About

#Hellomyname is Janice St. John-Matthews.

I am a daughter; niece; sister; wife; mum; diagnostic radiographer; healthcare educator; CPD champion; dyslexic; train enthusiast; pet-owner; part-time doctorate student and blogger. I grew up in Ireland but now live in Wales and work in England.

In Autumn 2013 I  attended the Leadership Foundation in Higher Education Aurora programme. On day one the key-note speaker  highlighted the  difficulty women with children under the age of five have with researching and publishing. I knew they were right.  As an early career academic with a two year old son  and limited publishing experience I was already asking the question: “How am I going to make networking; collaboration; research and publishing happen?”

In 2015 while participating in the  #happenista project  I decided to set up this blog and other social media outlets as a work-around to the challenges of being a Mum with a career in academia. This space was not meant to be a substitute for peer-reviewed publishing or “proper research”.  It was  a platform to share some thoughts; experiences and reflections at a time when my publishing opportunities would be slower.

In 2017 my son turned five. Since starting the blog I have managed to publish and present on my areas of interest- dyslexia, social media and healthcare education. I have also been part of the team to write the College of Radiographers professional guidance on the use of Social Media.  Although the direction of my blog has changed as I capture my thoughts for my Doctorate work, the ethos remains:

• To inspire radiographers to continue to raise the profile of our profession
• To highlight that sometimes when traditional meets non-traditional methods of publishing, the impossible becomes possible