A number of instruments have been developed to measure outcomes of IPE in pre-qualification health professional students. Based on reported validity evidence and reliability data, the psychometric integrity of these instruments is limited. The theoretical test construction paradigm on which instruments have been developed may be contributing to the failure of some instruments to detect change in variables of interest following an IPE intervention. These limitations should be considered in any future research on instrument design.

Many different types of foot orthoses are used to treat biomechanical dysfunction of the foot. Little evidence is available to guide clinicians in the selection of foot orthoses. The aim of this project was to determine whether resistance of the foot to supination or the Foot Posture Index could predict the static stance response to different types of prefabricated foot orthoses. The Foot Posture Index score was determined and resistance to supination was measured in 18 subjects (36 feet). Changes in the frontal plane calcaneal angle and navicular height were then measured as the subjects stood on six different types of foot orthoses. All orthoses resulted in an increase in navicular height, but only three orthoses changed the calcaneal angle in the frontal plane. Resistance to supination did not predict the response to the different types of orthoses, but the Foot Posture Index score was associated with changes from using some of the orthoses.

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Podiatric medical students in Australia were surveyed to evaluate their reasons for entering podiatric medicine, knowledge of aging, attitudes toward older people, perceptions of treatment efficacy, and desire to specialize in geriatrics. Few students plan to specialize in geriatrics upon graduation (4%), with most preferring general practice (25%) or sports medicine (21%). However, knowledge of aging was good, and students had favorable attitudes toward older people and considered treatment of older people to be effective. Few age- or gender-related effects were observed. It is concluded that students' lack of desire to specialize in geriatrics may be due not to unfavorable perceptions of older people but rather to the low profile and limited development of geriatrics as a specialty area within the podiatric medical profession.

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Introduction: Universities within Australia use the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score to guide student selection into degrees. This process assumes that students with higher ATAR scores are more capable of the academic requirements of tertiary study. This study investigated whether ATAR predicted grades in individual subjects within a university podiatry course. To our knowledge, this research is novel within this discipline in Australia.Methods: The academic records of four intake cohorts into the podiatry program (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012; total n = 328) were retrospectively analysed. Whether student ATAR scores predicted grades achieved in each subject was examined using multiple linear regression analysis, with secondary schooling type, entry type, gender, socioeconomic status and year of course commencement considered as potential covariates.Results: Higher ATAR score was predictive of stronger academic performance in 21 of 29 podiatry subjects, although the strength of the relationship varied from weak to moderate across year level of subject and subject type. The strongest associations were in second year bioscience subjects for Microbiology (r = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.32–0.77), Normal and Pathological Movement (r = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.35–0.66) and Human Bioscience B (r = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.32–0.69). Three of the six clinical subjects (Podiatric Practice A, D and E) did not produce statistically significant associations. Conclusion: This study identified that ATAR score moderately predicted grades of biosciences subjects, however it did not predict grades in clinical subjects. Provision of academic support targeted at bioscience subjects may be useful to improve the performance of students with lower ATAR scores.

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