Bill,
I agree absolutely with your main thrust. Like you I think the HPC will
only continue to damage the profession (indeed all professions). The DOH
have made it abundantly clear that they will thwart any attempt to set
up a General Podiatric Council. None the less this aim should still be a
goal especially if the current architects of the policy, the civil
servants, can be shown to have failed and misled the ministers. A
possibility that may well occur!
Kind Regards
Ralph Graham
Consultant Podiatrist
Witham, Essex, U.K.
-----Original Message-----
From: A group for the academic discussion of current issues in podiatry
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wm J Liggins
Sent: 11 March 2004 17:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Podiatry Education
Ralph
I agree with the general thrust of the argument for a structured pre-reg
year. However, the fact is that in the U.K. we now have registrants
with an enormous variation of training. If all theses people are to be
given the opportunity to contribute, then it will be necessary to set up
part time 'pre-reg years' (of course, these will be registered
practitioners). Once a suitable standard has been acheived across the
profession as a whole, then we can start thinking of a General Podiatric
Council which will be able to take the profession into ownership, rather
than continue to tolerate the current messy situation.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Graham" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: Podiatry Education
Mark
Permit a response as a non-educationalist in the undergraduate sense,
but one who takes students through postgraduate learning to fellowship.
All the BSc courses are now in the university sector but the qualities
vary. One, Southampton, is in the prestigious Russell group with high
entry requirements and high academic standards. Some excel at
biomechanics, some at understanding diagnosis and some at providing
treatment for pain relief. I have always thought the qualities of the
training relate to the strengths of the staff but that might be thought
to be a superficial analysis. By the way the same inequalities have been
demonstrated in the US and Australia. There is no doubt that in the UK
some students arrive with the experience to deliver a high quality
reliable ankle block and some have only ever given a single la toe
injection. Now there may be nothing wrong with these differences, as
long as the course has some strengths, you can only cram s o much in
three years. As for the unregulated sector I am not able to comment save
that any evaluation I have seen equates them to less than six months of
a full time course. You mention debt and fees. You will have seen that
the govt has made clear that all the NHS professions will be free of the
new charges for courses, so that only personal costs will figure in the
student debt. This concession was inevitable as else the NHS entry
salaries would have to be greatly enhanced. We do not have any published
intention to make students who are trained at no fee commit to NHS
employment, but such a change would not be a surprise, c/f medical
students who provide cheap labour by being obliged to work for the NHS
for at least 1 year to gain registration. Now such a postgraduate,
pre-registration would be unpopular because it would also be seen as a
model for cheap labour, but that problem aside I think such a move would
improve the quality of the new registrant. Whilst they may well be
better equipped than you and I in terms of general medical knowledge and
research methods they are often less well experienced in clinical
practice. I think they would benefit from a properly structured
supervised placement year to achieve experience goals and development.
(How do you like the educational jargon?) The proper structure for the
supervised practice would overcome the cheap labour jibe. Anyone any
thoughts??
Kind Regards
Ralph Graham
Consultant Podiatrist
Witham, Essex, U.K.
-----Original Message-----
From: A group for the academic discussion of current issues in podiatry
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Russell
Sent: 10 March 2004 08:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Podiatry Education
In the middle of all this excitement in the current debate, I wonder if
I may throw another bone in for discussion? Can I poll opinion over
podiatry education in the UK.
"What do contributors think of the present set-up and how would they
propose changes for the better?"
I am increasingly concerned regarding the plight of new entrants into
the professional community as well as those still working their way
through the undergraduate program at our schools and colleges. For one
thing, we are beginning to see the real impact that student debt
exercises on the younger generation. I read tonight that there has been
a marked rise in bankruptcies for the under 25's during the last four
years. I daresay that trend will continue. We are fast approaching the
time when the debt levels on graduation could be as much as £20-£30K -
which makes the paltry £500 overdraft I had seem quite insignificant
(and it still took me 10 years to repay it!).
Opportunities in the clinical sphere are not quite what they used to be.
Even if a new graduate gains employment with the NHS - the traditional
playground where we hone our skills - long-term career prospects are
poor, the salaries unattractive, especially with the cost of housing and
tax & etc. Is state run podiatry really that attractive to the six-form
student anymore?
In private practice it's difficult as well. Sure there are more
opportunities, but that route is not so certain and good regular income
can take years to build up. That's not considering the impact the HPC
legislation had to the existing viability of the marketplace (or on the
morale of the podiatry students for that matter).
Podiatry education appears to be suffering too. The funding crisis at FE
Colleges is just as bad as the one in the NHS. Podiatry comes far down
the line just as it does in health. Then there are the independent
schools, who, unless we bring them into the mainstream community, will
seek to undermine the ethos of closure and protection of title by
training Foot Health Consultants instead. What impact then on the
recruitment drive in future years?
Clearly there is a need for an educational programme which targets
different grades of clinician. Instead of the one size fits all
approach, why not a Diploma in Podology (for assistants, technicians,
orthotists & etc - a generic course run by podiatry schools and offered
to other disciplines as well) and a four year degree course for
specialist diagnostic clinicians perhaps with assisted entry from the
Diploma.
Can I also ask opinion regarding structure of the educational community
itself? We have some 13 or 14 schools teaching the BSc programme at
present in polytechnics and 2nd grade universities (no offence meant). I
addition, there are three or four schools in the independent sector
which are unregulated and free from inspection. Clearly this is
unsatisfactory. Can such fragmentation really be practicable in a modern
age? Wouldn't four or five podiatry colleges be better, with higher
yearly intakes - working alongside 'centres of excellence' in podiatric
care? Colleges that provide a raft of programmes both at undergraduate
and postgraduate level.
I raise this subject because of a recent conversation with a government
minister, who floated the idea of regional centres of excellence in gait
and its associated disorders. This was a subject that was discussed two
years ago on another forum, and an outline proposal was raised with a
DoH official at the time. If the government are in the market for some
'social trophies' - the way Labour administrations sometimes are - then
could a case be submitted that might bring together the research and
development fields and the whole educational apparatus into some form of
complementary partnership? With that kind of set-up, the colleges could
be more attractive to corporate support through the various trade bodies
something more and more premier division universities are taking
advantage off. Just some thoughts but I'd be interested in some other
views.
Sincerely
Mark Russell
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