Macmillan Coffee Morning
20/09/2018Partnership with Motor Neurone Association announced
28/02/2019How did you become an Osteopath?
I always knew that I wanted to go into healthcare. When I was 18 I looked at my A-levels and thought Dentistry may be worth a shot! So ended up doing a year of Dentistry at Bristol University. I pretty quickly realised that looking inside mouths all day wasn’t for me, so I decided to go and study the subject that I had enjoyed the most within the Dental course, which happened to be Anatomy.
I studied the bachelor of science in Anatomy for 3 years, and came out with a 2nd class honours degree that I wasn't sure what do with in all honesty! So I worked on reception for a while in a dental practice in Bristol, and by chance I started observing an Osteopath there, which is where I realised this was the perfect blend of healthcare, hands-on work and anatomy, so made the decision to take the plunge to study the 4 year masters in Osteopathy.
As opposed to the Dentistry, I completed the course in London, which although was hard work...it wasn't looking at teeth all day, so made it a little more enjoyable! I’ve never looked back since! Osteopathy is such a wonderful combination of Art and Science, both of which I love.
Why do you enjoy Osteopathy?
It’s an extremely rewarding career and seeing a smile on someone’s face who is no longer in pain is why I do it. It’s also interesting meeting so many different people from different walks of life every single day.
What would you be if you weren’t an Osteopath?
If I wasn’t an Osteopath I’d be in the circus. It was genuinely a decision between Osteopathy and joining the circus. I wanted to be a trapeze artist!
What do you do in your spare time?
About 3 years ago I started Skydiving and have now done around 40 solo jumps. I also enjoy Pilates, Dancing and recently I have started Art classes.
What is your favourite aspect of running your own clinic?
My favourite aspect of running The Malmesbury Clinic is the sense of satisfaction I get when I see practitioners working together and sharing ideas, referring to each other and gaining knowledge from each other. I love that this is a friendly, sociable clinic where everyone is learning from each other with our patients best interests at heart. I also love working with my husband (oddly) which has been a real highlight, especially being able to bark instructions at him form upstairs!
How did you get to where you are today?
When I first qualified I worked in a clinic in Kent – it was a cosy, family clinic in a village. I then moved to Bristol where I worked in a very corporate environment. It wasn’t really for me and I didn’t particularly enjoy it as I didn’t feel it was very aligned to the Osteopathic approach I had trained to do. I started working for a clinic in Corsham, which was much more in keeping with my own ethos. I learnt a lot from working at the Carl Todd clinic and Carl inspired me to start up my own clinic in Malmesbury. I’ve taken a lot from my work at every single clinic I’ve worked at, and tried to recreate the good aspects as much as possible here in the Malmesbury Clinic. I feel we’ve built a really strong team who all work together to help our patients.