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I've finally taken the time to register to the forum, though I've read it several times due to my interst in Podiatrics. I'm currently in school (Year 12, hence the username) and would love to get into Podiatry when I leave. It'd be great if you guys could give a bit of background on Podiatry, the tasks, salary, job prospects, and University life while studing podiatry. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Scott,
No Sure which state you are based in as the Salary varies considerably between states
Generally starting salaries are $35-$50K with top salaries about $85-$90K, private practice will be based upon your clinic type and how busy you are etc.
Job prospects are currently very good, with a current shortage in many areas.
Re tasks. this forum should give you an overview of the tasks that are performed, but I would recommend you see if you can sit in with apodiatrist for a couple of hours to see what really happens.
Re University life: That was a fair while ago for me, but it is generally what you make of it.
All of the Australian Podiatry Schools have web sites (LaTrobe, UniSA, UWS (no 2006 intake planned), CSU, UWA (new for 2006))
__________________ Stephen Tucker Eastern Health
Podiatry Manager
I've thought of ringing a local podiatrist and halving a chat with them actually, but this site has basically what i need. However, I really like the idea of sitting in with a podiatrist, but I don't wanna be to intrusive. As for the salary, can anyone put it into perspective for me?
E.g salary of Physical Therapists, Secondary Teachers etc
Sit in with a local Pod for a week. I really mean this.
We have had a number of pre and current students do this at our clinic and the overwhelming response is "Gee I didn’t think it was like this". Not saying it was all bad, several were really impressed and went of on further studies but at least one walked away saying that the profession wasn't for her.
If you need further convincing the Charles Sturt uni in NSW send all their 1st years out for a placement during their first 3 months to get a good idea of what Pods really do.
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
Last edited by Admin : 1st October 2005 at 05:12 PM.
Thats just a directory of Podiatrist''s that have websites ... maybe many in SA don't have one.
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
re salaries: Pods and PTs are generally paid under the same pay structures along with other allied health, which I think is a bit better that secondary teachers
__________________ Stephen Tucker Eastern Health
Podiatry Manager
From a final year podiatry student's point of view - don't do it for the money, you need to have a genuine interest in helping people, especially elderly people. To find a local podiatrist, go for a drive! From my experience, all be it limited thus far, most pods are pretty approachable people and happy to share a bit of their lives with someone interested in their profession. SA has the most podiatrists per capita in Australia so I'm sure there will be a few close by, just drop in and ask if you can speak to them when they are next free. They can share many things with you that you won't find on this website (be it as fantastic as it is). Also be warned it is a lot of hard work, a lot of study and the jobs at the end are not all exciting 'reach for the textbook' type work, the majority of it is still cutting toe-nails - especially in private practice (of course there are exceptions).
Thanks for the feedback footfan, if anything though I'm actually hoping to get into the sports side of Podiatry. Working at a football club, Institue of Sport etc. I guess I'll just have to go see a local pod for a few hours, see what it's really like. Thankseveryone who's replied, you've been a big help.
The only 'rider' I would put on that, is that you need to aspire to be a very good general Podiatrist first. There are very very few jobs going in sports related podiatry positions and most of those that come up are filled by personal contacts.
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
Well looks like I'll have to set my goals fairly high Also, sorry about all the questions, but is it possible to do Human Movement Studies @ Uni, then branch off to podiatry? I've a real interest in sports related injuries etc, and podiatry is a tad easier to get into than physiotherapy over here.
P.S Craig Payne, get some sleep son! you're on here 24/7
There is nothing wrong with setting sights high.
Previously, my first lecture to the students as part of the sports medicine part of the course was to try and convince them why athletes are the worse patients you are ever going to see!!! (and they really are!). I also point out that none of them will end up with employment in a sports clinic. Out of the 40-50 we graduate every year, one of them every few years will get "head hunted" for work in a sports clinic after they have had good general experience (compare that to the number who want to work in sports...). There is nothing wrong with havng an interest in sports medicine as part of employment in a general podiatry clinic (though I don't know why anyone would :p )...and this from someone who regularly speaks at sports medicne conferences...
We have a number of students who have alredy done human movement degrees...
Quote:
Craig Payne, get some sleep son! you're on here 24/7
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
Last edited by Admin : 1st October 2005 at 10:56 PM.
