A School of Podiatry will be established for the first time at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The School will offer the first undergraduate podiatry programme available in the State and will lead to a BSc (Hons) in Podiatry. Students can apply for entry to the four year course from the academic year 2008-9 onwards and an annual intake of 25 students is planned.

A Podiatry Clinic will be developed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) located in the Merlin Park campus of Galway Regional Hospitals but will primarily provide services to community based patients. The Clinic will work in partnership with the School to provide for the clinical education and training components of the programme.

This bid was jointly prepared and presented by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences NUI Galway, Galway Primary Community and Continuing Care (PCCC) and Galway Regional Hospitals.

Speaking following the announcement, Professor Jim Browne, Registrar and Deputy President, NUI Galway said: "NUI Galway is delighted to have been chosen as the location for the first School of Podiatry in the Republic of Ireland. This welcome development for the West of Ireland reflects well on the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the School of Therapies which already provide excellent accredited programmes in Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy. The University acknowledges the longstanding co-operation of HSE West and especially the active support of the professional podiatrists in Galway, without whom this would not have been possible."

The announcement follows a competition organised by the Higher Education Authority in which six bids were received for the establishment of the School and an international panel recommended awarding the contract to NUI Galway.

The FÁS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit Healthcare Skills Monitoring Report of August 2005 identified podiatry as an occupation with long-term supply shortfalls and recommended that a BSc in Podiatry be established.

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