Kelly Sawyer has just become a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery following her graduation from MSc in Healthcare Management in 2022. She tells us how undertaking her master’s led to her decision to pursue this new challenge.
What was your dream job as a child, and what is your dream job now?
I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare, but it took me a while to find my niche. Pregnancy and childbirth have always fascinated me, so midwifery was a natural fit.
Why did you choose the Kent Business School?
Kent Business School allowed me the flexibility to study part-time, so I could continue to work alongside studying. There was also flexibility within the course, so there were plenty of opportunities to make the content relevant to my sphere of practice.
What are some of your favourite memories, achievements and experiences?
I really enjoyed my research project at the end of the course – I was able to explore a topic that was interesting to me, that was also relevant to a service improvement project I was spearheading at my Trust. Carrying out my own research was a huge learning curve, but incredibly enjoyable.
What have you been up to since graduating?
I loved academia so much and missed it so much when the course was over that I decided to become a lecturer myself! I’ve just started as a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery and am very excited for a new challenge.
What does your role involve? What do you like about it the most, and what are the most challenging aspects?
My role as a Deputy Consultant Midwife involved spending time working on service and quality improvements, working clinically as an expert practitioner, and developing myself to become a Consultant Midwife of the future. I like the role because it gives me the opportunity to view services through a different lens, and also allows me to impart my own knowledge and skills in order to improve care for families across the board.
How do you apply the knowledge and skills you gained during your studies in your job, and what career advice would you give students and fellow alumni?
The course was invaluable for me in understanding and improving my leadership style, and in strengthening my work in service improvement. It also enabled me to gain a more general overview of healthcare services, and to understand how maternity services fit into the bigger picture of the NHS.
What are your future plans / aspirations?
I’m really hoping to publish my master’s dissertation in a midwifery journal this year, and I’m also hoping to expand on those findings and work towards a PhD in the future. I’m excited to see where a career in education takes me and look forward to helping to shape the hearts and minds of the midwives of the future.
What advice would you give to current students doing your course?
I would advise current students to look beyond your own scope of practice and see how you can learn from other disciplines. I initially struggled to open my mind to other possibilities, but there’s so much I was able to take from the course that could be applied to my role, even when it didn’t seem obvious at first.