Podiatry is practiced in many different countries. Just what a podiatrists does in each country is governed by the legislation of that country, the scope of practice in that country and the nature of the training. Podiatry in the USA is a postgraduate degree with a 2-3 year residency after that, but they pretty much have full medical and surgical rights to treat the foot. Podiatry in the UK and Australia is an undergraduate degree and they can get licensed or registered to practice after that. However, the scope of practice is limited to minor surgical procedures. After that they can enrol in a postgraduate surgical training program while working as a podiatrist. In other countries, such as Europe, podiatry is a 2-3 year degree or diploma course and practice is much more limited than in other countries. Podiatry in New Zealand and South Africa are 3 year undergraduate degrees. Podiatry in Canada is mixed, with some provinces allowing the Australia and UK graduate to work, but other requires a DPM degree from the USA.

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Most things that affect our health are regulated. Things like drugs and medicine have to go through a rigourus testing and regulation before they can be used. Even those who use them are also regulated by a registration or licensing  system (depending on the country). Foot orthotics also affect our health, in that they are used to treat a wide range of foot and leg problems. They obviously not in the same league as drugs or medicine, but why should they not be? Most health professionals who use foot orthotics are also registered or regulated. But, you do not have to be regulated to prescribe and use foot orthotics as a treatment. The importance of this is that if something goes wrong, then they can be held accountable through professional regulation. The health professional’s responsibility for a duty-of-care can be upheld through the regulation. This was brought to a head in the UK recently with the bankruptcy of the foot orthotic firm, Parish & Bell. Judging by the forum, message board, consumer groups and blog posts, they have left a lot of disgruntled patients. None of the ‘foot orthotic’ staff were licensed or registered as health professionals, so there was no one for them to be accountable to. Podiatrists can not practice without being registered or licensed. Unfortunately the foot orthotic industry is full of ‘cowboys’ so its buyer be aware.