Footwear & Orthotic Training
Training in prescribing, designing and checking the footwear that prevents ulcers returning.
Key Takeaways
- Most footwear failures come from prescription and fitting errors, not manufacturing.
- Pressure mapping should guide insole design rather than experience alone.
- A fitting check is a clinical step, not a formality at handover.
- Recurrence prevention depends on review, since foot shape keeps changing.
Why Do Prescribed Shoes Often Fail?
Rarely because the shoe was badly made. Usually because the prescription did not match where pressure actually falls, the insole was designed without measurement, or nobody checked the fit properly at handover.
Additionally, patients are frequently given footwear and never reviewed. Foot shape changes, callus builds, insoles compress, and within a year the protection has quietly disappeared.
What Does the Training Cover?
- Writing a footwear prescription that specifies what the foot actually needs
- Casting and scanning technique for custom insoles
- Insole materials and when each is appropriate
- Interpreting pressure mapping and translating it into design
- Fitting checks, including how to confirm relief is achieved
- Review intervals and recognising a device that has stopped working
How Is Pressure Mapping Used?
As the design input and the verification step. Mapping before design shows where relief must be placed. Repeating it after fitting confirms whether the pressure actually reduced, which turns a subjective comfort judgement into a measurement.
Clinics that adopt this step alone usually see their recurrence rates change.
Who Should Attend?
Orthotists, podiatrists, nurses and doctors involved in footwear prescription, and clinic teams setting up a footwear service. Attending together helps, because prescription, manufacture and fitting are usually split between people.
What Does It Cost and How Is It Delivered?
Training combines workshop practice with clinic observation in our footwear service, priced by duration. Current dates and fees are available on enquiry, and dedicated sessions can be arranged for teams.
What Changes in a Clinic After This Training?
Usually two things. Prescriptions become specific, stating what the foot needs rather than naming a shoe type, and fitting checks stop being a handover formality.
Teams that add pressure verification after fitting tend to notice recurrence falling within the year, largely because devices that were never working are now identified at the fitting appointment instead of at the next ulcer.