In this alumni interview we speak with Melanie Smyth, a proud adult nursing graduate from UWS Ayr Campus, who has built an impressive career beyond traditional clinical practice. Now serving as Senior Director of Clinical Operations at hVIVO in London, Melanie reflects on her journey from the wards to senior leadership.
Looking back, what originally inspired you to study nursing and why did you choose UWS?
I’ve always seen nursing as more than just a ‘job’—it’s something in you, I genuinely believe it’s something you’re born with. I carry my nursing values with me everywhere, not just at work but also in my personal life. I chose UWS mainly because it had a great reputation and was close to my parents’ house, which made things easier while I was studying. When I first checked out the university, I felt very welcomed, and the facilities are great.
How did your early clinical experiences shape your career interests and were there particular placements or specialisms during your training that had a strong influence on you?
I got interested in respiratory care in year 1 because my grandma had COPD and later passed away from it. When I worked in this field, I saw how patients like her were treated with such respect and kindness. It really helped me pick up important skills like keeping patients comfortable, making sure they ate well, and generally looking after their mindsets. Later, I switched to oncology in year 2/3 and ended up writing my thesis about differing views on euthanasia. Seeing end-of-life situations up close really makes you want to make a difference in people’s life, and you realise the importance of nurses.
Were there mentors, lecturers, or experiences at the university that particularly shaped your professional path?
There was a lecturer called Ivan, I remember his face vividly, he was a fantastic man. I remember he encouraged me to push myself in an OSCE exam. To this day, I keep his OSCE marking sheet as I got a perfect score for discussing prevention of DVTs. It’s still the only time I’ve ever managed to get 100% and at a time when I thought I never could. I often still think about his approach, I think people who know you have potential will push you and looking back I’m grateful to him.
Is there anything you learned in those early years that still guides your work today?
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to leadership, and having the right skills is key for both nursing and management. In my opinion, nurses bring patience, kindness, and empathy to leading teams—traits you don’t always see in higher-up roles. I got pretty good at juggling tasks back in university, I figured out a routine that helped me stay on top of things. I have a habit of getting ‘paralysis by over analysis’, I can tell you I use this same routine from UWS every day in Directing Operations!
After graduation you worked for almost 3 years in Scotland, before moving to England. Can you tell us what motivated the move to London?
Actually, my best friend Claire, who studied Business management, was planning to move, so I tagged along thinking I’d stay for a year. Somehow, sixteen years have flown by and I’m suddenly 38 years old. I do miss Scotland and my family, but there are loads of work opportunities here, and the best part is, I can pop home in about an hour whenever I want.
Can you talk us through your transition from frontline nursing into clinical research and operations and how that came about?
After moving down to London, I continued frontline nursing and eventually found myself working in Urgent Care, which is where I really discovered my passion for acute medicine. I’d often notice patients hanging around just to get an x-ray or some pain relief, and I remember thinking how handy it would be if I could help them out straightaway instead of waiting for a doctor. That’s what motivated me to sign up for the Advanced Clinical Practitioner course at London Southbank University. Once I’d finished, I was able to join the medical rota, which meant I could still nurse but also start prescriptions, order x-rays, CT scans, and generally do a bit more for my patients while they were with me. About this time the pandemic hit and I moved into a Health Tech company to help deliver primary care via an app. This meant those in need could still get help without leaving their homes. I worked here until I became Associate Director of Advanced practice. The truth is post pandemic I think many of us were burnt out and I needed a change of pace and direction, hence the move into Clinical Research.
What skills from nursing were most transferable to your roles in clinical operations?
Honestly, being able to talk to anyone and everyone at their level of knowledge is such an underappreciated skill. I never judge anyone’s situation and treat everyone with the level of kindness I would treat a patient in my care. Its no secret that nurses are experts in juggling workload and that is essential to managing Clinical Operations. Plus, we’re used to rolling with whatever comes our way—every day in nursing is different, and it’s just the same in Operations. Instead of beeping machines, medications, ward rounds and paperwork its now Proposals, presentations, PnL and headcount.
Can you tell us a bit about what hVIVO does and what your day-to-day role as Senior Director of Clinical Operations involves?
hVIVO is a Clinical Research Organisation within the UK and Europe. We basically test if medicine is safe and effective enough to come to the drug market. We do FIH and Phase I-III studies, both inpatient and outpatient. Our unique selling point is our ability to do Human challenge trials, this is where we give volunteers a pathogen (flu, RSV, HRV etc), in a highly controlled environment to ensure the medicine we are testing is safe and effective. Its such an incredible place to work and I get to see the next generation of medications and the choices available to patients. Every day is so different for me, sometimes I’m on the clinical floor, checking on staff and volunteers. Other days I’m reviewing new study designs and helping guide how new studies should run. I have ownership of my divisions finances so get to review profit, spend and loss. I attend conferences, deliver presentations and basically keep the steering the ship in the right direction (with my wonderful team!).
What aspects of leading clinical operations do you find most rewarding?
I always think nursing helps people on a one-to-one type of level, this role makes me feels like I’m making changes to Public Health on a larger scale. I enjoy learning, teaching, guiding and giving staff and volunteers a good experience at hVIVO. I also love the science behind what we do, learning about new pathogens, new challenge models and new breakthroughs in medication.
Many nursing graduates are unaware of the range of career paths available — what would you say to someone curious about roles beyond traditional clinical practice?
I always say look at yourself and your skillset, what are you good at and more importantly what do you enjoy doing? Consider what kind of work/life balance you want, do you see yourself in an office, or travelling around visiting sites or universities. I am a people driven person and my personal values on helping others has guided me on this career path. My advice would be to do a mind map with your name in the middle, pull off what’s a deal breaker in a career, what’s negotiable etc and see what exciting things you have left on the map. For me, I have always been a team player (not a lone worker type of person), I like every day to be totally different, I also like to be raising my hand every day because there’s something I don’t know, something still left to learn. I personally get stagnant with routine, and I like to be able to make real change without too many loopholes. So, in short, look at yourself and decide what makes you happy and fulfilled at work, I can almost guarantee that job exists.
What skills or experiences would you recommend to graduates interested in clinical research or operations?
Focus on logic, sometime being a nurse (for me anyway), makes my decision making emotive. Always stop, think, don’t be rushed by others. Don’t be afraid to say no but always say yes to any training, even if it feels unhelpful to you. You can never have too much knowledge. Last week I did a ‘Using ladders at work’ course, for context I never go on ladders. But it raised some other Health and Safety things that I had never considered, which I have now been able to implement with my new pocket of knowledge. The true skill of leadership for me is active listening, don’t just listen to answer, this is so important when managing large multi-site teams. Honesty and transparency, if you as a leader can’t admit when something’s gone wrong then you are encouraging that behaviour in your team, and that is never a good thing in any clinical setting. Directing Clinical Operations is not an easy job, it can be stressful but honestly it is so fulfilling. When life changing medication that you and your team have tested, gets to people that need it, it can make your whole year!
If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice during your time at UWS, what would it be?
Don’t get hung up on the small stuff, it’s not that deep Mel. This period of life will go by fast, listen to your dad who always says, ‘You have your whole life to be old, not a lot of time young’. Also, Mel, please don’t cut your own fringe for your graduation photos, you will permanently regret it.