FOUR-INCH heels do many things; They change the way women walk, give the illusion of height and slim down the sturdiest of ankles. But as most heel wearers will testify they also slow you down, give you back pain and produce an intense burning in the balls of the feet.
So the vertiginous footwear I wore for my meeting with Dr Caroline McIntosh, head of the first school of podiatry in the State, acted as a timely reminder of how the health of our feet can impact on mobility and by extension our quality of life.
Although the solution to my aching feet was to get the shoes off at the earliest opportunity, those suffering with chronic foot and lower leg disorders require more specialist treatment.
Podiatry is a healthcare profession that specialises in the management of disease and disorders of the lower leg and foot. While the term chiropody is the traditional title used to describe basic treatments of the hand and foot, more recently the term podiatry has been adopted in Ireland and the UK to better reflect the more extensive professional training undertaken by podiatrists.
The titles of chiropody and podiatry are now protected in the UK and can only be used by those qualifying from an institution that offers an accredited programme. According to McIntosh, this is not yet the case in the Republic, although the regulatory authorities here are considering similar moves to ensure that anyone using the titles has been trained to a specific standard.
Sharing facilities with the schools of occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and nursing at Aras Moyola in NUIG, the school of podiatry offers the first undergraduate programme available in the State.
Successful completion leads to a BSc honours degree. Prior to September this year, those wishing to become a podiatrist had to enrol in one of the 13 colleges offering the course in the UK. Twenty entrants, including seven mature students, embarked on the new course last September.
One of these is Tina Clarke, a 38-year-old mother of two who lives in Roscommon. Previously employed as a nurse in a general practice in Roscommon, she now undertakes a daily commute to attend college and retrain for her new career.
Although she has found the course to be more intensive than she thought it would be, Clarke feels her previous training and experience is standing to her.
However, other areas such as gait analysis and orthotics are very new to her. "I'm certainly bringing some things to the course, but am learning quite a lot more on the other hand."
The four-year course at NUIG offers students training in assessment, diagnosis and management of lower limb and foot-related problems. Conditions treated include nail and skin pathologies, mechanical correction of gait and posture problems, sports injuries and diseases that compromise the viability of the foot and lower limb.
"Students undertake minor surgical training such as toenail removal and soft tissue surgery performed under local anaesthetic," McIntosh says, noting that qualified podiatrists can, with further training, become podiatric surgeons allowing them to perform more complex procedures such as bunion joint surgery and toe correction.
In common with other healthcare professions, the gender balance is firmly weighted on the side of women with only three male students in the first year of the new course.
One such student is 17-year-old Jamie O'Sullivan from Kerry. A member of the Kerry minor football team his interest in studying podiatry started when his father brought the new course to his attention.
Three months in, O'Sullivan is enthusiastic about his career choice. He likes the potential of combining self-employment with his interest in sport.
With an ageing population, an increased prevalence of diabetes and rising obesity levels, there is a growing demand for podiatry services in Ireland.
However, these services have been relatively underdeveloped within the public health system, with only two full-time podiatrists and a number of sessional podiatrists employed by the HSE in the Galway area.
But this is set to change with a state-of-the-art podiatry clinic to be operational at Merlin Park Hospital by September 2010.
Here students will receive the clinical component of their training as well as providing up to 25,000 podiatry treatments annually to patients.
Until such time as the facility is completed students will have access to a six-chair clinic housed in temporary accommodation on the Merlin Park site. In the meantime, the first years have already begun their hands-on training by practising various techniques on their fellow students.
This first cohort of podiatric students is certainly enthusiastic about the profession. And McIntosh is equally keen to promote a greater public understanding of what podiatry has to offer as part of a holistic approach to health.
What's Podiatry?
• Podiatry is a healthcare profession that specialises in the management of disease and disorders of the lower limb and foot.
• The foot is a highly complex structure which can develop problems affecting overall health and quality of life.
• Disorders which can affect the lower limb and foot include nail and skin pathologies, diabetes, circulatory disease, mechanical problems which affect gait and posture and sport injuries.
• Podiatrists provide treatment and intervention which range from practical advice on prevention to more complex surgical techniques.
• The discipline aims to improve quality of life by promoting and maintaining mobility.