The status of podiatry in the United Kingdom

Mandy, Philip

doi:10.1016/j.foot.2008.05.003

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Our study was unable to determine why individuals working as an AHP overlooked the opportunity to engage in podiatry. Despite noting that there is an opportunity to maximise on the territory of the foot [ 30 ] once invested in the profession [ 31 ], the perceived status of the profession may lead to this never being actualised. Through addressing the perceived status of the podiatry profession by contemporary research, it may be possible to target marketing to attract applicants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations, sources of influence and barriers to being a podiatrist: a national questionnaire of student views

Wallis

Faulkner

Locke

et al. 2022

Journal of Foot and Ankle Research

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Background Podiatry is an allied health profession which has seen a substantial decline in numbers in recent years. Every effort is required to recruit more students to reverse this diminishing supply and meet national foot health needs. To increase the number of applications to podiatry courses and encourage individuals to choose podiatry careers, the aim of this study was to understand the key motivations, sources of influence and barriers to choosing a podiatry career among current podiatry students, and consider the influence of choosing podiatry before or after a first career. Methods An online questionnaire, comprising mainly Likert-scale questions, was disseminated to podiatry students in England between February and March 2021. Respondents to the questionnaire were categorised as individuals who had either decided to engage in the profession ‘before’ or ‘after’ a first career. Mann-Whitney U non-parametric difference tests were performed to compare outcome questions relating to motivations, sources of influence and barriers between groups. Results One hundred and fifteen students completed the questionnaire. Overall, the study demonstrated many similarities between the groups (before and after a first career). However, there were distinct differences when considering some of the motivations (i.e., intellectually stimulating, student bursaries), sources of influence (i.e., own patient experience) and barriers (i.e., financial, job availability) associated with engaging in the podiatry profession. Overall, altruistic reasons were the key motivations for choosing podiatry. Personal sources of influence such as conducting own research, was the most important source of influence. Similar to other studies, a lack of awareness of the podiatry profession and what it entails remains problematic. Conclusions This is the first national questionnaire investigating career choice decision-making for podiatry students in England or in any other country. The similarities suggest that marketing is applicable to both groups. However, an absolute must is a future national strategy that makes educational sources more impactful. Additionally, following the Covid-19 pandemic, the increased interest in health and care professions suggests now is the right time to market podiatry to individuals looking for a career change. Finally, the influence of personal encounters with podiatrists shows the transformational role podiatrists can have in recruiting to the profession.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations, sources of influence and barriers to being a podiatrist: a national questionnaire of student views

Wallis

Faulkner

Locke

et al. 2022

Journal of Foot and Ankle Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The future will involve promoting the status of the profession through recognition by role extension and task substitution to gain the full scope of practice. Future difficult negotiations and interaction with other health professionals in an inter-professional manner will determine boundary negotiation [ 14 , 21 – 23 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As podiatric scope expands in Australia to recognise the specialty of podiatric surgery and endorsement for prescribing rights; it will be interesting to re-evaluate practitioners views on scope of practice in the future and whether this extended scope of practice is truly a new descriptor for future podiatrists scope of practice Chi Square tests all had df = 1, *P = 0.000, **P = 0.001, ***P = 0.002, ****P = 0.025 Chi Square tests all had df = 1, *P = 0.000, **P = 0.002, ***P = 0.054 [12,13]. The question arises: is measuring 'specialisation or special interest' , simply a quasi marker for professional status [14]?…”

Section: Characteristics Of a Specialist Podiatristmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specialisation versus special interest ‐ the Australian podiatry experience

