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The first cohort of podiatric medicine students, who began the course in 2006 and graduated on 25 March, have dispersed to a variety of areas to practise.

The 17 students who completed the degree, including one from South Korea and one from NSW, have all been placed.

One has commenced an Honours year, one has a one-year internship at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, one has returned to NSW, one has gone to a hospital in Victoria and the rest have found positions working in existing private podiatry practices in WA.

The intake of students has increased each year and has reached 38 this year. They include 12 international students and two transferring from other UWA courses.

Professor Alan Bryant, Head of Podiatric Medicine, said the potential for UWA graduates to find work was very good because of the dearth of podiatrists in Australia and overseas. “Some of our graduates have had multiple offers of employment,” he said.

Although graduates must complete at least 12 months of clinical practice before embarking on a higher degree, several have signalled a desire to enroll in post-graduate programs next year.

Apart from an Honours degree, the other higher degrees available are a Master of Podiatric Medicine, Doctor of Clinical Podiatry and a Doctor of Podiatry, which is largely research-based.

Of the School’s five staff members, two are enrolled in a PhD degree and are undertaking research. In addition, there are 14 practising podiatrists in WA who are enrolled in post-graduate degrees.

As part of the training program, the Podiatric Medicine Unit, which is part of the School of Surgery, runs a podiatry clinic in Park Avenue in Crawley. It is open five days a week.

“The clinic is developing nicely,” Professor Bryant said, adding that it is undergoing considerable refurbishment to increase teaching spaces and academic offices and provide a new operating suite to teach students surgical procedures.

Undergraduate students will learn nail and soft tissue procedures, such as operations for ingrown toe nails, while postgraduate students undertaking the Doctor of Clinical Podiatry will be taught elective foot surgery, such as correction of bunion and hammer toe deformities.

From 2014, the primary qualification in podiatric medicine will be a four-year graduate entry program leading to a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree.