award for Clinical Audit. Canonbury and Algeos are amongst the UK's leading podiatry product specialists.
Why did you choose to study podiatry at QMU?
“During my final year of high school, I attended one of the podiatry open days at QMU and got a tour around the halls of residence and campus. I’d been to a few open days across Scotland and QMU definitely had the friendliest, most welcoming staff and best facilities for allied healthcare students.
“After visiting the campus and meeting some of the brilliant podiatry lecturers, I was certain I wanted to study at QMU. Coming from Inverness, I was looking forward to moving to a busy, bustling capital city. I have family in Glasgow and wanted to live and experience somewhere completely new.”
“The BSc (Hons) Podiatry course has so much to offer for both school leavers and mature students. Podiatry is an exciting, ever-expanding area of health and social care that is continually broadening its scope of practice and offers a huge range of career options once qualified.”
What was the highlight of the course?
“The biggest selling point of the course for me is the small class sizes and the help and support you receive from the lecturers throughout the degree programme. Because it’s such a small cohort, you form a really close relationship with your fellow podiatry students and staff.
“Having specialist musculoskeletal clinics and a nail surgery unit within the University also allows you to translate theory directly into practice and you gain so much experience and confidence through the weekly clinical sessions at the NHS teaching clinic at Inchkeith House in Edinburgh.”
Did you enjoying living away from home?
“During my first year I stayed in halls on the QMU campus. I would strongly advise anyone starting university to do this as it is definitely the best way to meet great people and make new friends. It will also help you to decide who you would like to live with in later years.
“For the following three years I shared a flat with four other students who I met in halls. I had such a great time in Edinburgh and would love to live there again.”
Life after graduation
“Since graduating from QMU in July 2016, I’ve completed an 8-week research internship in Leeds with Arthritis Research UK, where I helped facilitate on-going research into Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases.
“I’ve now been appointed as a Clinical Trials Associate within the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. My main duties are recruiting patients into clinical trials, providing practical podiatry support when necessary and collecting, analysing and publishing work I’m involved in.
“In the near future I hope to apply for a clinical academic doctorate through the National Institute of Health Research. I would conduct PhD research and develop my clinical skills part-time to ultimately achieve a fully integrated clinical academic role within rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease research.
“I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the brilliant teaching and ongoing mentorship I’ve received from the staff at QMU and I absolutely loved my time on the BSc (Hons) Podiatry course.”
More information on BSc Podiatry (Hons) at QMU
Notes to Editor
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