Annie Lea – Clinic Manager (Surbiton)
I graduated from the University of Bath in June 2008 with a
degree in Sport and Exercise Science. As part of my degree I
completed a placement year working alongside elite athletes in Team
Bath's human performance centre. Although I enjoyed my placement I
realised that I wanted to focus my ongoing study on the role of
exercise and nutrition on general health rather than from a sports
performance perspective.
Having secured a place to start an MSc in Exercise and Nutrition
Science at the University of Chester in September 2008, I spent the
summer applying for jobs, one of which in particular caught my eye;
a Health and Wellbeing Physiologist at Nuffield Health. The job
description included a number of skills I had gained through my
degree and placement, so I applied for the position and, following
the application process, was offered a role based at the Nuffield
Health Brentwood Hospital.
The next few months went very quickly. I moved to Essex, changed
my MSc studies to part time, completed 3 weeks of intensive
training and began my role as a Health and Wellbeing Physiologist.
After working in Brentwood for 15 months an opportunity for career
progression became available at a new site in Surbiton as a Clinic
Manager. Once again I was successful and now I complete a role
which allows me to maintain the application of my skills as a
Health and Wellbeing Physiologist alongside operational
responsibilities for a small team of clinicians.
Personally, I feel privileged to be a part of a rapidly
expanding company, specifically being involved in the integration
of clinical services and products into a Fitness and Wellbeing
Centre which is something that hasn't been done on a large scale
previously. It has been a change and a challenge moving to this
role, but one which I am enjoying. In the coming months I am going
to complete the training to deliver the weight management programme
which will add even more variety to my role. Nuffield Health has
changed significantly since I joined in 2008 and I'm sure the
future will offer many more exciting opportunities to look forward
to.