The three schools are the West Midlands, East Midlands and the South East. A minimum 2 year training post will see the candidates rotate through a number of NHS department of podiatric surgery in their chosen school where they will gain a comprehensive experience in foot surgery under the direct surpervision of an NHS Consultant Podiatric Surgeons. During this period of training, the surgical trainees will undergo regular assessment of knowledge and practical skills and will keep a detailed log of their experience. Candidates will also continue with their Masters degree university course, completing modules in clinical pharmacology and research methods, leading to a research project in a surgically related field. This project must be of a sufficiently high standard to be published in a peer reviewed journal. Further practical exams in clinical diagnosis and surgical treatment planning are also completed during this period which culminates in a Fellowship exam when the candidates’ surgical ability and clinical experience is examined by two senior fellows of the Faculty of Podiatric Surgery. During this exam candidates must perform a comprehensive range of foot surgery on a number of patients.

Once awarded Fellowship of the Faculty of Podiatric Surgery, the podiatric surgeon is entitled to apply for Specialist Registrar in Podiatric Surgery posts in the National Health Service. These are generally 3 year posts when the podiatric surgeon will further develop their podiatric surgical skills and experience. Again their experience must be recorded in a log book which will facilitate reflective development. At the end of the 3 year Specialist Registrar post, the podiatric surgeon must submit their log book to the Faculty of Podiatric surgery for the award of the Certificate of Completion in Podiatric Surgical Training (CCPST). The CCPST allows the podiatric surgeon to apply for Consultant Podiatric surgeon posts in the NHS. All such posts are awarded by a carefully assembled appointments panel in keeping with the high standards of clinical governance demanded by the UK National Health Service.

The minimum training period for UK podiatric surgeons is 10 years and at least 2 post registration years in clinical practice. The whole process is extremely competitive with many more candidates than there are surgical training places, but it is well recognised that this element of competition ensures the highest standards of clinical practice.

Are Podiatric Surgeons the same as Orthopaedic Surgeons?

No, podiatric surgeons have trained exclusively in the surgical and non-surgical treatment of the foot. Orthopaedic surgeons complete a medicine degree before going on to further training in the management of bone and joint conditions which affect the whole body. Podiatric surgery training begins with the non-surgical management of foot problems and then after completing a 3 year degree and at least one post registration year in clinical practice, surgical training can commence. While podiatric surgeons do not treat problems outside the foot and ankle, they do as part of their training learn to recognise diseases or complaints that do not originate in the foot but may give rise to symptoms in the foot. Podiatric surgeons are part of the health care team and will always refer on to medically trained physicians or surgeons when a problem is outside their scope of practice.

The advantage of such a focussed training and scope of practice is that a podiatric surgeon will gain intensive experience in managing foot problems. Some podiatric surgeons employed full time in the NHS will perform up to 1000 foot operations a year. Clearly this will allow them to develop highly skilled and meticulous surgical technique as well as great experience in handling complications which unfortunately are an inevitable part of any surgical specialty.

The Board is chaired by the Dean of Faculty who is elected by the Board. There are also representatives from the podiatric surgery training grades, at the pre-surgical training and Specialist registrar level.