Podiatry enrolments have plummeted by 17.3% since 2015 in Australia and New Zealand, threatening the sustainability of the profession.
In response, Michelle Kaminski and fellow podiatry academics from nine Australian and one NZ university banded together to ask 278 podiatry and 553 non-podiatry students why they did or did not want to devote themselves to a lifetime of foot healthcare.
The results, published in a new paper, are quite interesting, in particular because none of the 13 authors are from a marketing department, and are wading in to see what can be done to solve the problem, presumably in lieu of professional staff at their respective institutions.
The paper found that students chose podiatry not because they were interested in feet or feet care per se, but they wanted a health-related career, to make a difference to the lives and health of others and an opportunity to care for others of different backgrounds and age groups. So far, sounds like every other health course.
So, what were the barriers to choosing podiatry? 28% of podiatry students said issues included awareness of the profession, negative perceptions of podiatrists, awareness of career pathways, job prospects and earning potential.
The student concluded that further work is required to reverse the negative stereotypes faced by the profession and build knowledge of the profession’s scope of practice, job prospects and earning potential.
The paper also found that Podiatry was often a backup plan – the course you choose when you don’t get into another health profession you really want.
It will be interesting to see where this research goes. Clearly, to develop an effective campaign, the podiatrists need to move beyond the idea that students all make up their own mind independently and commission independent research with secondary influencers, prospective students, members of the public who could be prospective students but haven’t thought about it yet (the million yet to be wooed into training by the Accord) and practicing podiatrists, as well as looking at comparative market analysis, effectiveness of marketing campaigns and potential solutions beyond profession makeovers to start to build a clearer picture of the way forward. But this is a great start – asking questions and sharing outcomes is an important beginning, as long as it’s not presumed to be a complete answer.