Aideen Hanna – Podiatry – Level 4
The trip consisted of academic learning, social events and tourist outings. Academically we got to witness a gait analysis clinic with a patient who has cerebral palsy. This was extremely interesting to see how this analysis is carried out and how the podiatrist relays the results back to the surgeons. You learnt to appreciate the length of time for data collection and analysis of results within this type of work. The location of the gait analysis lab was within a children’s community care clinic. This incorporated a multidisciplinary team of occupational therapist, speech and language therapist and physiotherapists. This was amazing to see such a positive and bright environment for children with disabilities to build motor strength. The most interesting was the playroom designed to help the children’s balance which I thought was so clever that they incorporated enjoyable and fun environments within rehabilitation settings.
We also got to work clinically with the students , we paired up and treated their routine patients, this was interesting as I noticed the vast difference in Greek podiatry compared to Podiatry within the UK and the NHS. An example is that the nail drill is used on every patient, while in Edinburgh most nail drills have been removed from the NHS. As a 4th year student about to graduate I could explain and help the students during their clinic time and this gave me more confidence in my own knowledge of Podiatry. We received a lecture on orthotics which was an interesting lecture, although I didn’t completely agree with the presenter, it again gave me confidence in the ability to question other people’s knowledge. This is a key skill because that is how a profession grows and adapts, by people continually questioning theories. It opens my eyes to my own ability and judgement.
Not only did we get to socialise with our fellow peers from the university in Athens clinically, we also got to spend time with them outside of the academic setting. The 2nd year students gave us a quick tour around Athens where we seen their parliament building. We also got to spend time in the evenings having dinner and drinks. It was amazing to get to know everyone and learn about the culture of Greece.
This trip was an unforgettable end to the best 4 years of studying podiatry. It gave me an insight to how lucky I am to have studied podiatry and made me appreciate how amazing our resources are that we have within the university, our broad scope of practice in our profession and how lucky we are to have gained the vast clinical experience we have had.
