Peak Sporting Performance Dr Nicola Keay

Peak sporting performance

Dr Nicola Keay is a Sports and Dance Endocrinologist. Nicky left NHEHS in 1983 and after a gap year read Medicine at the University of Cambridge. She qualified as a doctor in 1990 and went on to gain membership of The Royal College of Physicians in 1993. Her career has taken her to Australia, Switzerland and many places in the UK.

Nicky is now working in the field of exercise endocrinology. This involves clinical work with exercisers, athletes and dancers. She is medical advisor to The Scottish Ballet Company and Chief Medical Officer of Forth which offers blood testing with medical explanation and advice. Nicky is also involved in research as an Honorary Fellow of Durham University, with recent studies in cyclists and dancers. Nicky presents webinars at various conferences and universities and supervises research students in the UK and abroad.

What are your favourite memories of your time at NHEHS?

I was at NHEHS for all my schooling and remember doing my entrance assessment in Redlands. I have so many fond memories of friends I made at school, playing sport and dancing in school plays such as The Silver Curlew. I loved “musical movement” in Redlands, and clearly remember dancing to 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Grieg. I loved improvisation from an early age. I continued to dance outside school at the Miss King School of Dance near Eaton Rise and they were brilliant. Although we did not have the extensive sports and drama facilities that NHEHS has today, I loved sport at school. Miss Chapman was our PE teacher and although I loved individual sports such as gymnastics, tennis and swimming, I was not great at netball and hockey. But Miss Chapman was really lovely and supportive and saw that I had ability in tennis at least! For gymnastics we had Miss McBurney who I met up with at a school reunion a few years ago. I have great memories of swimming for NHEHS at St Paul’s Girls’ School and being amazed they had their own pool. They also had a diving board and I was asked to take part in the diving competition which I had never done before! I also remember pressing the buzzer outside Ms Percy’s office for distinction signing and waiting for the light to go green. The headmistress was very accessible and there was a real feeling of community.

Did you have a favourite teacher/ subject at NHEHS?

I don’t remember having a bad teacher at NHEHS; they were all excellent and it made it really hard for me to pick my A levels! In the end I took Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology. I was inspired by Miss Jolowicz (even though I found her slightly scary!), the Biology duo of Mrs Brown and Mrs Smith and for Chemistry, Mrs Cleasby and Dr Court. The science block was being built when I was there and it was state of the art at the time which was really

inspiring. I loved Mrs Brown, the biology teacher, and all the science staff. I took science A levels and thought about engineering briefly, but knew being accepted to read medicine was even more of a challenge (which appealed to me!) and I loved the idea of being able to apply science to humans. I also had at the back of my mind that because dance and sport were important to me it may be a way to maybe tie my interests together. Although it took me a while to achieve that in the end!

How do you feel NHEHS helped foster your abilities and talents and give you the confidence to be successful in your chosen career?

Throughout my time at NHEHS having excellent and inspiring teachers was crucial, particularly in science. I loved that the atmosphere wasn’t just about learning the syllabus and passing the exams, but that we were there to be trained to be inquisitive thinkers and good scientists. Mrs Brown always told us to add at the end of our reports on practicals what we would need to investigate further and that still applies now when I write my papers for publication. Mrs Brown’s voice is still in my head even today. NHEHS definitely encouraged us to try everything and helped us believe we could achieve whatever we put our minds to. Part of the reason I applied for medicine was that everyone said how hard it was and how long the training was, and I think it was a reflection of NHEHS that I was determined to try. I felt really well prepared academically for my first year at Cambridge, which not all my fellow students did, and I believe that was down to the excellent teaching at NHEHS which really stretched us. The whole structure of NHEHS encouraged and supported each individual to achieve their personal best. This included all the pupils, supportive of each other with a touch of friendly rivalry which helped us all achieve more. Having all female teachers was definitely inspiring too. Medical training is extensive but during my training in the late 1980s I knew I wanted to focus on dance and sport medicine. As my elective at medical school I went to Geneva Hospital to study endocrinology in young gymnasts. It was during this time that I realised that hormones were the missing link in sports performance. At the time sports medicine was mainly focused on injuries and rehabilitation. However, my focus was looking at hormones which are really complicated and a challenge to investigate. In the late 1980s Australia was the place to be for sports medicine as they were way ahead of everywhere else. I knew I wanted to get out there and that was what drove me to independently arrange time in Australia for my professional development and I attribute my time at NHEHS for giving me the confidence to make things happen for myself.

What has been your career highlight to date?

For me the highlight has been developing a totally novel way for women to understand their hormones throughout their cycle and their lifetime. What I do now is the culmination of all the training, research and hard work. Understanding what happens to a woman’s hormones during her menstrual cycle, and throughout her

Nicky as part of the NHEHS Tennis Team 1980

Nicky in her lab wearing an estrogen molecule necklace

life, means you have to understand the most complicated hormone system there is. Every monthly cycle is different and as a woman has children and gets older, the hormones continually change. You cannot do just one blood test and know what is happening. The perimenopause is an area of female health that has been neglected until recently and is highly significant for women as the ovaries start to wind down. There are many symptoms that can significantly impact on a woman's quality of life. It is now possible for women to live for 30 years in the menopause due to increased life spans, which is a large proportion of a woman’s life. Support and information is lagging behind what is happening now as part of the normal physiology of women.

What has been your biggest/ toughest career decision to date?

Not working full time in the NHS. At the time it seemed like a dramatic decision to leave my position as a Specialist Registrar which I loved, although it definitely was a good decision as it would not have enabled me to follow my passion and carry out specialist research in the way I wanted to. This means I have been able to focus on areas of health and preventative medicine, rather than disease, that have always interested me and provided my original motivation for studying medicine.

What is the best part of your job?

Every day working with dancers and athletes to guide them to optimal health and performance is very rewarding. I want to help people understand their bodies for them to achieve their goals by understanding their hormones. I also want to reassure perimenopausal and menopausal women that they are not going crazy, it is their hormones! It is a normal part of physiology and I love what I do now as I have the time to really get to the underlying cause of the problem.

What are your top tips for anyone considering a career in your field?

In medicine there are so many possibilities and the best thing is to keep your mind open to many different routes and paths. You have to do your basic training but follow your interests and what you are curious about. Don’t be scared of stepping off well-trod paths to explore different routes.

Nicky is happy for any other NHEHS Alumnae thinking of a career in sports medicine to get in touch either directly, or via the Alumnae Relations Officer.