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New university podiatry program...this is getting ridiculous

Discussion in 'Australia' started by LuckyLisfranc, Feb 24, 2012.

  1. LuckyLisfranc

    LuckyLisfranc Well-Known Member


    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    So here we go, another new announcement (new to me anyway) for a new podiatry program:

    In Queensland we are about to open 2 new schools of podiatry...

    That brings the total to ?10 domestic podiatry programs! My god there are only 9 in the entire US, and we have about 1/8th the population.

    What hope is there for some consistency when there are 10 degrees, with all different names, and varying from post grad DPM to 3 year undergraduate.

    How does the poor public work out if one podiatrist is as well trained, better, or worse, than the next?

    LL
     
  2. nl689

    nl689 Member

    Hi LL

    It definitely is a ridiculous situation. There is no consistency whatsoever in podiatry as a degree and as a result we are being held back as a profession. Im a current QUT pod student and all I have heard from students above me is that the course changes every year and there is yet any benefit to be seen. I am happy with the content but far from happy with the structure of it :S

    Nel
     
  3. pod29

    pod29 Active Member

    Hi Tony

    Out of interest, what is the other Pod course coming into QLD? I am aware of CQ in Rockhampton, but didn't know that there would now be 3. I'm not quite sure where they think all the students will come from?

    Regards

    Luke
     
  4. LuckyLisfranc

    LuckyLisfranc Well-Known Member

    Southern Cross University plans to commence podiatry in 2013 by all accounts.

    I believe this will be taught from their Gold Coast campus.

    LL
     
  5. pod29

    pod29 Active Member

    Thanks Tony. I know that Southern Cross is commencing a Pedorthics degree, but didn't realise they were taking Podiatry on as well. Interesting times.....

    At least you'll have plenty of candidates to choose from when employing staff?

    Regards
     
  6. caf002

    caf002 Active Member

    Why be so worried about traininig availability?

    If you have read the book by Geoffrey Blayney, The Tyranny of Distance, you will understand the the reasoning of this approach. Travelling costs a fortune in Australia and the closer the system can provide training opportunity for our dispersed population, the better. There is such a paucity of podiatrists outhere so all that is happening is that the training institutions are just meeting demand. It is called the force of the market. If the courses are not filled they will be dropped.
    Australia is recogised the world over for its high standard of education so an another opportunity exists for over seas students. Furthermore, the biggest growth in employment world wide is in health care.

    In summary, Carpe Diem!!
     
  7. mr2pod

    mr2pod Active Member

    I would see one of the issues could be the quality of the educators to run these courses. I do not mean to offend anyone but, what is the current numbers of highly qualified podiatrists avalible and willing to run these courses?
    Certainly don't blame the Uni's for trying to meet a demand, albeit in a niche area. Having grown up in Yeppoon, CQ Uni certainly would have been beneficial in my student days.
     
  8. Paul Bowles

    Paul Bowles Well-Known Member

    This is certainly one of the biggest issues and you have nailed it on the head. Its great having amazingly qualified PhD, research active Podiatrists in teaching positions but there is just not enough to go around 9-10 courses within Australia. Havent we learnt from previous mistakes??? Obviously not.
     
  9. Footsies

    Footsies Active Member

    The accreditation board ensures that the universities programs are suitable to turn out graduates.
    What is of more concern is 'Where are all of these graduates going to find work?' I know we currently have a shortage - but in a few years we are going to see an abundance of pods and not enough places to put them!
     
  10. DMax

    DMax Member

    oh?! I have just started Podiatry this year....should I be scared???
     
  11. PowerPodiatry

    PowerPodiatry Active Member

    Another issue is 'what are they being told that a podiatrist does for a living'?

    Will the sales pitch = the reality of podiatric life.

    Are they all being told they will be podiatric surgeons or Sports podiatrists to the Stars.

    Oh well maybe I can pick up a gig brow beating some disillusioned podiatry student and loose touch with the reality of clinical life;)
     
  12. Atlas

    Atlas Well-Known Member



    I'm with you.



    Aren't we not an ageing society?
    Cutting one's own nails (primary care) is the probably the first self-caring task we all lose.

    Quite a few podiatrists out there of the non-female variety don't do primary care...full stop. Its either orthotics only; research only; combination; or selling barefoot runners.




    Try to ring for a primary care home-visit this week anywhere in Aus, and I am guessing you will be lucky.



    And then, there is the rural issue. Many city folk haven't a clue about this. In some towns and regions, like the Latrobe Valley, you have one real option in relation to podiatry. This monopoly has developed due to a combination of (a)lack of Gippsland people doing Podiatry course and/or Gippsland graduates leaving the region; (b) lack of options for patients; (c) A++++++++ grade marketing; (d) professional operation...etc. etc....

    In fact, when I was just a physio in the Latrobe Valley years ago, I was forced to wear another hat, as my patient had been to THE podiatrist and exhausted options there.

    So a course in the rural and regional Victoria, like CSU in Thurgoona/Albury, is good for the region and its surrounding need. Their motto is "learn rural, stay rural", and I hope for their own sake that the intention becomes reality; and that graduates repay the dividend of rural and regional investment.



    And whilst I understand that more courses should mean a thinning of teaching talent, I look at it another way. Maybe this is the only chance in the modern EBP/PhD world, for a clinician (psuedo academic) to "sneak in' and have a real influence in a university teaching course. Then, and only then will the students that emerge really hit-the-ground-running clincially IMO.




    The next step, and we might still be 2 decades away, is an indigenous psuedo-university emergence, for the benefit of the first people and their communities.



    Ron Bateman
    Physiotherapist (Masters) & Podiatrist
     
  13. PostMortem

    PostMortem Active Member

    Hi Atlas

    Couldn't agree more with you. Too many new grads (no offence intended) in many allied health professions think it beneath them to do the basic, routine care that is the core of the profession.

    There is and will continue to be a huge demand for primary care as demographics skew towards the older population. I enjoy the specialty areas of podiatry but also love the opportunity to get to know the patient. They can have amazing stories to tell and you never know, you might just learn something from them too :eek: and that can mostly be possible during that primary care process.

    How many times have Pods identified serious medical conditions that the client didn't want to both the GP about during those primary care treatments.

    Living in rural Victoria recruitment and retention can be difficult, local training has great potential to help with this.
     
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