Ryan Smith

We are delighted to welcome Ryan Smith who is the new year 1 lead for Physiotherapy! Have a listen to Ryan and find out more about what you can expect from your first year on the course!   Ryan also shares insight on his career so far, and what he likes to do in his spare time. If you have any year lead questions, please don’t hesitate to email him on ryan.smith2@nottingham.ac.uk.

Transcript

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Hello, welcome back to It's Not Just Physio podcast with me, James Coghlan. This podcast is designed for its listeners to get to know some of our wonderful students and staff here at the University of Nottingham. And I'm absolutely delighted to welcome our new Physiotherapy Year One leader, Hello, Ryan. Hello, James. Welcome to the podcast. It was a great opportunity to get to know you a little bit better, but I'm sure staff, students, and listeners would like to get to know you a bit more as well, if that's all right. Yes, that would be fantastic. So, Ryan, I know you've started relatively recently and seem to have adapted to everything really well here already, but why don't you just take us back a little bit, tell us who you are, tell us a little bit about your history to date, however you want to kind of kick things off. off and we'll take it off from there shall we yes as you can probably tell from my dulcet tones i'm not a nottingham uh native i'm from just up the road uh in rotherham which is near sheffield for those who don't don't know um so i did my undergraduate degree in sports and exercise therapy at leeds beckett and then i did my master's degree pre-reg in physio also at leeds beckett so um had a really positive experience really enjoyed it since then in terms of practice i I have worked in mainly musculoskeletal setting. So that has ranged from private musculoskeletal clinic, which I did upon kind of graduation. And then I started working professional sport casually at first alongside that before securing a full-time role in professional academy football, which I did for five years before then taking my MSC. Still worked part-time alongside that. And then upon graduation, from that and then worked again back in private practice but then transitioned into professional cricket at Leicester County Cricket Club as the assistant physio to start off with and then sandwiched in between that I moved into academia on the paramedicine course which was really interesting so that was working with the paramedics at De Montfort in Leicester teaching kind of the MSK stuff there before then securing a role as the lead back at Leicester County Cricket Club so I bounced around a little bit around Midlands where I was there for just under two years before coming here to the University of Nottingham on the physiotherapy team. So yeah, a bit of a convoluted journey to be honest, but here I am now. Well, it's absolutely brilliant to have you on board and what a great amount of experience that you bring to the table. Thinking about your career, was that always your plan, sort of, doing what you've done or have you kind of found you've adapted along the way so I'm I am one of those weird people that actually writes down a plan so every every 10 years I redo a plan which is probably a bit sad but I put it in an envelope whack it in a drawer and I don't open it for 10 years so on that 10 year plan which I wrote I'm not sure my age now but I'm 30 next month so which I wrote when I was 20 was I've managed to tick off everything that I kind of wanted to do things on there which in including getting my degree, graduating, securing a graduate job, working full-time professional sport was on there and then leading a department and was on there as well. But within that, then moving into lecturing was that kind of transition between what I wanted to do in those kind of about 10 years or so after graduating, which I've obviously now done. So was there a plan? Yeah, there was a plan and I I'm a planner. My wife will tell you that's probably quite annoying at times. But yes, that was the plan. There has been variations to that plan kind of in between. Nothing ever kind of goes as you think. And it's not exactly been a linear progression by any means, but it's provided a variety of different experiences. And the lecturing side now is where I see myself mainly because i enjoy the teaching side of it now i've got some experience under my belt in terms of actually being a clinician and doing it i feel in a position where it's enjoyable to then impart some wisdom whether people take it in or not it's a different matter and impart some wisdom onto it and then get involved in the research element as well which i do um i do really enjoy it's something as i've progressed throughout my clinical career i've enjoyed the kind of research and teaching element of it as well I mean, it sounds an incredibly varied career, but lots of facets to bring to the table. I'm sure the students are going to love listening to more of what you're going to share with them as the time goes on. I'm interested about the plan. I like how you said it. You sort of had a plan, and then there's been a few variations, but there's been a general trajectory. Are you then now due to write another 10-year sort of plan? Yeah. so I've got about a month to write another 10 year another 10 year plan so there'll be 10 things on there which I need to now think of in the next month or so to write on the next 10 year plan but yeah there'll be professionally there'll be a number of stuff on there so PhD will be one that I want to get underway and get ticked off from an academic self development point of view so that's a biggie as well as things like presenting at a conference, for example, is probably going to be on there alongside the teaching stuff, developing teaching skills and et cetera, et cetera. So yeah, I have, yeah, thanks for reminding me of that. I do probably need to sit down and start jotting some down. No, it must be really, it sounds like obviously that gives you some sort of vision and some sort of, you know, some structure to what you want to do, which is great, but it doesn't sound like you're so rigid on that, that you can't deviate from the plan as and what about what about outside of work obviously you know a very clear sort of you know professional drive there what about outside what things do you like doing outside of work which give you yeah so I mean as can probably be seen from my work really and love sport quite passionate about sport follow football Sheffield United sadly so you know it's not been overly enjoyable last 12 months but you know we beat Derby's record which is all that really matters So, yeah, so that's the football side of it. I've been a season ticket holder since I was about three years old, so I've seen the rough, a lot of the rough, with some of the smooth. Keen cyclist as well, which is something I've kind of already took up in the last five years, to be honest, but it's something I do enjoy doing, the cycling side of it, and then lots of travel kind of in between, see the world get about, see what... See what's out there, really, so. No, and I think we often on the podcast talk to people and they talk about this importance of having this sort of the work-life balance, really. And, you know, it sounds like you've certainly taken that into account with your professional and also, you know, enjoyment side of life. Yeah, I mean, definitely. I mean, I wouldn't say it's been enjoyable watching football for 90 minutes at Bromwell Lane over the last year or so. but even when you're sitting