Imogen Milton is an alumna of BSc (Hons) Sports and Exercise Therapy, graduating in 2022. She now works as a MSK Tier 1 Team Lead, Student Coordinator and Health Inequalities Lead in North Kirklees. In this blog, she talks through what her job involves and how her course helped her get to where she is today.

Course: BSc (Hons) Sports and Exercise Therapy

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’ve been doing since you graduated?

I graduated from Leeds Beckett in 2022 after studying Sports and Exercise Therapy. After placements in sport, I worked as Head of Medical Services for West Yorkshire Police Football Club, and we achieved a trophy in the year I was there. I had however decided my passions were in Public Health and I had always wanted to work in community MSK (Musculoskeletal) Services after landing there as a patient multiple times when I was younger. My current focus has now shifted to chronic conditions and improving general health through MSK practice. This is because the need for support is so high across the country and chronic conditions are often misunderstood.

I came about my role at Connect Health by applying for their Graduate Development Programme through the NHS jobs website and gained a place after multiple interviews. The programme ends with examination which I passed to gain the title of Senior MSK Clinician as well as a wealth of knowledge.

I have now taken on the role of Student Coordinator arranging observational and hands on placements for students to come and gain knowledge of the MSK service as well as put what they have learned in to practice. I also work within the Health Inequalities team and promote ways to support the locale we serve and include myself in social outreach. This has included using our Christmas team away days to volunteer for local charities and attend health events in the area.

Tell us a bit more about your current role and why it’s amazing?

I enjoy my role as well as the variety of patients I see. This enables me to continue developing my clinical skills as well as seek out areas of improvement to continue to learn and develop. I have also enjoyed the addition of non-clinical roles such as health inequality lead and student coordinator. This has led me to connect with a variety of industry specialists within and outside the company. 

I have also developed my leadership and soft skills which enable me to become a better clinician through facilitation of strong communication and understanding. My work in health inequalities enables me to make a big impact on a variety of people who live in the area I work in and help improve public health in general and from an MSK standpoint.

How did your course at Leeds Beckett help you get to where you are today? 

My course directly led to me being able to apply for the Connect graduate programme. I managed to transfer my skills in treating an athletic population as well as excelling and tailored rehabilitation programmes to show that I was a good candidate. The module that helped the most within university was Exercise for Referred Populations, where I began to develop a baseline knowledge of public health in the UK and the challenges people face with managing their health in general as well as comorbidities and chronic conditions.

What support or opportunities did you receive at Leeds Beckett that have helped shaped your career?

The onsite clinic ensured I had exposure to what it was like working within a self-referral service and seeing patients which I believe helped me develop my clinical reasoning and evidence-based rehabilitation. This exposure provided great evidence in my initial interview to secure a place on the Connect GDP Programme. The support from Tom Pinder also helped me immensely in my time at university as I know I had someone who believed in me and pushed me to achieve what I thought I could not. 

The support of the employability services and outside speakers also exposed me to a variety of potential careers and grew my knowledge of transferable skills. The support to also secure some placements also helped propel me to being a competent clinician through a variety of gained placement experience. 

Can you tell us about a project, piece of work or experience from university that you’re proud of? 

I believe anyone will say their dissertation was the work that they were most proud of, and I have to say I agree. Completing such an extensive project in an area of interest widely unexplored gave me an immense feeling of pride. However, in general I believe the work that mattered to me the most was the study and work I completed for my Exercise for Referred Populations module and Evidence-based rehabilitation. These two modules helped accelerate my interest in working in public health over sport and the skills and knowledge I learnt from these modules was paramount, so I am most proud of the additional study and research I conducted for these modules.

What would you say to someone considering studying your course?

I would advise people to take the leap and apply. The course and its contents are one of the most incredible learning experiences you can undertake and the support from lecturers is felt all the way through your time at university and beyond. The course is ideal if you would like to work in musculoskeletal care whether that be, sport, NHS or private practice. 

Sports and Exercise Therapy provides all the key requirements for this and beyond. My personal belief is that there is no better place than Leeds Beckett to study the course due to the knowledge and experience of the lecturers as well as the continued relationship with The Society of Sports Therapists.

What’s next for you?

I plan to continue to grow and develop in my newly appointed roles and to encourage the promotion of public health campaigns to improve musculoskeletal care and health for the general population. My recent research into our own service delivery and patient journey is set to be disseminated nationally and I hope this invokes positive change on a mass scale to continue to develop and improve patient-centred care.

I have recently been promoted to a Tier 1 MSK Team Lead and look forward to my journey into leadership and supporting other MSK clinicians and I am very excited about this opportunity so early on in my career.