The Ireland Podiatry Conference

There’s always a temptation to capture an event right after the event happens.

I get that because it’s a “fresh in your head” thing

But sometimes an event needs to settle.

You need to recover your energy.

You need to give it a little space to let your thoughts naturally order.

Or in my case I just got so f*@king busy that I never started to capture it properly.

Last week I was at the 5th Transatlantic Wound Science and All Ireland Podiatry Conference in Galway.

AKA “the conference with the longest name”.

I was invited by Professor Caroline McIntosh back in 2020, but for obvious reasons it was delayed and rescheduled, so finally getting out there was amazing.

It was my first time in Ireland.

And being Europe I can now call myself an “international” speaker, which I am milking the crap out of.

There are many cool things that stand out for me from the conference, and this would be a huge piece if I wrote about all of them, but what follows is some of the stand out parts.

It was one of the first times I’ve got to speak about a subject closer to my life coaching work - well-being, resilience and managing stress.

I’ve been coaching professionally for about 3½ years as a I write this (with of course the obligatory “and for all of my life”), but until recently most of the conference speaking has been around business and marketing.

I’ve no issue with that, but talking more about the human side was pushing the old comfort zone, but I loved it.

One of the great things about the conference was the range of people from across the world - particularly from the US and the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.

The scope of practice, the training, the regulation and professional world differs so much and it was great to spend time having conversations with people who are not in your immediate bubble.

Even the healthcare system in Ireland is different, although the training and scope are very similar to the UK.

(Just don’t mention local anaesthetic)

Exploring the experiences of others from their perspective… worth the weight in gold.

I don’t get to do a lot of “pod” work anymore - actually I choose to not do any beside forgotten feet - so most of the sessions were aimed at the more clinical among us, but there were many stand out moments:

The duo of Sean Savage and Emily Haworth mixing and matching diabetes and MSK - that is something beautiful to behold.

Michelle Hanlon talking about her work around psychology, wellbeing and wound healing. I even turned up at 0800 to watch that one!

Amanda Walsh showcasing her work with the homeless and vulnerable, which is close to my heart, and inspiring people to get involved.

Lorcan O’Donaille sharing his business skills - he’s got a book on this, go and get it.

Martin Fox and Paul Chadwick - who always appear as a pair, but on separate sessions - sharing their respective expertise and helping to raise the quality of the pod care out there.

But then, we have the “outside of the lecture halls” conversations. The chats over food or pints of 0% Guinness.

And chats over breakfast with people like Christine Kiernan and Micheal Stephenson.

That is the stuff that really makes an event like this for me.

I didn’t get the chance to really go out and enjoy all that Ireland had to offer, but I did get to see live music in an Irish bar, witness Irish dancing and get to see an Irish folk band.

It was a great conference and a huge shout out to the organisers and all the people who made it so much fun.