Reason: added link to spam
I would completely agree with Craig on this - sports is an exciting side of podiatry and biomechanics is paving an avenue for podiatrists to be able to deal with these sorts of (very difficult, stubborn, know what's best for themselves) patients more often but that is not what the majority of podiatry is about. I myself was an aspiring physiotherapist (who also don't get to work with sports patients a lot) who ended up in the world of feet and I have to say - human movements degree or not, you have as much chance of dealing only in sports than an athlete does of going to the olympics. Even the 'sports podiatrists' need to fill their books with regular patients. I personally don't think doing human movements first will get you to sports podiatry any faster than taking a keen interest in sports and reading as much as you can while doing podiatry (easier said than done). Generally you tend to be good at what interests you anyway and will tend towards that area. Whatever you decide, good luck with it and open your mind to ALL of podiatry - there are heaps of things to look at that you never even knew existed.
"I would completely agree with Craig on this - sports is an exciting side of podiatry and biomechanics is paving an avenue for podiatrists to be able to deal with these sorts of (very difficult, stubborn, know what's best for themselves) patients" - Foot Fan
I know what you mean. I spent several years with the South Australian Institute of Sport, and represented the country in Football (The World Game ) at U'17 level. I was one of them athletes who "knew everything", in reality I knew nothing! I guess this is where my keeness towards sports related podiatry comes from. I'm still weighing up my options, but at this stage I'm thinking of doing a Human Movement degree, then branching off to podiatry. That way, if I don't feel pod is for me, at least I've another degree which can assist me in getting involved with biomechanics, sports sci etc. My first priority though is getting to sit in with a local pod for a few hours, for a couple of days. Either way, I'd love to head into the sport scene at some stage. I didn't think I'd get this much of a response, so thanks guys.
P.S How did you gus/girls get into Podiatry? Did you genuinely want to cut toe-nails for a living?!
__________________
Cheers,
Scott
Last edited by youngin' : 2nd October 2005 at 12:20 AM.
Reason: poor use of the quote featur
.. for me it was for exactly the same reasons you are now giving .....
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
I spent nearly 20 years doing other things first...teaching skiing climbing and bushwalking, fruit picking farmwork, involved in starting a high access company, and 15 yrs owning a couple of the more committed outdoor shops in Melbourne, playing with feet, solving fit problems and making orthoses "footbeds" for skiing. Went back to school, VCE and 4 yrs at Latrobe
Podiatry is the easiest way to make a living I have yet tried. I am 45 and registered for nearly six years now. I teach at Latrobe 2 days, rehab hospital 1 day and private practice 2 days, great mix of stuff, I locum when I'm not teaching as well.
The thing that surprises me still, is how much satisfaction I get from doing small things for frail elderly people desperate to stay in their own homes. A large part of podiatry puts you in contact with fascinating people who have lead amazing lives across the last hundred years....we are losing them, but what a privelege for me to get to see into peoples lives, hear that living history before it is gone. I hope you can find your way to appreciating these things too.
The thing about podiatry (and physio) that you come to realise is that the pay doesn't matter. At the end of the day you have to enjoy what you're doing. A lot of physios end up in full time jobs working their buts off for about 40k and going into private practice is tough for them coz there's so many of them. A lot of them start physio because they're into sport but end up in rehab units helping people back to mobility after hip replacements and so on. We are in an aging society and you can't avoid that with any of these professions. Basically there are more average people than there are sports people. With podiatry, there is a general shortage (of podiatrists) which gives us the luxury of picking and choosing. The majority of pods that I've spoken to have a few days in hospitals and a few days running their own practice with a whole range of things to do (with the occasional game of golf thrown in on a Friday). With podiatry wages - it depends on what you want to do and where you set up - the sky is the limit and you are your own boss. :)
Just a warning - we folks in Australian are not DPM's, but gorgeous B.Pod. Not much difference, except we are not able to access the schedule 4 drugs.
I have to concur with all the other correspondants re sports podiatry versus general podiatry etc. I have been a Pod for over 20 years, and have been involved in teaching for many of them. I have also dabbled in other professions (including Primary and Secondary teaching, marketing, health education and health promotion, and so on). No matter how hard I try I can't get over my initial love for Podiatry, and it always comes back to the primary function of a health care provider - improving the quality of life for someone.
The exciting thing about Podiatry is that improvement can come in so many areas and ways. For the elderly it can be comfort, leading to mobility, ensuring independance. For the child it can be reducing the possibility of injury or deformity due to a biomechancial problem, and for everyone in between it varies from a listening ear to a skilful scalpel.
