Education and research
An alternative to clinical practice
When you graduate, you may not wish to practice clinically all the time, or at all, preferring to stay within podiatry education. Some podiatrists go on to teach podiatry in universities, continue their own studies, or progress into research.
What roles can I do within podiatry education?
Podiatry lecturer
Podiatry lecturers work in universities to deliver the course content for undergraduate podiatry degrees, the degree apprenticeship and postgraduate podiatry courses. They are high-quality teachers that also assess, supervise, and help students to develop. Their main aim is to make sure that their students are well-trained and that they qualify as fully formed and well-rounded new podiatrists ready to practise or continue their education. Many universities also encourage their lecturers to undertake research.
Researcher
Podiatric academic research is an area that is continuing to grow. Becoming an early career researcher has its challenges and so getting support from experienced colleagues and organisations will go a long way to getting you started.
How can I start in academic research?
There are different types of ways into a career in podiatric research. Some key routes are:
- Studying towards a postgraduate certificate/diploma, a Masters degree, a doctoral degree (PhD) or a professional doctorate
- Contact a early career or established researcher or research group to understand the support and funding pathways
- Contact a university delivering degrees and Masters programmes in podiatry – they will likely deliver modules and courses that will help you on your path to becoming an experienced researcher and provide you with access to a network of like-minded professionals
- Apply for an internship programme
- If you work in the NHS, you may wish to contact your research and development department.
Why do podiatrists do research?
- Clinical advances are only possible through research
- It’s a process of discovery, innovation and development
- Without clinical research, we have no new drugs and no new treatments
- Research benefits patients.
The National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network has produced a webinar for newly-qualified podiatrists to answer that question more fully.
You can watch this webinar here:
A guide to starting out in clinical academic research
The University of Southampton has produced a series of free short films offering advice and tips for clinicians on engaging in research. You can watch the series here.
Other useful links
FutureLearn partners with top international universities and specialist organisations to offer a wide range of online courses and degrees.
Here are just some of the courses that they offer to support research:
- Research Methods
- Introduction to Research Ethics
- How to write a PhD research proposal
- Discovering Your PhD Potential: Writing a Research Proposal