Davies

Bennett

Nancarrow

et al. 2015

Journal of Foot and Ankle Research

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BackgroundEnsuring efficient and effective delivery of health care to an ageing population has been a major driver for a review of the health workforce in Australia. As part of this process a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) has evolved with one goal being to improve workforce flexibility within a nationally consistent model of governance. In addition to increased flexibility, there have been discussions about maintaining standards and the role of specialisation. This study aims to explore the association between practitioners’ self-perceptions about their special interest in musculoskeletal, diabetes related and podopaediatric foot care and the actual podiatry services they deliver in Australia.MethodsA cross sectional on-line survey was administered on behalf of the Australasian Podiatry Council and its’ state based member associations. Self-reported data were collected over a 3-week interval and captured information about the practitioners by gender, years of clinical experience, area of work by state, work setting, and location. For those participants that identified with an area of special interest or specialty, further questions were asked regarding support for the area of special interest through education, and activities performed in treating patients in the week prior to survey completion. Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics approval was sought and confirmed exemption from review.Results218 podiatrists participated in the survey. Participants were predominately female and worked in private practices.The largest area of personal interest by the podiatrists was related to the field of musculoskeletal podiatry (n = 65), followed closely by diabetes foot care (n = 61), and a third area identified was in the management of podopaediatric conditions (n = 26).ConclusionsHealth workforce reform in Australia is in part being managed by the federal government with a goal to meet the health care needs of Australians into the future. The recognition of a specialty registration of podiatric surgery and endorsement for scheduled medicines was established with this workforce reform in mind. Addition of new subspecialties may be indicated based on professional development, to maintain high standards and meet community expectations.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13047-015-0127-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Our study was unable to determine why individuals working as an AHP overlooked the opportunity to engage in podiatry. Despite noting that there is an opportunity to maximise on the territory of the foot (30) once invested in the profession (31), the perceived status of the profession may lead to this never being actualised. Through addressing the perceived status of the podiatry profession by contemporary research, it may be possible to target marketing to attract applicants.…”

Section: Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations, Sources of Influence and Barriers To Being a Podiatrist: A National Questionnaire of Student Views

Wallis

Faulkner

Locke

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background Podiatry is an allied health profession which has seen a substantial decline in numbers in recent years. Every effort is required to recruit more students to reverse this diminishing supply and meet national foot health needs. To increase the number of applications to podiatry courses and encourage individuals to choose podiatry careers, it is important to understand the key motivations, sources of influence and barriers to choosing a podiatry career among current podiatry students, and consider the influence of choosing podiatry before or after a first career. Methods An online questionnaire, comprising mainly Likert-scale questions, was disseminated to podiatry students in England between February and March 2021. Respondents to the questionnaire were categorised as individuals who had either decided to engage in the profession ‘before’ or ‘after’ a first career. Mann-Whitney U non-parametric difference tests were performed to compare outcome questions relating to motivations, sources of influence and barriers between groups. Results 115 students completed the questionnaire. Overall, the study demonstrated many similarities between the groups (before and after a first career). However, there were distinct differences when considering some of the motivations (i.e., intellectually stimulating, student bursaries), sources of influence (i.e., own patient experience) and barriers (i.e., financial, job availability) associated with engaging in the podiatry profession. Overall, altruistic reasons were the key motivations for choosing podiatry. Personal sources of influence such as conducting own research, was the most important source of influence. Similar to other studies, a lack of awareness of the podiatry profession and what it entails remains problematic. Conclusions This is the first national questionnaire investigating career choice decision-making for podiatry students in England or in any other country. The similarities suggest that marketing is applicable to both groups. However, an absolute must is a future national strategy that makes educational sources more impactful. Additionally, following the Covid-19 pandemic, the increased interest in health and care professions suggests now is the right time to market podiatry to individuals looking for a career change. Finally, the influence of personal encounters with podiatrists shows the transformational role podiatrists can have in recruiting to the profession.

show abstract

The status of podiatry in the United Kingdom

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Motivations, sources of influence and barriers to being a podiatrist: a national questionnaire of student views

Motivations, sources of influence and barriers to being a podiatrist: a national questionnaire of student views

Specialisation versus special interest ‐ the Australian podiatry experience

Motivations, Sources of Influence and Barriers To Being a Podiatrist: A National Questionnaire of Student Views

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