Many colleagues across PFAS will already know Zena. Today, she plays an important part in welcoming and supporting clinicians as they begin their own journey with us, drawing on her experience of making that transition herself.

We caught up with Zena to hear why she originally joined PFAS, what support clinicians can expect during their training and why, a decade later, she would still recommend PFAS to others looking for their next clinical career move.

Why did you join PFAS?

“I joined PFAS because I’d been in the NHS for 16 years and I wanted to diversify my role and have a challenge.

And I knew that the training was going to be something that I never experienced before, even though, you know, having done a degree and I wanted to stretch myself and I wanted to have that one-on-one time with people, which in the NHS, unfortunately, sometimes you’re very pressured and that time is precious.

And as an assessor, you get to spend more time with an individual than any other health professional will.”

What support is there for clinicians transitioning into an HP role?

“So your support will start prior to actually joining the company.

I make a personal welcome call to each of the new clinicians just to introduce myself, talk through any questions they’ve got about the training time and just give them that sort of, I’m going to be there on that first day to meet you, you’ll know my voice and you’ll get to see me in person.

Throughout the training they have a dedicated lead trainer. So for the first 25 days you are in the classroom virtually with your trainer.

You will have weekly one-to-ones with them where we look at where you are with your competency and how you’re moving forward and obviously ad hoc one-to-ones as needed. When you move into your stage three, which is your supervised clinical practice, you will have a coach.

So you have a clinical coach who will support you for the assessments that you are going to be doing with live claimants. They’ll be there from the moment you start to prepare for the assessment up until the point where you submit that report to the DWP.

Moving into stage four, you will be supported by your clinical standards lead until the point that you reach approval with the DWP. And then that person, that clinical standards lead will continue to support you as you go on to develop your confidence and become a much more autonomous practitioner.”

Why would you recommend PFAS?

“From my first day, well actually I’ll say from my interview that I had with PFAS 10 years ago, when I walked through that door I felt welcomed. It felt like people cared and that there was a family type of atmosphere.

And that’s something that still remains today within PFAS.

I think one of our big things is wellbeing, we do foster that sort of nurturing and caring environment for people.”

Could your next clinical career move be with PFAS?

Zena’s journey is a great example of where a new direction can lead. Having joined PFAS as an assessor herself 10 years ago, she now helps welcome and support clinicians taking that same first step.

Making a career change can naturally come with questions, particularly when you’re moving from a more traditional clinical setting into a different type of role. As Zena explains, that transition isn’t something clinicians are expected to navigate alone. Support begins before their first day and continues through training, supervised clinical practice and beyond.

If you’re a healthcare professional considering a new direction for your clinical career, explore our current opportunities at PFAS and find out where your experience could take you.