The money situation is interesting - in private practice it depends on how hard you work and how freely you prescribe orthotics (but that is a political issue...). In public work you can suck your way to the top (Chief, Grade 5, over 90K). As an academic - well, bugger it. No money there. But I do get to corrupt innocent minds, and this is beyond value.
At La Trobe we have plenty of Pod students who have done other degrees before entering our course. The Human Movement people are aplenty, but interestingly many of them find the less sporting aspects of Podiatry become even more enticing over time. We have teachers, Nurses, Physios, P&Os....you name it.
My two cents worth? Do Podiatry first - with the cost of degrees today (HECS is a killer), you would do well to get a qualification behind you, and then get out there. If you want to specialise (and although the opportunities are limited, it is certainly not impossible for an ambitious chap), then you could do some postgrad study, while working part-time as a Pod to earn your way.
The course in SA is great - and the Head of School - Sara Jones is a bloody inspiration. She is the Queen of Forensic Podiatry, and if you are a Patricia Cornwell fan, she is the living spirit of Quantico! Mind you, if you ever want to head East, we at La Trobe fancy ourselves as well, and damn right too!
Whatever you do, be assured that you will be a welcome addition to the strong community of Podiatry.
cheers,
Felicity
PS. You asked about University Life? As far as I am concerned it is too serious. I am always encouraging my students to get legless and be promiscuous, but dammit they are so eager and bright eyed and bushy tailed. Mind you, there have been a few Pod Balls where there has been some juicy gossip the next day.....
First of all, what do you mean by "Not much difference, except we are not able to access the schedule 4 drugs." ? What's the difference between a DPM and a B.Pod?
Secondly, you say many of your students are human movements graduates, but you don't encourage this, is that right? I'm keen on doing HM simply because I love sport. At least after completing HM degree, I can then do podiatry, and if I don't think it's for me I have a degree under my belt which can lead me elsewhere. Not a good idea?
Thanks for the info on the SA course, the more info you give can give me the better off I'll be. What I meant by the Uni life question was is the podiatry course really hard? I completed year 12 biology, but I've no background in chemistry. According to the SA Uni book, Chem is assumed knowledge. How important is assumed knowledge in the podiatry course?
I get excited just thinking about this, I'm so keen on podiatry now :) And to be honest, my interest kind of just evolved after I injured my ankle playing football (soccer to you AFL lovers), hopefull it'll be the right decision for me, and as you said, (I'll) become a welcomed addition to the strong community of Podiatry.
S4 drugs are prescription drugs - at the moment, podiatrists are not allowed to precscribe, that is the difference Felicity was talking about.
Many students who do Human Movements find it does not get them where they thought and it is a very hard, intense degree. There was a HM graduate in my class and their option was further study or personal trainer. Being a personal trainer is great but you can get the same qualification in 6 months at TAFE. If you love sports then play them or get involved with coaching or strapping or running the lines. This is coming from someone who has played sport of some form or other nearly every day until I was knocked down with shin splints (then had to see a podiatrist). You will learn enough about sports during the podiatry course to know if you want to study further at a post grad level which is usually more rewarding (all be it faster and more involved) than undergrad. And HECS is a bugger -be sure the degree/s you do will eventually lead where you want them to.
I didn't do Chem or Physics at school either (did Biology and a little oceanography at tertiary level before podiatry) and I found the course is still achievable. It may mean some extra reading or asking a few more questions but I'm sure the lecturers would be happy to help (apparently it's a real pain to fail a student :) ). If you really feel you need it, there are always bridging courses available.
First of all, go and chat to the local podiatrist!!! good luck
In regards to assumed knowledge, in general biology is very helpful. Chem is useful for biochem/pharmacology, but many people seem to get away without it (most Unis offer bridging courses over the Summer). The big killer tends to be maths and physics. You need these for biomechanics and for research methods (ie stats). A good Year 11 background in these is helpful.
I have had many students with minimnal science backgrounds get through the course - they just put in the extra work. As to the course - yep, it's hard, especially in terms of contact hours. But it's fast and practically oriented, and most people survive. The ones that don't we hide in the compost bins.
Aspiring Podiatrist - Help!
Also, sorry about all the questions, but is it possible to do Human Movement Studies @ Uni, then branch off to podiatry? I've a real interest in sports related injuries etc, and podiatry is a tad easier to get into than physiotherapy over here. 
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