David M Holland BSc CSci MRSB, Expert Witness Podiatrist

Why did you decide to apply for professional registration?

Professional registration offers a benchmark which shows the other professionals I work with – Lawyers, Consultants, Health Care Professionals, the Health and Care Professions Council, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – that I have attained and will continue to maintain a specific standard in my working life.

In addition it contributes, along with my Membership of the Royal Society of Biology, to a strong scientific framework which I find immensely useful for reading and writing research work outside of academia.

What makes the Science Council’s Professional Registration award different to other registration awards you may be eligible to apply for?

The post-nominals CSci are recognised and respected by many different disciplines. In law, the solicitor and barrister will in general seek to appoint the best educated and most experienced Expert Witness they can find. The Science Council’s Chartered Scientist award shows that the recipient is not only educated to a high level, but that they have a track record of working with others, and of problem-solving.

How has Professional Registration with the Science Council made an impact on your work or career?

The postnominals CSci are an acknowledgement of my commitment to work and to science over my 50 years of professional life. That they confer stability to the head of a small company, I have no doubt. I am a new Registrant, and so will have to wait to see what further impact registration will make.

What do you value most from being a member of your professional body?

I am a member of several professional bodies. Each offers, in varying degrees, marketing of the profession, protection (indemnity insurance), a benchmark for knowledge, and a commitment to ongoing study (CPD), and further education. I value marketing, benchmark for knowledge, and a commitment to ongoing study. The Royal Society of Biology together with the Science Council push good science, and I believe I value this more than anything else.

What would you say to any other scientist like yourself who is thinking about Professional Registration?

I came to science rather late in life – I completed my 1^st degree in 1993 at the age of 43. I have since found that there is much sloppy science out there, and in my experience it outweighs the good science. The late statistician Douglas Altman said (of medical research) in the BMJ in 1994: “we need less research, better research and research done for the right reasons”.  He was right, and it is for this reason that I recommend professional registration as a goal worth attaining; for self-enhancement, of course, but also to be part of the bigger picture of robust science, in whatever field you choose.