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Podiatric Medicine
Course Overview
Podiatric Medicine is a branch of medicine devoted to the medical and surgical treatment of the foot, ankle and lower limb.
A podiatrist is an autonomous clinician who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and management of lower limb conditions. Podiatry can significantly improve peoples’ quality of life by promoting and maintaining mobility. Therefore, podiatric medicine as a career can be extremely rewarding and fulfilling and can give immense job satisfaction.
Podiatrists work in a variety of settings in the public and private sectors. Podiatrists will treat patients of all age ranges and at all stages of life. The scope of practice of a podiatrist ranges from:
- Management of skin and nail pathologies
- Management of patients with diseases that can compromise the viability of the foot and lower limbs, e.g. diabetes, vascular disease, wound care.
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Biomechanics and gait analysis
- Sports injuries
- Paediatrics
- Minor surgical procedures
What is Musculoskeletal Podiatry?
The B.Sc. (Hons.) Podiatric Medicine programme is designed to educate and train those who wish to pursue a professional career in podiatry, as a health care professional, who specialises in the management of disease and disorder of the lower limb and foot.
Clinical placements are a pivotal area of learning within the podiatric Medicine programme. Students are gradually introduced to clinical practice by use of simulated techniques and case exemplars. Onsite clinical placement and learning at Merlin Park Podiatry Clinic unite the theory with the ‘hands on’ practice education, facilitated by the academic and clinical teams. Clinical placements are integrated into each year of the programme, so that students will have the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice and develop their clinical skills.
The main aims of clinical education are:
- To apply knowledge, professional reasoning and professional behaviour within practice
- To promote professional competence
- To work as an effective team member
- To promote professional confidence
- To provide opportunities for students to integrate theoretical and practical learning The clinical teaching programme involves experience with patients from various medical/surgical disciplines; this ensures a high level of quality practice education for students.
We welcome applications from school leavers, international students as well as mature applicants. The Discipline is committed to providing a comprehensive education for Podiatrists and the curriculum is based on best available evidence in relation to both theory and practice.
Applications and Selections
Who Teaches this Course
The core academic staff team on the BSc Podiatric Medicine programme consist of:
- Prof. Caroline McIntosh – Head of School of Health Sciences/ Established Professor and Head of Podiatric Medicine
- Dr. Claire MacGilchrist: BSc Podiatric Medicine Program Director/ Lecturer in Podiatric Medicine.
- Ms. Amanda Walsh - Lecturer in Podiatric Medicine, BSc Podiatric Medicine year 1 coordinator.
- Ms. Olga Carey - Lecturer in Podiatric Medicine, BSc Podiatric Medicine year 2 coordinator.
- Mr. Adam McIlwaine - Lecturer in Podiatric Medicine, BSc Podiatric Medicine year 3 coordinator.
- Mr Nigel Roberts – Lecturer and Practice Education Coordinator, BSc Podiatric Medicine year 4 coordinator.
- Ms. Sarah O’Connell - Lecturer in Podiatric Medicine
- Ms. Angela McAnearney Podiatrist/Guest Lecturer
- Ms. Fiona Lowry - Admin. Assistant
- Ms. Geraldine Farrelly - Admin. Assistant
There is also input from members of staff in other disciplines within the university, who lead on and contribute to modules across the four years of the programme, including anatomy, physiology, microbiology and pharmacology.
The clinical placements throughout the program are supervised at Merlin Park Podiatry clinic, by a dedicated HSE staff team, who host a variety of skills and experience to enhance the students’ clinical learning experience.
Requirements and Assessment
Key Facts
Entry Requirements
Minimum Grade H5 in two subjects and passes in four other subjects at O6/H7 Level in the Leaving
Certificate, including Irish, English, another language, Mathematics, a laboratory science subject (i.e.,
Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Physics with Chemistry (joint) or Agricultural Science), and any other subject recognised for entry purposes.
Additional Requirements
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Duration
4 years
Next start date
September 2024
A Level Grades (2023)
universityofgalway.ie/alevels
Average intake
25
QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes
Closing Date
NFQ level
Mode of study
ECTS weighting
Award
CAO
GY504
Course code
Course Outline
The B.Sc. (Hons.) Podiatric Medicine programme is designed to educate and train those who wish to pursue a professional career in podiatry, as a health care professional, who specialises in the management of disease and disorder of the lower limb and foot. The Discipline is committed to providing a comprehensive education for podiatrists and the curriculum is based on best available evidence in relation to both theory and practice.
