The Amy Maclean Podiatry clinic has been very busy over the summer months and Amy herself even more so! As a podiatrist no day is ever really the same, so we asked Amy to document “a day in the life of” for us to take a peek into a working day in a private podiatry clinic.
“A typical day for me is a very hard thing to pin down as every day is different between treatment types and the patient list for the day.
However, the staple parts of each day are consistent and this ensures that my patients are seen and treated in an effective time frame and any follow ups are carried out where needed.
Morning in clinic
Mornings in clinic are always very busy for me- my working hours vary depending on the day but my routine stays the same. I like to arrive to the clinic early, which gives me the perfect opportunity to check and action any emails. This can include arranging appointments for patients, giving advise or answering any questions from both new and existing patients. At this time, I also check the Amy Maclean Podiatry social media platforms and answer any messages too. I like to do this early on to give people an opportunity to reply to me and I can follow it up later in the day.
Once this is done, I check my diary for the day, ensuring that the things needed for the day are looked out and prepped for use when needed. It also gives me time to lay out the day in my head, planning what needs to be done and when. Something I find of great help especially on a very busy day! From there, it’s time to replenish my instrument packs with freshly sterilised ones, as these get autoclaved on a daily basis for infection control.
Clinic is usually steady all morning until about lunchtime- nope I don’t often get a coffee break in the morning due to demand for appointments but I do make sure to keep my water levels up to prevent headaches and dehydration.
Lunchtime
When it hits 1pm- it’s lunchtime! This is the time that I try to multitask as best I can. I am busy eating whilst trying to answer some of the email replies as well as placing orders with suppliers for any stock/products I need for both patients as well as retail for the clinic. Between Karla and I, we stock take on a weekly/fortnightly basis as some products need regular ordering depending on demand.
Afternoon in clinic
The afternoons in clinics are often different to mornings- mornings tend to be booked weeks in advance by regular patients. However, afternoons tend to be more a mix of existing patients with new patient appointments which keeps me on my toes. This is great for me as I really enjoy catching up on the latest news with my current patients, but love getting to know new patients and finding out how I can best help them with their presenting complaint.
The afternoons can involve anything from SWIFT treatments for stubborn warts/verruca, to warm wax for the dry, post holiday cracked heels. I see a lot of patients who require some orthotic prescription to aid with foot function and this is a regular part of most days.
On top of this, I spend time fixing dodgy ingrown nails, battling fungal infections and making the pain of corns diminish!
The end of a working day
As the clinic comes to a close for the day, there are still plenty of jobs to be done- I tidy and clean down the clinic every evening and place all the dirty, used instruments into a box to be autoclaved. I replenish my work trolley with any products I have used ready for the next day. I reconcile the banking for the day and then head to the laptop to write up all the patient notes for the day. Once this is done, I check my emails one more time before heading home for the day.
Hometime
Once home, I try to limit time on my laptop/phone doing work but will spend time on business admin to enable as many appointments to be available through the week as possible. I often listen to audiobooks to and from work which are both for pleasure but often are business related as I find the commute to work is otherwise time that could be used for good.
So the day is done, dinner has been scoffed and I finally sit down with either a good book, some wool and a crochet hook or the latest must see Netflix box set with a cuppa tea. Perfect.” #amymacpod `
