Podiatrists

Podiatrists specialise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the foot, ankle and leg, with the principle aim of improving patients’ mobility, independence and quality of life.

Podiatry is an ever-evolving field of healthcare and so keeping up to date with the latest developments to provide patients with the best possible care whilst continually building skills and knowledge is key to future proofing an exciting and fulfilling career.

Our podiatrists at Newcastle Hospitals work as part of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, surgeons and other allied health professionals offering the most up to date, professionally evidenced and critically appraised advice. This ensures we provide consistently high standards of patient care which can be literally life-changing for both them and their families.

As our Trust offers the second largest breadth of specialist services in the UK, we offer excellent career prospects and are committed to ensuring our podiatrists have access to all the education and development support that they might need.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

With so much evolution in both community and hospital based podiatry, it’s important to keep up with new technologies and treatments; new regulations, practices and skills.

CPD provides a supportive framework to ensure you not only stay compliant with your regulatory body but can also refresh existing skills and gain new ones.

It helps you to develop your knowledge base and improve as a professional practitioner, maintaining excellent standards of competency to ensure you provide patients with increasingly effective treatment plans that deliver better results.

You can choose from a wide range of learning resources including short courses, e-learning training, workshops, and conferences both internally and externally.

CPD support at Newcastle Hospitals

Career aspirations can be discussed at annual appraisals in close liaison with line managers, or at any other time of the year, to help understand and plan how we can help you to take steps forward and achieve your goals.

For example, you may wish to specialise in a particular area of practice or explore teaching or research. Further training can support you to prepare for a future role – you may wish to become an advanced clinical practitioner or progress into management.

Annual appraisals help to shape personal development plans to set out learning opportunities which can be provided either in-house or externally.

Choosing the right CPD for you

There is a huge and diverse range of learning and development opportunities for you to choose from. We offer a wide variety of courses which are run in-house by our Education Workforce Development team and you can seek advice from our team here at the Newcastle Clinical Skills Academy about what might work for you.

If it’s something relating to leadership that you’re looking for then head to the Leadership section of our website to find out more.

If you have a particular interest in research then our section on how to #MakeSpace4Research will tell you everything you need to know.

Health and Care Professions Council

As Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) Dieticians are members of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and are required to meet the HCPC’s 5 CPD standards.

Updating your CPD profile

Keeping an up-to-date file of progress which documents your activities and achievements so that you have this to hand at any time should you be asked to provide it.

You can find out more about how to fill in a CPD profile and see lots of examples of CPD activities on the Health and Care Professions Council website.

Your profession may also have specific expectations – as a practicing Podiatrist you may find some of the following information helpful.

Royal College of Podiatrists (RCOP) support

The RCOP offers a wide range of support and activities to assist its members (annual fees are applicable) in upholding the highest standards of professional practice and to develop themselves continually throughout their working lives.

Members can access CPD content via TALUS, the RCOP’s Learning Management System (LMS).

There is also an Events and Courses section on the website where you can find details of courses, conferences, webinars and training opportunities which would support your CPD.

Link to potential course providers

Here you will find the UK’s Schools of Podiatry who offer post graduate training:

The University of Huddersfield

Podiatry MSc (hud.ac.uk)

Theory of Podiatric Surgery MSc (hud.ac.uk)

Principles of Podiatry Surgery (hud.ac.uk)

The University of Brighton

Podiatry PhD (brighton.ac.uk)

Advanced Podiatry MSc (PGCert PGDip) (brighton.ac.uk)

The University of Southampton

School of Health Sciences | University of Southampton

Podiatry Degree (Hons)| BSc | University of Southampton

The University of Northampton

MSc Advancing Practice | UON (northampton.ac.uk) 

Podiatry Degree BSc (Hons) | UON (northampton.ac.uk)

The University of Salford

MSc Podiatry (pre-registration) | University of Salford

Queen Margaret University

Podiatry | Queen Margaret University (qmu.ac.uk)

Glasgow Caledonian University

Podiatry and Radiography | Glasgow Caledonian University | Scotland, UK (gcu.ac.uk)