I have been asked a million times.
” How do you go from working with teeth, to working with toes ?”
The simple answer , I love people and I love helping them.
So how did it all start ?
Well , whilst I was still busy writing my final school exams (many moons ago!) an opportunity arose at a local dental practice . A dentist was looking for a trainee dental nurse and was offering an apprentice position. Not knowing at that stage what I will do after school , I jumped at the opportunity – long story short – I got the position and have never looked back.
I studied at night, worked during the day and before I knew it I was teeth mad ! I loved everything about it. I worked in South Africa as a dental nurse for 7 years before I moved to the United Kingdom and continued my dental nursing career.
The opportunities to work and study in the UK is amazing, before I knew it I have gained undergrads in oral health education and dental radiography. I was offered the opportunity to do studies in dental management and stepped up as a practice manager and have since been managing a dental practice.
During lockdown , all dental practices in the UK was told to close for 6 weeks while the government figured out how to deal with aerosol generating procedures and Covid. Although I was hard at work at home with policies, procedures, acquiring PPE , running virtual staff meetings, arranging virtual consultation for patients in pain etc. I started thinking ( like many other people in similar positions , I am sure ) what can I do , if Covid never goes away ?
It was a soul searching exercise. I needed something that would allow me to work by myself , but it needed to be something I enjoyed. What do I enjoy with all my heart ?
Working with people and helping them.
So I embarked on the journey to become a Foot Health Practitioner (FHP). It has been a totally worthwhile endeavour and one I will always be grateful I took. Not only did I gain a huge amount of knowledge but I met amazing people during my practical exams ( fellow FHP’s, tutors and patients alike ! )
Although it does seem a strange transition from teeth to toes …there is actually so many similarities.
High levels of cross infection control, working with the human body, helping and caring for patients, to name but a few. Even some of the tools of the trade are pretty similar !
A further similarity is the nature of work and the fact that the professions may have arisen from a common history. Indeed, early literature demonstrates that dentists and podiatrists were in fact the same practitioners. There is clear evidence that as far back as the 15th Century itinerant practitioners worked as both corn cutters and tooth drawers, and by the early 18th Century John Perismore was both a Royal corn-cutter and Royal operator for the teeth.
Reference:
Mandy, Philip. “Demons and slaves: autonomy and status in professional practice.” Podiatry Now, vol. 11, no. 5, May 2008, p. 23. Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, link. Accessed 15 Mar. 2022.