HELEN'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD OF PODIATRY

Helen has dedicated her life to a pursuit of excellence in Podiatry. Throughout her extensive experience she has made meaningful contributions to the field.

Helen Robins qualified as a podiatrist in 1981. In 1982 she began lecturing at the Podiatry school at the Technicon Witwatersrand, at the same time she became secretary of the Transvaal branch of the Podiatry Association. In 1983 Helen moved to the Podiatry District Health Services in Johannesburg, which was then part of the district surgeons office, where she developed services to provide podiatric treatment and care to the elderly and disabled. This was done both as home visits and as regular visits to retirement and special needs homes throughout Johannesburg.

During the 1990’s Helen began working at the District Health Services for Northern Transvaal where one of her most important duties was training nursing staff throughout Northern Transvaal on foot health and care.  It was at this time that Helen worked with the director at the Department of National Health, developing programmes for Diabetic Foot Health and Geriatric Foot Health.

In 1998 Helen completed her Honours degree in Podiatric Studies from the University of Brighton and received a Certificate in Primary Health Care Management at the University of Witwatersrand. She has since chaired accreditation committees on Podiatry Training and moderated research conducted by final year podiatry students for a number of years.

In 1999 Helen opened a private practice in Pretoria East, where she treated patients on a multitude of foot conditions ranging from planta fasciitis, biomechanical complications and ingrown toenails to diabetic ulcers. In 2003 she founded the Multidisciplinary Diabetic Foot and Ulcer Clinic with Dr Lynne Tudhope, where she is the resident podiatrist.

At it's formation Helen sat on the Wound care Association of South Africa’s committee where she presented several lectures on the diabetic foot.  She has been involved in lecturing for the World Wound Care Association on diabetic foot care and offloading. She has presented numerous lectures for the Podiatry Association of South Africa at their biennial meetings.

She has published articles with a focus on diabetic burns and offloading in the Wound Healing Journal of South Africa and has lectured for the International Diabetic Foot Working Group. She has attended numerous Podiatric Conferences and Workshops including:  

The Pan African Diabetic Foot Study Group in Dar es Salam in 2014 on diabetic foot care

The Kinematic Taping Master Class in May 2014, to better help patients with sports injuries

The Podiatry Silicon Workshop in April 2015, covering the manufacturing of silicon devices for toe deformaties

The Ripple Effect Master Class Workshop for the years 2015-2018 which deals with biomechanical interpretations using pressure plate data and designing the perfect CAD CAM orthotic

The 8th International Symposium on the Diabetic Foot in May 2019 which focused on the temperature of the diabetic foot and preventing chronic ulceration