Motivators and barriers for studying podiatry in Australia and New Zealand: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Podiatry enrolments at Australian and New Zealand universities have decreased by 17.3% since 2015, which threatens the profession's sustainability and the health and wellbeing of Australian and New Zealand people and communities. Reasons for this decline remain unclear due to insufficient evidence on factors influencing career choices. The overarching aim of this study was to identify motivators and barriers for studying podiatry in Australia and New Zealand. METHODS: This study used a convergent mixed methods design. Students enrolled in (i) podiatry and (ii) relevant non-podiatry health, sport or science programs at nine Australian and one New Zealand university, were invited to participate in an online survey. First-year podiatry students were also invited to participate in an online workshop. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear/logistic regression models. Three independent assessors used inductive thematic analysis for the qualitative data. RESULTS: Overall, 278 podiatry students (mean age 24.9 ± 8.5 years, 65.1% female) and 553 non-podiatry students (mean age 24.8 ± 8.2 years, 75.4% female; 32.2% from physiotherapy and 29.1% from occupational therapy) responded to the survey. Interest in a health-related career, wanting to make a difference to people's health, and opportunity to care for people from different backgrounds/age groups were key motivating factors among podiatry students. Barriers to studying podiatry were encountered by 28.1% of podiatry students. Thematic analysis identified seven themes concerning career choice, which are as follows: (i) awareness of profession and scope of practice; (ii) stereotypes and negative perceptions of the profession; (iii) awareness of career pathways; (iv) job prospects and earning potential; (v) working with people and building relationships; (vi) podiatry is not the first preference; and (vii) barriers which limit student enrolment. CONCLUSIONS: There are a variety of factors that motivate and influence students to study podiatry, however, altruistic reasons are most highly rated. Allied health students have limited understanding of the scope of practice and career opportunities in podiatry. Additionally, the podiatry profession often faces negative stereotypes. Further work is required to reverse the negative stereotypes and perceptions of podiatry and build knowledge of the profession's scope of practice, career pathways/opportunities, job prospects and earning potential.

Effect of premeasurement rest time on systolic ankle pressure.

BACKGROUND: Systolic ankle pressures are routinely measured as part of an ankle-brachial index to screen for lower extremity peripheral arterial disease. Despite widespread use of this measurement, the effect of premeasurement duration of rest on the magnitude, or reliability of the ankle systolic pressure measurement is unknown. This study assessed the effect of premeasurement rest duration on systolic ankle pressures. METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred and forty participants meeting guidelines for peripheral arterial disease screening volunteered for this study. Following 5 minutes of rest in the supine horizontal position, ankle systolic pressures of the lower extremity were taken. Measurements were repeated at 10 and 15 minutes. Testing was repeated 7 to 10 days later. A significant drop in ankle pressure of 5.02 mm Hg occurred between 5 and 10 minutes (P=0.004). No significant change occurred between 10 and 15 minutes (mean change 0.15 mm Hg, P=0.99). Presence of diabetes was associated with a smaller drop between 5 and 15 minutes (mean change 1.85 mm Hg) and predicted 13.4% of the variance in change in ankle pressure (ß=-3.61, P=0.0001). Test-retest reliability after 5 minutes was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.76 to 0.91) however increased for measurements taken at 10 and 15 minutes (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.89 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.94 and 0.89 95% CI: 0.82 to 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest ankle systolic pressures stabilise after 10 minutes of rest. Longer periods of premeasurement rest did not improve reliability significantly. Though diabetes affects ankle pressure changes after rest, further investigation is required to identify the cause.