The Changing profession that is podiatry

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Hi all

I wish to open this discussion thread
Plain and simple:

- current Scope of practice in australia for podiatrists
- The Podiatric Medical Assistant (Usually CERT IV allied health assistant)
- s4 prescribing rights when will they be PBS rebated? Soon? And what about state and territory posions acts? why are they still restricting the federal allowed scope of practice of podiatrists??
- Use of the courtesy title 'doctor'??? Thoughts? who is actually using it in NSW, ACT OR SA?
- current undergraduate degrees in podiatry, my thoughts are if possible right now gradually change all undergraduate courses to 4-5 years minimum, award the Bachelor of health or medical sciences with a master of podiatric medicine, and then so gradually in the later years move podiatry into a podtgraduate course with requirements being the gamsat/interview renaming the degree doctor of podiatric medicine, thoughts??
- the podiatric surgery degree, only UWA offers it right now, should there be more? i think yes, maybe in NSW? maybe in a place where its not so isolated?

Would love to hear everybodies thoughts and inputs

 

I think all these things will come to pass with the passage of time. Forty years ago in Australia there were shorter certificate and associate diploma chiropody courses, no local anaesthesia, no podiatric scheduled drug prescribing, little lower limb biomechanics science, limited special interest groups, no podiatric hospital admitting and operating theatre privileges, no tertiary public hospital podiatric high risk clinics etc. The reasons for these changes are probably numerous; including personal actualisation, the pursuit of greater patient care, fulfilment of perceived voids in health knowledge and quality service delivery, and the trend affecting most professions of a transition leading from broad general practice to more specialisation. It will be interesting to see the directions of change over the next forty years....