Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists Conference 2006
Staff perspective
By Wendy Smith
Dr Deborah Turner and I attended the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists Annual Conference in November 2006. We were there to present our poster on the CORLO project. There were presentations from internationally renowned speakers covering a range of topic areas including rheumatology, paediatrics, biomechanics, private practice, dermatology and footwear. The conference was very well attended and it is always a good opportunity to meet up with other podiatrists and great to catch up with some of our graduates and find out what new developments are taking place. The Trade exhibition was one of the biggest the Conference has ever had and it is an indication of how Podiatry is developing in a range of directions. One of the other exciting things about this year's meeting was the book launch of 'The Foot and Ankle in Rheumatoid Arthritis: a comprehensive guide', not only because it is an excellent and challenging resource for all those involved in the care of the lower limb and foot, but because two of the authors of this book are currently part of the teaching team here at Huddersfield, Deborah Turner and Heidi Davys (middle and far left respectively in the picture below).
Student perspective
By Rachel Amner (year 4 part-time)
It was wet, wild and windy up north in Huddersfield as we bundled into our car and started the long journey south down the M1. Six hours later we arrived down in and equally wet, windy and rainy Brighton!
And the reason for all this madness? It was because it had all seemed such a good idea in the summer when we booked for the annual Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists Conference. This was before the reality of our final year hit us, and we became snowed under with essay deadlines and our research dissertation. However, once we were there, we were really glad we'd made the effort. We were warmly welcomed by the staff at the Conference Centre door and when we followed the feet markers on the floor to registration, it was all very simple.
The conference began, and it was amazing seeing the people whose names before had just been names on textbooks or on podiatry web sites. It was also really interesting hearing people standing up and justifying the research or work that they do. It put our small scale, final year research projects into context!
It was easy to get around the place to the different workshops and lectures that took place. The programme was not rushed either, with plenty of time to go and look round all the trade stalls, where we could pick up lots of information from poster presentations and stalls, as well as free goodies. We've now got enough squidgy foot/hippo/tablet stress toys to help us get through the rest of our final year!
Overall, we came away really inspired by what had been on offer. A lot to talk about in the car on the 7 hour journey back up to Huddersfield!
Further details and images are available on the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists web site: Images reproduced with kind permission of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists