Matt Cichero

Matt Cichero -  Podiatric Surgeon, Great Western Hospital

Motivation to come to the UK

The surgical training program in Australia requires various rotations so in 2008 I spent three months rotating in the UK and the US as part of my podiatric surgery training. In 2010 I funded a further trip to Swindon. Great Western Hospital wanted to run a pilot study to see whether we could reduce the length of inpatient stay of patients admitted with diabetic foot disease. Given my previous experience in Singapore in the diabetic foot I took on this role as the coordinator for the pilot. Within six months outcomes were positive, with further extensions and a permanent post advertised I was successful at this post and settled into my role. But I was also keen to complete my surgical training.

Podiatric surgery training in Australia and the UK

Part of my Australian surgical training was accepted in the UK. I had to progress through the Completion Certificate in Podiatric Surgery Training (CCPST) process. I think those years of CCPST were beneficial anyway for me in developing skills at the consultancy level. I could see many opportunities in diabetic foot limb salvage compared to Australia in terms of podiatric surgery. 99.9% of it is private and elective surgery in Australia, so I could see myself developing an expertise that I just would not have had in Australia.

How was the VISA process?

I came to the UK on an Ancestry Visa, with English heritage on my mum’s side, so this process was quite simple for us.

What were the challenges in this new way of life?

The hardest parts were not seeing my family and not surfing every weekend! The trade-off was bringing up my own family and being so close to Europe, exploring beautiful parts of the world and learning to ski! We’ve had some beautiful holidays exploring Spain particularly the north of Spain, we just love France and then Italy; we love going to the lakes in Italy and I still get to surf in the Southern parts of England.

Multidisciplinary team working and extending the scope of practice

Multidisciplinary team working (MDT) does exist in Australia, but only really in a hospital setting. I think coming to the UK and getting experience within this setting on rotation would be beneficial for any podiatrist or podiatric surgeon. Ideally, if you have ancestry or dual citizenship the process is quite simple; other short-term visas such as Youth Mobility Scheme (18-30’s) (two years) or standard Visitor VISA (six months) would support this. If you’re a podiatrist extending your scope or doing surgical training, this country has such a wide variety of areas in which you could specialise: injection therapies, first point of contact, ultrasound training and other imaging, increasing knowledge in the high-risk foot, limb salvage and preservation, developing in advancing clinical practice with opportunities to reach consultant grade in podiatric surgery and podiatric medicine, can all add to a varied and interesting career path for you. Progression within your career in leadership, public health, or research as well as clinical areas can be supported by spending time in the UK.