Placements with podiatry

Placement provides a rich learning experience to allow students to develop clinical skills and knowledge
BSc (Hons) Podiatry - Placement information
Placement learning is an integral part of the experience of training to become a podiatrist.
Your placements have 2 blocks in the 1st year – 4 weeks and 3 weeks, a 5 week block in the 2nd year and 2 blocks in the 3rd year – one of 3 weeks and one of 5 weeks.
The placements usually take place in the South West (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire).
The experience you gain will be in a range of different settings;
  • Community clinics
  • Acute hospital settings
  • Patient’s own home
  • GP surgeries
For the short duration of your placements, you may need to relocate to get the most out of your experience. Students are invited to put forward their three preferred placement locations and the placement team will aim to allocate each student a preferred placement. It is recommended that you select different placement locations to increase experience of different ways of working.
Please note: additional travel / accommodation costs may be incurred during your placement. Advice on financial support available for health care students on placement can be obtained from the NHS Business Services Authority website.
Girls treating feet
Girl treating feet

Year 1

4 week placement
You'll build confidence in communicating with patients and gain an awareness of the diverse role of the podiatrist and start to build you clinical skills.
3 week placement
You’ll continue to build on your communication skills with patient, alongside the wider multi-disciplinary team, there will be a focus on interprofessional working and developing key skills and attributes of a professional. You will continue to develop you assessment and diagnostic skills and clinical skills, including scalpel debridement.

Year 2

5 week placement
The focus of this placement will be on musculoskeletal podiatry and increasing your confidence in history taking, assessment and treatment planning for patients with musculoskeletal problems. You will also have the opportunity to continue consolidating your clinical skills, including advising patients on how to safely manage foot conditions.

Year 3

3 week placement
The focus of this placement will be on developing your skills in delivering local anaesthesia and performing minor surgery, in particular nail surgery to manage in-growing toenails and other painful nail conditions. 
5 week placement
You’ll become competent in translating theory into practice and demonstrate the range of skills needed to work as a newly qualified podiatrist. The placement focus will be around managing the complex patient, you’ll utilise a range of clinical skills including motivational interviewing to optimise outcomes for patients. You’ll work with a range of clinical specialities, such as diabetes, vascular, renal, dermatology and rheumatology.

What our students and graduates say

“During my 1st year I was fortunate enough to take part in two very different placements. The first one was in the Cheltenham and Gloucestershire area where I was given the opportunity to observe the varied role of the Podiatrist from basic foot care and patient advice through to more complicated discussions in the multi-disciplinary environments for higher risk patients. This gave me an amazing opportunity to improve my confidence in diagnosis of conditions that I had previously only read about. Under the supervision of the Podiatry educator, I completed the basic hygiene and foot health assessments that we had practiced in our clinical skills lectures. I enjoyed being hands on and developing techniques with their constructive feedback. My second 3-week end of year placement was in Bath, which combined the main Podiatry services with an opportunity to be part of the high-risk Diabetic foot clinic within the hospital setting - mornings were spent on ward rounds assisting the lead Podiatrist, whilst the afternoons were based in the Clinic shadowing the Podiatrist and Vascular consultant who were looking at ways of supporting Patients with more urgent and significant clinical needs. This was extremely interesting and eye opening, confirming the importance of my learning the skills to give the best advice to every Patient at the start of their Diabetic journey. These two placements certainly set the scene for the future Podiatry modules I am now enrolled in.”

Clementina Fraser – BSc (Hons) Podiatry student

“I really enjoyed being put on placement during my 1st year. I found that it not only really boosted my confidence with working with the public, but it allowed me to see things that we had been taught in a classroom setting being put into practice. The mentors were great and really supportive, which helped me to be able to gain confidence in things that I was unsure of before coming into placement. I got to experience a wealth of variety within different clinical settings, and this has really helped me to be able to navigate which areas I’m interested in pursuing further into my career.”

Emma Wood – BSc (Hons) Podiatry student

“Placements were an excellent way to get experience in clinical situations, allowing me to really develop my clinical skills and knowledge. Being able to work in a number of different Trusts also meant that I got to see lots of different types of practice and observe different ideas which I was then able to learn from and use myself when I started working.”

Zoe Boulton – BSc (Hons) Podiatry graduate

“I have spent multiple placements across the course at Livewell, this has allowed me to get to know the team and spend time with them. By being in an NHS podiatry environment it has given me exposure to all aspects of podiatry, a typical week can have me in nail surgery clinics, foot protection lead clinics, MSK clinics and student clinics. Student clinics allow us to see patients at our level of learning and have specified time with our clinical educators to consolidate our learning. The podiatrists who have overseen my learning are very keen for me to get stuck in, and as a hands on learner this allows me to gain the most from my placement experiences. No two days are the same, I have been able to develop skills and put theory into practice in a true clinical environment. The team at Livewell are very supportive and welcoming, meaning that each time I attend I feel at ease.”

Kayce Allcock – BSc (Hons) Podiatry student

“I undertook a number of clinical placements which turned out to be of great value. These placements gave me the opportunity to see a wider range of issues and conditions that helped to prepare me for working life after graduation.”

Adel Garrett – BSc (Hons) Podiatry graduate
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