Inspiration and dedication. UON academic receives second Podiatry Fellowship

A health academic has received national recognition for her commitment to providing the best patient care and promoting her profession.

Krishna Gohil is a Senior Lecturer in Podiatry at University of Northampton (UON) and has worked in this allied health profession for 22 years.

She had inspiration to become a podiatrist from a family member. Krishna picks up her story: “Originally, I wanted to be an optician and I worked as one for a while. But it was more retail focused than the patient-centred person I saw myself as.

“As it turns out, my sister was studying podiatry, so I looked at her first-year work and saw how biology focused and hands on it was. I could see how she was using science and creativity. I enjoy that and could see myself in this profession. I shadowed a local podiatrist and saw how varied his work was and that he helped people who came to him in pain but left pain free.”

Last week (Thursday 30 November) Krishna received her second medical Fellowship. She was named a Fellow of the Royal College of Podiatry for positively impacting the development of and public perception of the profession (her first was from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow).

The podiatry Fellowship is in recognition of several high-profile projects she has contributed to or led, including:

• Developing national nail surgery and foot and lower limb ulcer care guidelines, setting the clinical standards in these areas for podiatrists.
• Creating new templates for patients referred to vascular services.
• Krishna sits on various committees for national health bodies covering education, quality assurance and medicines management. She has several roles within the Royal College of Podiatry and is their first woman of colour Council member.
• ‘Prescriber readiness’ – Krishna is currently working on a project to update the curriculum guidance in this area, with a view to developing undergraduate students to be podiatrists to be more knowledgeable and skilled in prescribing.

She continues: “To say I was pleased when I received the Fellowship confirmation letter would be an understatement! My family – who are hugely supportive of my work – were incredibly proud of this. When I got home that day, they were so happy. The College’s Committee only grants the Fellowship if you can demonstrate you have significantly and positively impacted the profession.

“Podiatrists perform vitally important work, so I want to continue with the work that gained me this recognition to improve the visibility of podiatry, to get people talking about it. I hope this inspires the next generation who want to study to join the team and me in Northampton.”

Find out more about Krishna on her UON Staff Profile.