Year 1
Central to the curriculum are the podiatric medicine modules. These modules extend throughout the programme building from year one to integrate and articulate with the theoretical learning. In first year the students are introduced to clinical protocols and pre-clinical skills, they then develop and acquire the essential psychomotor and communication skills required for podiatric practice.
1st year modules deal mainly with normal structure and function. This allows time to absorb and reflect on normal function and structure prior to progressing to abnormal structure and disease states in year two. Year 1 modules include:
- Podiatric Medicine 1
- Podiatric Dermatology
- Lower Limb Kinematics
- Human Body Structure
- Gross Anatomy of Lower limb
- Human Body Function
- Professional Development
- Redefining Health and Wellbeing
Year 2
Various aspects of management planning skills are introduced at each stage of the program. Ultimately students acquire assessment and diagnostic skills and increasing competence leads to a comprehensive podiatric patient management, which requires increasing cognitive and psychomotor skills to affect safe and efficient patient care. The following modules advance the students theoretical knowledge and core practical skills, with an increasing complexity of patient assessment and management required in the clinical setting during year two of the program. Second year modules include:
- Podiatric Medicine 2
- Lower Extremity Wounds
- Applied Pathophysiology
- Endocrinology
- Microbiology
- Functional Anatomy and Biomechanics
- Evidence Based Practice
- Health Promotion in Podiatry
Year 3
This state of the art clinical facility provides a service to patients with a wide variety of medical and surgical conditions, children, sports injuries, rheumatology, vascular and diabetes care. Students in year three of the program undertake specialist clinical rotations in adult musculoskeletal medicine, paediatrics, rheumatology, vascular and diabetes care.
Students are encouraged to develop the necessary skills to understand critique and apply research-based evidence in practice. Research approaches and methodologies are covered within years 2 and 3 of the programme ensuring students receive grounding in research methods and biostatistics before they apply this knowledge in their dissertation in year 4. Modules in year 3 include:
- Podiatric Medicine 3
- Clinical Medicine
- Research Methods & Design
- Biostatistics
- Podopaediatrics
- Orthopaedics
- Pharmacology in Health and Disease
Year 4
The overall aim of the programme is to develop caring and skilled honours graduates who are knowledgeable, creative, innovative and competent practitioners applying an enquiring and scientific ethos to health care. Students consolidate a lot of their knowledge and skills in year four, which includes the following modules:
- Research Dissertation
- Podiatric Medicine 4
- Skills for Practice
- Working with Vulnerable Adults
- High Risk Limb
- Podiatric Sports and MSK Medicine
Part 2: ‘Curriculum Information’ automatically synced with Akari (see screen shot below).
Curriculum Information
Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Glossary of Terms
- Credits
- You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
- Module
- An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
- Subject
- Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.
- Optional
- A module you may choose to study.
- Required
- A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
- Required Core Subject
- A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.
- Semester
- Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.
Year 1 (60 Credits)
Required PO1060: Podiatric Medicine 1 - 20 Credits - Semester 1Required PO1050: Podiatric Dermatology - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required PO100: Professional Development - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required SI317: Human Body Function - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Required AN230: Human Body Structure - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required PO103: Redefining Health & Well Being - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required PO1040: Lower Limb Kinematics - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Required AN112: Gross Anatomy of the Lower Limb - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Year 2 (60 Credits)
Required PO2104: Lifestyle Medicine - 5 Credits - Semester 3Required PO2080: Podiatric Medicine 2 - 20 Credits - Semester 3
Required SI3102: Endocrinology - 5 Credits - Semester 3
Required PO2070: Lower Extremity Wounds - 5 Credits - Semester 4
Required PO2060: Evidence Based Practice - 5 Credits - Semester 4
Required PO2112: Microbiology - 5 Credits - Semester 4
Required PO2101: Applied Pathophysiology - 5 Credits - Semester 4
Required PO203: Functional Anatomy & Biomechanics - 10 Credits - Semester 4
Year 3 (60 Credits)
Required PO3105: Research Methods & Biostatistics - 10 Credits - Semester 5Required PO3103: Pharmacology for Podiatrists - 10 Credits - Semester 5
Required PO3102: Clinical Medicine - 10 Credits - Semester 5
Required PO3060: Podopaediatrics - 5 Credits - Semester 5
Required PO3070: Podiatric Medicine 3 - 20 Credits - Semester 5
Optional PO3081: Research Methods & Design - 5 Credits - Semester 5
Required PO3100: Orthopaedics - 5 Credits - Semester 6
Optional PO3080: Biostatistics - 5 Credits - Semester 6
Year 4 (60 Credits)
Required PO4100: Podiatric Sports and Musculoskeletal Medicine - 5 Credits - Semester 7Required PO4070: Podiatric Medicine 4 - 15 Credits - Semester 7
Required PO4060: High Risk Limb - 5 Credits - Semester 7
Required PO402: Skills for Practice - 10 Credits - Semester 7
Required PO401: Working with Vulnerable Adults - 5 Credits - Semester 7
Required PO400: Research Dissertation - 20 Credits - Semester 8
Further Education
Graduates have the option to study a variety of programmes at Postgraduate, Masters and PhD levels.
