Podiatry assistant to podiatrist
A podiatry assistant already meets 59% of what the podiatrist role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
48.5/ 100
1 How much of what a podiatrist is expected to do is already part of a podiatry assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the podiatrist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A podiatrist role treats 18 of its required skills as things a podiatry assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- chiropody
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- conduct podiatry consultation
- dermatology
- develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
- ensure safety of healthcare users
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 23 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A podiatrist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a podiatry assistant background worth leading with.
- already held conduct podiatry consultation information skills
- already held podiatric surgery health and welfare
- already held chiropody health and welfare
- already held foot problems health and welfare
- already held orthopaedic treatment alternatives health and welfare
- already held promote foot health communication, collaboration and creativity
All 23 carried skills, including the 18 the podiatrist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 20 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn human physiology required
- still to learn immunology required
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held hydrotherapy optional
- optional, not held rheumatology optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held sport and exercise medicine optional
- still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
- optional, not held refer healthcare users optional
- optional, not held apply massage therapy optional
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- still to learn histology required
- still to learn biomechanics required
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a podiatrist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 accept own accountability practise this
- 02 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 03 behavioural therapy study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 23 skills that carry over
- already held chiropody knowledge
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held conduct podiatry consultation skill
- already held dermatology knowledge
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held foot problems knowledge
- already held health care system knowledge
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held kinetics knowledge
- already held maintain medical devices skill
- already held orthopaedic conditions knowledge
- already held orthopaedic treatment alternatives knowledge
- already held pharmacology knowledge
- already held promote foot health skill
- already held recommend orthotic devices skill
- already held sterilization techniques knowledge
- already held podiatric surgery knowledge
- already held process medical insurance claims skill
- already held provide footwear advice to patients skill
- already held use foreign languages in patient care skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn behavioural therapy required
- optional, not held orthotics optional
- optional, not held develop foot orthoses optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held develop foot orthoses optional
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held hydrotherapy optional
- optional, not held orthotics optional
- optional, not held refer healthcare users optional
- optional, not held rheumatology optional
- optional, not held apply massage therapy optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- optional, not held sport and exercise medicine optional
34 held skills the podiatrist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role administer appointments skill
- not needed by the target role administrative tasks in a medical environment knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- not needed by the target role analyse X-ray imagery skill
- not needed by the target role apply foot casts skill
- not needed by the target role apply wound dressings skill
- not needed by the target role carry out wound care skill
- not needed by the target role clinical coding knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect healthcare user data under supervision skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in healthcare skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to quality physiotherapy services skill
- not needed by the target role discuss the medical history of the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role health records management knowledge
- not needed by the target role medical terminology knowledge
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role monitor stock level skill
- not needed by the target role obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- not needed by the target role orthopaedics knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform clinical coding procedures skill
- not needed by the target role place orders for orthopedic products skill
- not needed by the target role podiatric diseases knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide health education skill
- not needed by the target role provide medication information skill
- not needed by the target role recommend orthopedic goods to customers depending on their condition skill
- not needed by the target role record treated patient's information skill
- not needed by the target role respond to changing situations in health care skill
- not needed by the target role send samples to laboratory skill
- not needed by the target role shape nails skill
- not needed by the target role surgical asepsis knowledge
- not needed by the target role treat nails skill
- not needed by the target role treat patients' nails skill
- not needed by the target role types of orthopedic supplies knowledge
- not needed by the target role work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn behavioural therapy required
- still to learn biomechanics required
- still to learn histology required
- still to learn human physiology required
- still to learn immunology required
- optional, not held anaesthetics optional
- optional, not held hydrotherapy optional
- optional, not held orthotics optional
- optional, not held rheumatology optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held sport and exercise medicine optional
Common questions about this move
Can a podiatry assistant become a podiatrist?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A podiatry assistant already covers 59% of what a podiatrist is expected to do: 23 skills carry over, 18 of which the podiatrist role treats as required.
What skills does a podiatry assistant need to become a podiatrist?
10 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is accept own accountability.
How hard is the move from podiatry assistant to podiatrist?
Its learning distance is 48.5 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.