Employment in NSW/Private Practice Questions

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Dear all,

I am in great need of your advice and expertise about my future career in podiatry.

Currently, I work in the IT field and have decided to study podiatry in university. I am recently married, mortgaged and hope to have kids soon.

I am 25 years old.

I have been searching for current market job opportunities in Sydney on seek and other job sites and don't see many opportunities (maybe 5 - 6 starting positions, but none for any senior positions).

My questions =(

1. Where do all the graduate podiatrists goto work after they finish?

2. I understand, many podiatrists open their own practice, what is the average time from your personal experience, graduates go into to private practice?

3. What are the largest expenses for opening your own practice and what can a newly established practice expect to make (average, based on experience?)

4. Finally, how do you see the podiatry service area and competency expanding in Australia?

My main concern is having 2 hecs debts (have already completed a 4 year degree) and then struggling to find opportunities for employment to support my family. It has been a huge decision for me and the impact for my family will be significant. I just want be sure (at least see some hope), that I will be able to support my family by bringing the bacon home!

I truly thank you for your time and consideration.

Warm Regards,

Dave

 

Big questions Dave, and difficult to answer.
When do you graduate?

It is best in my opinion to work for someone who wants a new grad podiatrist when you do graduate. The end of uni is still only the start of learning and if you get with a good podiatrist, who is willing to teach you, you will be a lot better off for it.

Don't rush into starting your own business it is not the only way to make money, and may not even be the best way to make money. Especially if you want to spend time with these new kids.

At the moment you can still make good money in podiatry. There seems to still be a lot of positions around Australia which you will see on this website by the amount of views someone gets when they are looking for work when compared to looking to hire. However things go in cycles a bit . There seems to be a big influx of English pods heading this way as the NHS are putting people off. This is also affects the number of pods who are staying here rather than taking the holiday visa and people who would have immigrated to England are now looking at places like Australia. We also have a lot higher number of graduates coming through compared to previous years. However these things are all a cycle they go through and things will no doubt change again in a few years.

As a profession I also believe we are being tested by GPs and a public health system to be run by GPs who are keen to employ foot care nurses to take over footcare cheaply. We also have physios, chiro and even my personal favourite, trainee footwear retailers, all trying to have a crack at orthotics.

Does this mean all gllom and doom? No way! We have a growing and ageing population and the awareness of what a podiatrist can do is growing. There are many options availabe to podiatry that we are yet to even test. I see plenty of opportunity. The one key factor is you have to be good at what you do. Thats why I cannot recommend highly enough to work for someone who is good so you can continue to learn after graduating.

I do not know where you live and therefore what size mortgage you have but I am cofident a good podiatrist will always make a good living. Don't worry too much Dave I have never come across any starving podiatrist in my time.

Good Luck

 

With respect, how do you define "a big influx"? I'd bet that the number of British pods who are choosing to migrate for the longer-term (i.e. more than a working holiday visa will permit) isn't actually that high in comparison to the number of podiatrists who graduate in this country each year.

Also, the NHS isn't necessarily laying off staff - there has always been a chronic shortage of pods in many places outside London. Some Trusts may be leaving vacant posts empty (as that way the post hasn't gone, it's just not been filled, which means it can be filled again when budgets improve).

I doubt that British podiatrists really have a significant impact on the jobs market for our profession in this country, and the changes made by the labour government to the skilled migration stream are likely to affect podiatrists just as much as every other occupation on the 'Skilled Occupations List'.