Why Choose This Course?
Career Opportunities
- Public hospitals- acute hospital services, specialist services e.g. diabetes, vascular.
- Private hospitals- specialist services e.g. MSK/ orthopaedics
- Primary Care Centres
- GP Practices
- Nursing homes/ residential facilities
- Sports centres/ clubs
- Private practice
- Education
- Research Graduates also have the option of studying a variety of programmes at postgraduate, Masters & PhD level.
Who’s Suited to This Course
Learning Outcomes
Transferable Skills Employers Value
Work Placement
Clinical Practice, a process of work-based learning which involves a partnership between the Clinical Educator and the student in the practice setting, is an integral part of the programme. All students are required to complete 1,000 hours of clinical practice successfully under the supervision of qualified podiatrists. Clinical practice will be integrated into each year of the programme and primarily takes place in Merlin Park Podiatry Clinic, based at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway. This facility provides an out-patient podiatry service to patients with a variety of medical and surgical conditions, children, people with sports injuries and patients requiring soft tissue surgery. The programme is the only such professionally accredited qualification in the Republic of Ireland.
Study Abroad
Related Student Organisations
Course Fees
Fees: EU
Fees: Tuition
Fees: Student Contribution
Fees: Student levy
Fees: Non EU
Occupational Health Service Fee
In year one students are required to pay a €200 fee towards a subsidised Occupational Health Service provided to students of the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences in compliance with all relevant legislation and standards.
EU Fees are comprised of Tuition + Student Levy €140 - payable by all students and is not covered by SUSI. Further detail here.
Find out More
Podiatic Medicine The School of Health Sciences
T+ 353 91 495 814
What Our Students Say

Lauren Connell | Postgraduate Research Student
I chose to study podiatric medicine because I wanted to be an autonomous specialized clinician, initially when looking at the course I was enthralled by the thought of studying anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology whilst engaging clinically in Merlin Park Podiatry Clinic. If you are undecided about the course, I would advise to look at the course content, as this course encapsulates biological sciences and clinical content which is interesting for somebody interested in health care. If you enjoy learning about how the body functions in a normal and pathological state, if you want to make difference to patients' lives, and if you'd like to become a specialized clinician in an upcoming profession then Podiatric Medicine could be for you. In my final year I was awarded the Tomorrow’s Podiatrists inaugural podiatry student of the year award. In 2019, I graduated with a first-class degree, and I am now a postgraduate research student, with an avid interest in patient care and student education.
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Marcus McGuire Daly | Podiatric Medicine
I chose Podiatric Medicine because I always had an interest in Human Biology and the course involves topics such as Human Anatomy and Physiology which appealed to me. I wanted to undertake a university course that was challenging but also rewarding and the Podiatric Medicine course at University of Galway delivered on such factors. In addition to this I wanted my future role to be involved in healthcare and the Podiatry profession is a greatly needed healthcare service worldwide and its recognition is growing. If you feel you have an interest in healthcare and helping others, then I highly recommend that you consider this course. To get a greater understanding of Podiatry and this course I highly recommend that you look through the course at the University of Galway website, contact the staff of the Podiatric Medicine department for any questions, explore further information online around Podiatry, and if possible, look to experience the day of a Podiatrist either within a private practice or within the health service.