University of Winchester, Sparkford Road, Winchester, SO22 4NR, UK.
Health Education England, Southern House, Otterbourne, Winchester, SO21 2RU, UK.
J Foot Ankle Res. 2022 May 28;15(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s13047-022-00551-6.
Podiatry is an allied health profession which has seen a substantial decline in numbers in recent years. Every effort is required to recruit more students to reverse this diminishing supply and meet national foot health needs. To increase the number of applications to podiatry courses and encourage individuals to choose podiatry careers, the aim of this study was to understand the key motivations, sources of influence and barriers to choosing a podiatry career among current podiatry students, and consider the influence of choosing podiatry before or after a first career.
An online questionnaire, comprising mainly Likert-scale questions, was disseminated to podiatry students in England between February and March 2021. Respondents to the questionnaire were categorised as individuals who had either decided to engage in the profession 'before' or 'after' a first career. Mann-Whitney U non-parametric difference tests were performed to compare outcome questions relating to motivations, sources of influence and barriers between groups.
One hundred and fifteen students completed the questionnaire. Overall, the study demonstrated many similarities between the groups (before and after a first career). However, there were distinct differences when considering some of the motivations (i.e., intellectually stimulating, student bursaries), sources of influence (i.e., own patient experience) and barriers (i.e., financial, job availability) associated with engaging in the podiatry profession. Overall, altruistic reasons were the key motivations for choosing podiatry. Personal sources of influence such as conducting own research, was the most important source of influence. Similar to other studies, a lack of awareness of the podiatry profession and what it entails remains problematic.
This is the first national questionnaire investigating career choice decision-making for podiatry students in England or in any other country. The similarities suggest that marketing is applicable to both groups. However, an absolute must is a future national strategy that makes educational sources more impactful. Additionally, following the Covid-19 pandemic, the increased interest in health and care professions suggests now is the right time to market podiatry to individuals looking for a career change. Finally, the influence of personal encounters with podiatrists shows the transformational role podiatrists can have in recruiting to the profession.
足病医学是一门辅助医疗专业，近年来其从业人数大幅减少。为了增加足病医学课程的申请人数，鼓励更多人选择足病医学职业，需要尽一切努力招募更多的学生来扭转这种供应减少的局面，并满足国家足部健康需求。本研究旨在了解当前足病医学学生选择足病医学职业的主要动机、影响来源和障碍，并考虑在第一份职业之前或之后选择足病医学的影响，从而增加足病医学课程的申请人数，并鼓励个人选择足病医学职业。
2021 年 2 月至 3 月期间，向英格兰的足病医学学生在线分发了一份主要由李克特量表问题组成的问卷。对问卷的答复者被归类为已决定“在”或“在”第一份职业之前从事该职业的个人。对与动机、影响来源和障碍相关的结果问题，使用 Mann-Whitney U 非参数差异检验进行了组间比较。
115 名学生完成了问卷。总体而言，该研究在两组之间（第一份职业之前和之后）表现出许多相似之处。然而，在考虑从事足病医学职业的一些动机（即智力刺激、学生助学金）、影响来源（即自身患者体验）和障碍（即财务、工作机会）时，存在明显差异。总体而言，利他主义是选择足病医学的主要动机。个人影响来源，如开展自己的研究，是最重要的影响来源。与其他研究一样，缺乏对足病医学专业及其相关内容的认识仍然是一个问题。
这是首次在英格兰或任何其他国家对足病医学学生的职业选择决策进行的全国性问卷调查。相似之处表明，营销适用于这两个群体。然而，绝对必须的是制定一项未来的国家战略，使教育资源更具影响力。此外，在新冠肺炎疫情之后，人们对健康和保健职业的兴趣增加，这表明现在是向寻求职业转变的个人推销足病医学的正确时机。最后，与足病医生的个人接触的影响表明，足病医生可以在招募该职业方面发挥变革性作用。
