To discuss what motivated me to become a podiatrist, I just can say it was simply accidental. As a teenager, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, and this was a great motivation for me to enrol into studying Medicine. However, while undergoing my internship program, I suffered several seizures. Even though my epilepsy was managed with medications and with a healthy lifestyle (i.e. no alcohol consumption, no dieting, no stress, etc), the seizures were triggered more frequently due to the nature of the internship program; being sleep deprived due to being assigned night shifts at the hospital every second night. Nevertheless, I successfully completed my Medicine degree, but my neurologist advised me to change of profession and consequently, I chose to study Podiatry.

I have been a podiatrist for over 18 years. One thing that sticks in my mind is the important role we play in Australia’s health care system. My first job as a podiatrist was servicing the elderly population, while attending nursing homes in Melbourne’s metropolitan area. I later moved back to Perth and worked in private clinics, nursing homes, seniors citizen centres and conducted home visits. Every time I finished treating an elderly patient, their face said it all. It is so important to help patients to continue with their everyday chores and allow them to enjoy life and be mobile. Then I decided to move to Sydney as I needed a scene change. Being in a new city provided me with new challenges; as the needs and wants of my patients completely changed. In Sydney, I was exposed to different type of clients who wanted more than just routine care. Furthermore, I was exposed to different treatment modalities such dry needling, foot mobilisation techniques, extracorporeal shock wave therapy and gait retraining. However, I found that is what enough to help those with sporting injuries or biomechanical concerns. Therefore, I decided to challenge myself and embark on a Masters in Sports Medicine.