Doctor of Podiatry

The Doctor of Podiatry consists of various programs, each designed with different career applications. Some offer specialised surgical knowledge while others are based on research.

• Podiatric surgery doctorates focus on practical skills, featuring units in biostatistics, advanced podiatric medicine, advanced podiatric surgery, clinical epidemiology and a full time research project.
• Podiatric medicine doctorates require students to undergo units in integrated clinical sciences, general medicine and pathology, clinical practice and more. The numerous units in podiatric medicine develop a huge array of skills and knowledge in anatomy, pathophysiology, clinical presentations, therapeutic principles, wound assessment and much more.
• General podiatry doctorates differ from the previous two by requiring an enormous thesis in place of research project. In the University of Western Australia’s case, it makes up 96 units as opposed to 24 for the research project.

Employment options

This qualification provides graduates with expert level knowledge, giving them the potential to be world-class podiatrists. Their specific path to success depends upon what doctorate they underwent, however. Those who underwent a generic Doctor of Podiatry can expect to make excellent researchers working for companies around the world, like Baylor Scott and White Health in the United States.

Graduates from podiatric surgery on the other hand would find themselves well equipped to work for hospitals remedying serious cases of Morton’s neuroma, plantar fasciitis or ankle arthritis among many others. Whatever the career path, doctoral podiatry programs are a path to excellence.

Scholarships and funding

Programs like the Georgina Elizabeth Moore Hesketh Scholarship or ACLS Scholarship for Healthcare Providers are available to medical students in general, with dedicated podiatry scholarships being quite rare. Many like the Gough Family Scholarship for Medical Education are dependent most on financial need, catering to those from disadvantaged backgrounds with a talent for study. Opportunities like the latter require applicants to prove a variety of things, such as evidence of attempting to remedy financial concerns and satisfactory academic progress.

Prerequisites and selection process

Programs like those offered by the University of Western Australia all require a bachelor of podiatric medicine or equivalent in addition to professional experience. This particular example only requires one year of professional experience, but other programs can require more.

Applying to a research-focussed PhD program at some institutions could result in faculty requiring evidence the applicant has the ability to undergo rigorous research. Prospective students are therefore advised to check the requirements of their desired institution carefully, as some may require undergraduate coursework to have contained a research component or some other external project.