Ian Reilly
Ian Reilly
Ian is a Consultant Podiatric Surgeon. He retired from practice in the NHS in March 2024 and now works full-time in private practice.
About Ian
Ian qualified from the Northern College of Chiropody in 1985 and knew that he wanted to go into ambulatory foot surgery, as it was then known. He was lucky enough to secure a job at Ipswich Health Authority where he trained in the surgical programme. Ian fell into a management role and developed aspirations to pursue a management career, managing three separate departments over a ten-year period, before realising clinical practice was his real forte. He moved to Northampton School of Podiatry in 2000 as a senior lecturer, where there was a small surgical service. He moved back into the NHS in 2002 and has spent the last 22 years building up the surgical service for the county. He retired from NHS practice at the end of March 2024 and will be working in full-time private practice until he hangs up his scalpel in ten years' time. Along the way, he has tried to develop skills as a pseudo-academic, though he says this is still very much a work in practice.
What made you want to study podiatry?
My mother was a chiropodist (the old name for podiatrist), and both her sons (my brother and me) followed in the profession.
What is the best thing about your job?
Patient satisfaction, through the challenge of surgical practice comes a close second. I also love teaching, especially the face-to-face lecturing, where I am reminded that I would never have made it as a stand-up comedian.
What is the biggest impact you have had on a patient?
Though rare, the malignant cancers I've spotted early have saved a few lives - these are the stand-out successes.
Conversely one of the happiest ever consultations was post-verruca needling (one of the treatment options for verrucae). I had a 15-year-old girl with multiple verrucae on both feet. She was mortified at the thought of bearing her feet at school games and severely psychologically troubled by this. I needled the two largest verrucae and they all disappeared. The impact this had on her mental health was humbling. I've also had some success treating patients with significant mental health challenges, such as a girl that I've treated with Fragile X Syndrome, who was extremely needle-phobic. Managing to persuade her to allow me to do a local anaesthetic so that I could treat a severe ingrown toemail was a consultation her mother is eternally grateful for.
What advice would you give someone considering a career in podiatry?
I still have a huge passion for both patients and the profession. I can't think of any other profession that has such a diverse breadth of scope, from nail care to complex invasive surgery, and all stations in between. The opportunities are many and multiple for anybody looking to enter the profession, but there are challenges in reaching one's desired level of practice, and while I would wholeheartedly recommend podiatry to any aspiring registrant, I would also discuss the challenges involved. I've seen too many able clinicians cut short their careers, having felt siloed in routine practice. Routine practice should never be undervalued, but don't settle for being a pedicurist with a degree and not working to the limit of one's registration. I always believe that you only get out what you are prepared to put in, but the core of everything we do as a professional has to be a dedication to public service and meeting the needs of our patients and clientele.