Hello, from a new confused member

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Hi,

My name is 'Julia Adam' and I have fallen on your website by chance, which is quite handy.
I am currently considering joining and completing the foot health diploma course by SMAE institute and I have to say I am a little concerned about the do other websites which seem to imply that I need a degree to be able to do this role? I don't have the luxury of being able to take 3 years out of my life and not work!

I suppose I am a little cautious as I am not familiar with the 'foot world' community/profession.

Please help! Can anyone squash my fears as I am really keen to do this course and to get on with my career (maybe it is my age as I am in my forties, which is making me hesitant as not able to make an expensive mistake financially or career wise.) However, this course and the potential it holds together with the ability of helping a patient achieve comfortable feet is what is inspiring me to pursue this career path.

I look forward to hearing from someone soon.

Kind regards
Julia

 

Hi Julia & :welcome: to Podiatry Arena.

Previous discussions on Podiatry Arena RE: Foot Health Practitioners: http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/tags/index.php?tag=/foot-health-practitioner/

Many degree students work & study while completing their degree. Personally I worked each evening & weekends during my 3 year degree to pay my rent & feed my family.

Easy? Certainly not! However, if it is a rewarding, professional career you are hoping to attain then the effort involved in obtaining a worthwhile education is what I would advise.

Please do read the previous discussions. It will help you to see the bigger picture. Understanding the field you are hoping to become a part of is the very best way of appreciating if this is the career choice you hope to make.

If you contact any of the universities offering Podiatry as a degree they will assure you that many Podiatry students are over 40 years old.

Basic foot care (nail trimming, application of emollients etc.)can indeed aid individuals to benefit from comfortable feet.

If however you want to have the knowledge & skills required to provide a more complete service in the provision of foot health ie. prevention, diagnosis & treatment of anomolies/disease then (only my opinion) I would advise attaining a degree in Podiatry.

Good luck in your future,

Regards,

Mandy.

 

Hi Julia

I intially trained via the SMAE Institute many years ago. Post their initial training I took their further bolt on training in biomechanics etc. Over the many years I have furthered the skill base via attending training corse that were more "recognised" by the broader medical and Podiatry field.

I certainly made a living from the initial training I had and was fortunate to gain a position in a very active physiotherapy clinic which enabled me to attend some of their training courses, giving me much better understanding of soft tissue approaches and whole body perspectives.

That said I did feel disadvantaged in many other aspects of podiatry work and am conscious, looking back, of the inadequacies of the training I undertook at SMAE. Given the option of starting were you are now, in your 40's and thinking of a the next 20+ years of working life ahead I would without hesitation bite the hard bullet of degee Podiatry training. It will be worth it in the end.

Cheers
Ian

 

I think in my (relatively recent) training, mature students were in the majority and several were in 40s or above.

One of my fellow students had actually smae trained, but decided to 'do it properly' and i believe regretted not doing this straight away. They also took great delight in burning all their old notes as they were not worth keeping.

In the UK, while not much, you do get an NHS bursary for training and tuition fees paid- something worth considering.

Hope this helps
Ian

 

Welcome Julia good luck,

cheers