Nick Haley

A. As a kid, I was spraining my ankle pretty regularly, when out on the farm. Mum and Dad would say, “Oh yeah, it’ll be right”. Long story short, it didn’t come right. I found I was spraining it on a weekly basis moving forward and it was affecting my ability to play sport. We went to see a physio who gave me some exercise, then I was sent to a sports doctor who took x-rays and said there was nothing wrong with it. In the end I got referred through to see a podiatrist, which is when we really started to get to the bottom of the problem. After our first session, he said, “Look, you need some Formthotics”. They honestly changed my life. I was able to play sport again! Being at a boarding school and not able to play sport, meant I’d get picked on, and plus I really wanted to be out on the field. So something so small made a huge impact on my everyday life.

So, when I started thinking about what I wanted to do after high school, I started thinking seriously about podiatry. I spent a week with Greg Coyle at the Gloucester Sports Clinic and it was fascinating – at the time he was also doing digital surgeries. He did drag me out of the room once because I almost fainted when observing. But that’s where it all started for me – I went on to finish podiatry training, which seems many moons ago now.

A. Undeniably Greg, as I’ve mentioned. But otherwise, I remember really looking up to the people around me whilst studying at university. All the lecturers were so knowledgeable, and every clinician I met during my placements I’d think, ‘All this knowledge just rolls off their tongue’. They served as my inspiration in the early days.

In Christchurch, we were really lucky to have people like Greg Woolman, Bruce Baxter, Ian Graham and Charlotte Russell. They've got practices that have been going for years, and they do great work.
Then there are those that came through at a similar time to myself – Ben Lamb and Simon Wheeler. We're the generation below, and there are now other generations coming through too, which are bringing their own approach and ideas.

We're really lucky in Christchurch to have such a collegial environment. But looking internationally, I remember in my last year of university, Kevin Kirby and Simon Bartold were presenting at a conference we had in Wellington in 1997. They were both amazing presenters – I was completely bamboozled by how intelligent they were. It was great to see their human side though too because after a few drinks they were equally comfortable getting up on stage with a guitar and having a singalong together!

A. Interestingly it varies from week to week. At the moment, the most common thing we see is paediatric heel pain – often what’s traditionally called Sever’s Disease – maybe one kid per day.

Often the treatment revolves around the education of stretching, and providing heel raises, talking about load and exercise. I try to create games for them, but it depends on their age. I feel there’s a gap in education for children – we don’t often talk to them about how, as they age and go through puberty, their feet, legs and bones will change and grow.

A. I've seen people with extra toes – polydactyly. Often there’s a sixth toe off the side of the fifth phalange. I've seen it twice within the year and had never seen it in the 22 years before that – one case where the five phalanges were relying on the flexor digitorum, because the flexor hallucis had been reattached at the metatarsal head, following amputation. Therefore, only the lesser toes have the ability to flex.

A. Well, it's pretty simple – an orthotic is often the most basic and easiest treatment. A heel raiser is often the best bang for buck for your patient. A Formthotics insole allows you to stabilise things, or facilitate movement, or just change forces.

A. Keep learning. Understand that you don't know what you don’t know. That old adage rings true for me – the more you learn, the less you know.

For me, going to a conference, listening to a speaker, doing a seminar presentation, watching an online tutorial, following Twitter users and reading research, are the best ways to engage with new material. I think you need to do that as a clinician to stay relevant.

A. Having a business that has set quite a few podiatrists on a good path, setting them up for a great career moving forward. It’s really rewarding to see people grow, and sometimes go off and start their own businesses even.

A. I love cooking, I’ve got some reasonable knife skills. At the end of the day getting home from work and jumping into the kitchen and doing something where I don't have to solve anyone else's problems. For a similar reason, I also love to paint. I have been painting for years.

A. There are so many stories. Earlier in my career, I worked in a rest home with dementia patients, I ended up walking into a room and being asked to treat a patient who was sitting on the commode, completely stark naked.

A. We’re really lucky these days, there are lots of Facebook groups, and local branch meetings of Podiatry New Zealand.

Again, in Christchurch we're lucky to have some of the shoe stores that support us really well, often hosting education evenings where you can meet other podiatrists.

A. Look, you get to treat all walks of life – from All Blacks to big cricketers, to dancers. But these days I would say I'm particularly focused on treating the ‘unfamous’.

I love treating patients that are trying to reclaim their fitness, coming back to sports after a breakaway. I enjoy supporting them by getting them in the right kind of shoes, getting them sorted with orthotics, and helping them prevent injury or treating minor injuries so that they can stay healthy.

A. I like to think podiatry as a bit of a crazy family. We’ve got our black sheep, we’ve got our trailblazers, the nerds, and then also the unsung bulk of the podiatry profession. We’re all diverse but we’re really close here in New Zealand.