Meet the authors

Associate Professor Caroline Robinson

Caroline Robinson is the Associate Professor Podiatry in the School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences (SAHESS) at Charles Sturt University (CSU).  She moved to Australia from the United Kingdom in 2005, where she completed her Fellowship in Podiatric Surgery and Master Pharmacology. Caroline has 32 years’ experience of podiatry education and curriculum design, with a particular interest in sustaining and growing the podiatry workforce, developing cultural capabilities for podiatry practice, and ageing well. Currently her research is focused on podiatry career pathways to enable access and build the podiatry workforce.

Caroline was the inaugural Chair of the Australasian Council of Podiatry Deans (2020 – 2023), collaborating with the Podiatry Program Leaders in Australia and New Zealand to provide an important voice for podiatry educators and enabling a coordinated approach to education initiatives and issues that affect podiatry courses and student education. She enjoys writing for forums such as The Conversation and STRIDE, presenting complex information in an accessible format to promote awareness of podiatry issues and improve health literacy in the community.

Dr Sean Lanting

Sean is the Director of Academic Program (Podiatric Medicine) in the School of Health Sciences at Western Sydney University. He has been involved in Podiatry tertiary education since 2012 and completed his PhD in 2017 at the University of Newcastle. Sean is current deputy-chair of the Australasian Council of Podiatry Deans and very much enjoys working with his colleagues from Australia and New Zealand on their shared agenda of constant reflection and improvement of podiatry education and the development of a capable and effective podiatry workforce.

What has been happening recently in and around the Australasian Council of Podiatry Deans (ACPD)?

At this time of year, universities across Australia and New Zealand are eagerly awaiting the new cohort of podiatry students who will commence study in the new year. A majority of these new students are graduates from high school but we are welcoming an increasing number of non-school leavers – people who have decided to change career and return to study.

 

The ACPD has an important role in collaborating with the Podiatry Board of Australia and the Australian Podiatry Association, to focus on sustainability of the podiatry workforce and increasing student enrolments.

 

The ACPD has recently expanded its membership to welcome additional voices from our member institutions and now also has a team of five Directors tasked with helping to drive the collective initiatives of ACPD. These include Malia Ho (Chair, Monash), Sean Lanting (Deputy-Chair, WSU), Ryan Causby (UniSA), Sheree Hurn (QUT) and Julie Nguyen (CSU).

 

Podiatry academic staff are working hard during the year to participate in course promotion events and University Open Days, to raise the profile of podiatry as an interesting and rewarding career pathway.

 

A recent publication led by Dr Michelle Kaminski and co-authored by several of the ACPD members, provides valuable insight to the motivators and barriers which influence a prospective student’s decision to study podiatry (Figure 1).

 

It is concerning that podiatry continues to attract a much smaller number of new students than other undergraduate allied health programs, and it’s not uncommon to have several aspiring physiotherapists in the class. Fortunately, these new students who thought physiotherapy was their path, tend to thrive in their first year and realise that podiatry is a fascinating discipline with many and varied career paths.

 

Podiatry students, however, understand the need to educate family and friends about their career choice. It is important that we equip new students with the knowledge and language to explain that the word ‘podiatrist’ derives from the Greek words ‘pod’ – meaning foot – and ‘iatros’ – meaning physician.

 

A ‘foot doctor’ is an essential member of any multi-disciplinary healthcare team, because good foot health enables mobility and physical activity to reduce the risk of chronic disease and enhance mental wellbeing.

 

It is clear, however, from conversations and posts on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, that concern about podiatry student enrolments and sustainability of the podiatry workforce is not limited to university departments. There are many practitioners who take an active role in advocacy for our discipline and promote podiatry as a possible career path, not only to prospective students but also to the broader community. Working together and developing industry-university partnerships is crucial to our success in building the future podiatry workforce.

 

Positive developments are underway, however, including the following updates.

 

  • The growth in the number of registered podiatrists from September 2021 to September 2024 is 299 (5%), with an average annual increase of 1.66% over this period.
  • Completion of an ACPD cross-institutional pilot study in 2021 to understand undergraduate students’ choices to study podiatry, with one publication and a second paper in final draft.

 

 

How can podiatrists support these developments?

  • Use social media to promote the diversity of podiatry practice, generate conversation and curiosity about our discipline, and raise awareness of podiatry as a career pathway.
  • Reach out to one or more of the podiatry schools to discuss opportunities to collaborate in student recruitment – it’s a great way to boost your CPD hours for the year!
  • Help to illustrate the holistic impact of podiatry in your local community by sharing news updates and other sources. As just one example, this World Health Organisation (WHO) resource illustrates the health benefits and costs relating to physical activity: “The global estimate of the cost of physical inactivity to public health care systems between 2020 and 2030 is about US$ 300 billion (approximately US$ 27 billion per year) if levels of physical inactivity are not reduced”. (WHO, 2024)

 

What’s next on the horizon for the ACPD?

The ACPD will continue its work to advocate for podiatry at a national level, through Ahpra and the Podiatry Board of Australia and the Chairs of Allied Health Councils joint forum. In addition to the work on student recruitment, ACPD members are collaborating on a range of projects including:

  • Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines (ESM)
  • National Clinical Assessment Tool
  • Student Retention
  • Marketing the podiatry profession
  • Cultural Safety.
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