Pedorthist Custom Makers
A Pedorthist Custom Maker* is a health professional trained in the analysis and treatment of gait and foot & ankle problems. Pedorthists are experts in the use of both prefabricated and custom-made orthopaedic footwear, foot orthotics, and ankle braces, to provide practical and positive solutions to improve people’s daily life.
Where do Pedorthists practise?
Pedorthists mainly work in private practices, but also work in a range of settings such as hospitals, aged care, and universities.
When should I see a Pedorthist?
There are a wide range of reasons to see a pedorthist, including illness and disease, disability, minor lower limb amputation, and pain management. Pedorthists play an important role in the multidisciplinary health team, and some typical reasons why someone might be referred, or might independently choose, to see a pedorthist include:
- Improve gait
- Reduce pain
- Control and alter lower limb biomechanical alignment
- Offload and support a healing injury (i.e. foot ulcer)
- Increase mobility, capacity, and independence
What services do Pedorthists provide?
A pedorthist’s scope of practice may include diabetes, paediatrics, structural problems, gait and human movement patterns, disability, and treatment of the elderly.
A pedorthist can provide a range of services, including assessment, prescription, manufacture, and supply of pedorthic footwear and lower-limb orthotic devices. The pedorthic areas of work may include:
- Offloading devices for the diabetic foot
- Accommodation of minor lower extremity amputation
- Correction of disability-related lower limb and gait conditions
- Correction of neurological gait disorders
- Pain management
- Recurring lower limb injury and sprains
How are Pedorthist Custom Makers qualified?
In order to practice in Australia, Pedorthist Custom Makers must complete the following;
- a tertiary qualification (AQF 7 – bachelor level) in pedorthics
- Registration as a Certified Pedorthist Custom Maker on the Pedorthic Register with the Pedorthic Association of Australia (PAA). The Register is managed by the Australian Pedorthists Registration Board Committee, an independent subcommittee of the PAA.
- Continuing professional development and adherence to several codes and policies.
Further information
For further information about Pedorthist Custom Makers, please visit the Pedorthic Association of Australia website.
Find a Pedorthist
PAA provides a directory of certified pedorthists which can be accessed here. The listing includes a filtering system so that you can easily identify the highest qualification of pedorthists, the Certified Pedorthist Custom Maker (CPedCM Au).
* The Certified Pedorthist Custom Maker meets AHPA’s definition of an allied health professional. To avoid confusion around the term ‘pedorthist’, there are 2 lower levels of certification for those members who do not have an AQF7 qualification, being a Certified Pedorthist and a Certified Pedorthic Retailer. The qualifications of these categories of membership are not that of a comparable level to allied health professionals.