Exploring the Learning Experiences of Non-Medical Prescribing Among Podiatry Students on Clinical Placement

Endorsement for scheduled medicines has been available to Australian podiatrists for over a decade. However, uptake and prescribing rates remain low. A key barrier is the limited number of endorsed prescribers, which restricts access to mentorship opportunities for podiatrists seeking endorsement. While existing literature explores practicing podiatrists' perspectives on endorsement, the views of students regarding prescribing remain underrepresented. This study aimed to explore final-year podiatry students' experiences with non-medical prescribing during clinical placements.

This qualitative study purposively recruited final-year podiatry students from the University of Western Australia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to explore participants' experiences of non-medical prescribing during clinical placements, which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using constant comparative analysis until data saturation was reached. Data recorded prior to interview included demographic information, academic characteristics were determined using self-reported questionnaires to describe motivation, self-efficacy and mental wellbeing and clinical logbook records were retrospectively reviewed for data on prescribing encounters recorded by students during clinical placements.

Fifteen participants aged between 23 and 46 years were recruited. Retrospective clinical logs showed that 631 of 7613 cases (8.3%) involved prescription of a scheduled medicine, with most prescribing opportunities occurring in public health settings. Six global themes relating to prescribing experiences emerged: limited exposure, confidence, learning experiences, proposed improvements, pursuit of endorsement and future career impacts. Relationships between themes were developed based on key concepts, particularly scarcity of endorsed prescribers, and limited amount and variety of prescribing encounters.

This study demonstrated that although podiatry students experienced limited exposure to endorsed prescribing and low self-confidence in prescribing ability, they continued to see value in non-medical prescribing with a willingness to pursue endorsement in the future. Future implications to address limited student exposure to prescribing due to shortage of endorsed podiatrists may facilitate the uptake of endorsement for scheduled medicines.