watching your team get beat 8-0 at home by Newcastle it's still perversely enjoyable cycling's really good for that so when we're out in the Peak District with my friend James and we're out there for three hours and you're trying to get up a really really steep hill and you get to the top and there's a cracking view and then you go down and get a coffee and a cake and stuff like that it just helps you switch off put your phone in your jersey and you don't have to worry about your emails and your messages. Helps. And I think obviously as being as a year one lead, I think it's important also just to sort of give a little bit of an overview to people on what that role entails. And I'm sure there's some, you know, we've already spoken a bit of wisdom there about that kind of balance in life. Is there anything you'd want to talk about that of students listening from what you, give them an insight into what you'll be doing in your role and any advice you'd want to give them whilst starting as a student on their journey here at Nottingham? Yeah, so year one is kind of the key thing to focus on there. So yes, as part of my role, there will be a focus on the academic side, modules, exams, how you're getting on with those exams, how you're getting on with written work, adapting kind of your writing technique and writing style so it's academic and develops academically throughout your course. But more so than that it's dealing with all the factors that are involved with becoming a student for the first time at a university so whether that is you have moved from home you'll either be really chuffed about that you've got your own personal space you can begin to live life independently equally you might get homesick and really really miss it so it's helping you with both aspects of that and we will get a variety of students that really like that freedom and independence aspect but also they are missing home they are missing family we'll have a group of students that probably commute in every single day which brings its own challenges which can be tiring if you're relying on trains trams if you're driving in yourself which we have to kind of focus on there but really what i want to get across is as that year one lead i'm there to provide support and i have been a student believe it or not we've all been students in this room um we know what it's like to go to university for the first time and thinking, crikey, I need to learn a lot, or that's a lot of reading I need to do in my spare time, or that's a lot of lectures, or that seems really long, or how on earth am I going to word a 3,000 word assignment, or how am I going to sit in a practical exam for half an hour? That's what we're there to help you with. And there'll be no stupid questions, because I've probably asked them as a student myself. So If you're unsure, find me an email. Now, yes, you will have personal tutors which can help with your own kind of more academic side of it, as well as the pastoral support. But overall, I'm here to try and help you transition into life at Nottingham, help you transition into life as a student, and help you progress and flourish along that way as you transition into year two and then year three. So that's what I'm there for. I'm there to help, if nothing else. Now, is that Absolutely, absolutely fantastic. And for listeners, we'd encourage you to listen to also Roger Carey's pod as the academic lead as well. So you get a bit more of an insight onto sort of the nature of the course. There's often, you know, we talk about this being the long game, but Ryan is, you know, it's a great, have you described that? It's really good. There is this transition here. We appreciate there's a lot of change afoot for a lot of you. That can be exciting. That can be a bit, you know, where that can be a bit scary as well, but I couldn't think of anyone better than Ryan to be there to help. As all staff are there to help, of course, but Ryan's obviously gonna be a really supportive figure for those of you, especially in year one. So moving on from that, really, Ryan, yourself, as a student, was there anything in particular that you found were good, what we call nuggets of advice or things that you found were really good or maybe wish you'd been told maybe looking back on your time now, was there anything that you'd say, oh, you know, these are some good rules to go by or some general... I would say... learn your own way. If I was to give one nugget of advice, so you will arrive at university, you will attend lectures, you will see people scribbling loads of notes, you'll see people taking no notes whatsoever, you'll see people with laptops, iPads, and you'll be looking around the room thinking, oh my God, am I learning this? Is it sinking in? Is it just going in one ear out of the other? Learn your own way. You're at an age now where you've probably got an appreciation of how you learn, you've gone through education, and you've gotten idea roughly of I learn by sticking my head in a textbook I can remember it all and I can then recite it and understand it and repeat it or you might need to get on YouTube get on TikTok get on social media look at different ways of how information and how things are learned in relation to physio that is absolutely fine so whatever you do it's really tempting to look at how especially in first year when you're all trying to tackle it together and you'll see lots of your course mates learning in very very different ways stick to a style that suits you and in first year that won't be probably well refined and you might change as you progress through the course how that learning style adapts but yeah my one nugget of advice stick stick to your own way of learning don't worry about the rest and I think really well said and something I would just echo within that as your first year students you say all this transition finding that way of learning finding what works that might That might change as the year goes on. You might find some even more effective ways to learn, some different ways to learn. You might find that some of your original strategies might not be working, but that's absolutely fine. And I think on discussions we've had before, the first year I think is obviously really getting to understand, yeah, what does uni have to offer? But there's so much opportunity, isn't there, to explore and do things in your life and get that. You've talked about all those things you like to do outside of work. What would you say to people about that in terms of students, how important it is to ensure they've got this balance going forward for their first year between working and social life? Absolutely, absolutely vital. So yes, you are a student. A big perk of being a student and having your own independence for the first time is you can start to now forge your adult life. Nottingham's a great city. There's lots going on, whether that is sport, whether that's nightlife, social life, things to do, places to eat. Explore it. There's a reason you've chosen to come to university here. Go have a look at the city. Check it out. And it is important because there will be periods where it is stressful, whether that is submissions, whether that's deadlines, exams, etc you need to unwind you need to find time to go to a movie you need to find time to go watch some football go out on a bike ride do whatever blow off some steam so yeah it's a great city go explore it learn how to switch off is what I'd advise sound advice but look that's great thank you Ryan and we look forward to a an exciting year ahead yes see you all soon see you soon