University of Western Australia DPM Program

[Adam Smasher]

Posting this in the pre-pod forum just because it pertains to podiatric education and undergraduate preparation.

In today's PM News, there's a mini-feature about an Australian podiatrist starting a rural podiatry clinic. Mildly impressive, plus she looks young so it's a fairly big deal at this stage in her career to be heading up her own clinic. So I went down the rabbit hole, checked her linkedin which appears to be outdated. She got her degree from University of Western Australia. So I started reading about the program.

Apparently they have an accelerated program for post-secondary students where you can get your bachelor's degree and DPM in only 5 years! And after that, you're licensed and off into practice you go. You can work in Oz, NZ, as well as some parts of Canada (Canadian lurkers take note). Now admittedly, Australian DPMs need an additional cert if they want to operate, so most of them are only doing clinic work which is not particularly demanding. But clinic work is the meat and potatoes of most of our day as American DPMs too. It absolutely astounds me how overschooled and overtrained a lot of us are when the Australians are producing pods in 5 years out of high school.

PS, if you want to learn forefoot surgery, it's just another 3 years of schooling.

Other things to consider:
1) Average salary for an Australian pod is about $85k (about $58k USD), above the national average. Cost of living in the down under isn't that much less than it is in the US, however.
2) Average temps in Perth range 60-90 F year round
3) Australian girls react to American accents the same way American girls react to British accents

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[air bud]

Posting this in the pre-pod forum just because it pertains to podiatric education and undergraduate preparation.

In today's PM News, there's a mini-feature about an Australian podiatrist starting a rural podiatry clinic. Mildly impressive, plus she looks young so it's a fairly big deal at this stage in her career to be heading up her own clinic. So I went down the rabbit hole, checked her linkedin which appears to be outdated. She got her degree from University of Western Australia. So I started reading about the program.

Apparently they have an accelerated program for post-secondary students where you can get your bachelor's degree and DPM in only 5 years! And after that, you're licensed and off into practice you go. You can work in Oz, NZ, as well as some parts of Canada (Canadian lurkers take note). Now admittedly, Australian DPMs need an additional cert if they want to operate, so most of them are only doing clinic work which is not particularly demanding. But clinic work is the meat and potatoes of most of our day as American DPMs too. It absolutely astounds me how overschooled and overtrained a lot of us are when the Australians are producing pods in 5 years out of high school.

PS, if you want to learn forefoot surgery, it's just another 3 years of schooling.

Other things to consider:
1) Average salary for an Australian pod is about $85k (about $58k USD), above the national average. Cost of living in the down under isn't that much less than it is in the US, however.
2) Average temps in Perth range 60-90 F year round
3) Australian girls react to American accents the same way American girls react to British accents

Yeah I don't like the shark to DPM ratio around Perth.

 

[diabeticfootdr]

There are now 3 schools I know of outside the US offering the DPM degree. 2 in Australia, 1 in Canada.

There is still no pathway for a FPG to practice in the US.

 

[Adam Smasher]

I guess this topic was a dud. The usual board certification drama/job search drama seems to be going in circles, I figured we could talk about something else.

Anyway, I didn't mean to imply being a podiatrist is any better or any worse in Australia or in the USA. Nor should anyone who wants to live and work in the USA try for a degree in the down under. I do find it striking the differences in training as well as the scope of practice--there it's more analagous to a PT than MD. Reminds me of the old Fosters commercials for "How to speak Australian," where "podiatrist" has almost an entirely different meaning

 

[air bud]

I guess this topic was a dud. The usual board certification drama/job search drama seems to be going in circles, I figured we could talk about something else.

Anyway, I didn't mean to imply being a podiatrist is any better or any worse in Australia or in the USA. Nor should anyone who wants to live and work in the USA try for a degree in the down under. I do find it striking the differences in training as well as the scope of practice--there it's more analagous to a PT than MD. Reminds me of the old Fosters commercials for "How to speak Australian," where "podiatrist" has almost an entirely different meaning

Turns out we would be on the good end of that commerical...

Overhead Australian accent: "Australian podiatrist" cut to picture of Australian podiatrist measuring for a shoe, trimming a callous and talking about a lotions and potions.

Overhead Australian accent: "American podiatrist" cut to picture of American podiatrist measuring for a shoe, trimming a callous and talking about a lotions and potions.

Overhead: "Podiatrist - international for a not a real doctor"

Wait maybe not...

 

[Adam Smasher]

For the right person, going to school for 5 years including bachelor's to go on to a career shaving calluses and giving shoe recommendations might be a good career move. We talk a lot about ROI here and it doesn't sound terrible. Plus a lot of the perks of old-school c&c podiatry: cushy job, easy hours, home in time for supper. You know what you are, you know what you're not. If you get restless after 5 years, good news you're still young and can change careers.

In the USA, between the debt and the 11 year commitment, it's not practical to make that kind of change, especially if you were oversold on being a surgeon.